Garga Chatterjee
Date of birth: 8th February 1981 Email: [email protected]
Qualification brief: MBBS (Calcutta), PhD (Harvard)
Present status: Assistant Professor, Indian Statistical Institute, Kolkata
Primary research themes in Cognitive Science and Psychology: Face and object recognition (including disorders), Statistical aspects of psychophysical test development, Visual awareness, Large population psychological testing, Development of visual cognition after signal deprivation. Since 2012, my publications have been cited 647 times. H-index = 11.
Academic & Professional qualifications:
2011 - 2014: Postdoctoral Fellow, Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
2012 - 2013: Lecturer, Lesley University
2011 - 2013: Teaching Fellow and Visiting Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Department of Psychology, Harvard University
2011: Postdoctoral Research scholar, Wellesley College
2011: Doctor of Philosophy – Psychology (Cognition, Bain and Behavior) (PhD from Harvard University)
2009: Master of Arts in Psychology - Cognition, Brain and Behavior (A.M. from Harvard University * Degrees in all disciplines in the School of Arts and Sciences are named after the ‘Arts’)
2005: Bachelor of Medicine and Surgery with First Class (M.B.,B.S., from Medical College, University of Calcutta)
1999: Ranked 2nd in the merit list of West Bengal Joint Entrance examination (WBJEE)
1999: Passed Higher Secondary Examination
1997: Passed West Bengal Secondary examination (*Ranked 14th in West Bengal).
Teaching experience:
2015: Introduction to Cognitive Science (Indian Statistical Institute, Kolkata)
2013: Guest lecturer in Massachusetts Institute of Technology's course 9.675 titled “The Development of Object and Face Recognition“
2013: Invited faculty in the 1st Resonance Summer School in Neuroscience, to be held in New Delhi in June-July 2013 – a three-way collaboration between Harvard, MIT and IIT-Delhi.
2012: Introduction to Psychology (as Lecturer in Lesley University)
2009-2012: Senior Thesis Workshop leader – Harvard University program in Mind, Brain and Behavior
2009-2012: Methods of Behavioral research (in different years with Prof. George Alvarez, Prof. Ken Nakayama, Dr. Justin Lehmiller and Dr. Christine Ma Kellams)
2008-2009: The Human Mind- Introduction to Mind, Brain and Behavior (in different years with Prof. Steven Pinker and Prof. Jason P Mitchell)
2007: Psychopharmacology – Your Brain on Drugs (with Prof. Scott E Lukas)
2008-present: Non-Resident Tutor in Psychology (Lowell House and Winthrop House, Harvard University)
Pre-PhD research experience:
2005: RIKEN Brain Science Institute, Japan with Dr.Manabu Tanifuji (Integrative Neural Systems Lab)
2004: New York University (NYU) with Dr.Denis G Pelli (Visual Perception Lab)
2003-2005: Medical College, University of Calcutta with Dr.Subhash Chandra Mukherjee, Professor of Neurology
2002-2004: NCBS (TIFR), Bangalore with Dr.Sumantra (Shona) Chattarji
Publications (in peer-reviewed journals) –oldest first:
1. Chatterjee G. Indian objection to export of human tissue for research. British Medical Journal (2003), 326(7382):224
2. Sengupta M, Chatterjee G, et al. Groundwater Arsenic Contamination in the Ganga-Padma-Meghna-Brahmaputra Plain of India and Bangladesh. Archives of Environmental Health (2003), 58(11):701-2.
3. Mukherjee A, Chatterjee G, et al. Are some animals more equal than others? Toxicology (2005), 208(1): 165-9.
4. Chatterjee G. Applied cognitive neuroscience – the pitfalls. Current Science (2005), 89(9),1454
5. Mitra R, Vyas A, Chatterjee G & Chattarji S. Chronic-stress induced modulation of different states of anxiety-like behavior in female rats. Neuroscience Letters (2005), 383(3): 278-83.
6. Ahamed S, Chatterjee G, et al.Arsenic groundwater contamination and its health effects in the state of Uttar Pradesh (UP) in upper and middle Ganga plain, India: A severe danger. Science of the Total Environment (2006), 370(2-3): 310-22.
7. Wilmer JB, Germine L, Chabris CF, Chatterjee G, Williams M, Loken E, Nakayama K & Duchaine B. Human face recognition ability is specific and highly heritable. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (2010), 107(11):5238-41.
8. Wilmer JB, Germine L, Chabris CF, Chatterjee G, Williams M, Loken E, Nakayama K & Duchaine B. Is human face recognition ability entirely genetic : Response to Thomas. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (2010), 107(24) E101
9. Chatterjee G, Wu DA & Sheth BR. Phantom flashes caused by interactions across visual space. Journal of Vision (2011), 22; 11(2)
10. Russell R, Chatterjee G & Nakayama K. Developmental prosopagnosia and super-recognition: no special role for surface reflectance processing. Neuropsychologia (2012), 50(2): 334-40
11. Germine L, Nakayama K, Duchaine BC, Chabris CF, Chatterjee G & Wilmer JB. Is the Web as good as the lab? Comparable performance from Web and lab in cognitive/perceptual experiments. Psychonomic Bulletin and Review (2012),19(5):847-57.
12. DeGutis J, Chatterjee G & Nakayama K. Face gender recognition in developmental prosopagnosia: Evidence for holistic processing and use of configural information. Visual Cognition (2012)
13. Wilmer JB, Chatterjee G et al. Capturing specific abilities as a window into human individuality: example of face recognition. Cognitive Neuropsychology (2012) Jul;29(5-6):360-92
14. Chatterjee G. & Nakayama K. Normal facial age and gender perception in developmental prosopagnosia. Cognitive Neuropsychology (2012) Jul;29(5-6):482-502
15. Sinha P, Chatterjee G, Gandhi T & Kalia A. Restoring vision through "Project Prakash": the opportunities for merging science and service. PLoS Biology (2013) Dec; 11(12):e1001741
16. Kalia A, Chatterjee G et al. Development of pattern vision following early and extended blindness. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (2014) Feb 4;111 (5):2035-9.
17. Ganesh S, Chatterjee G et al. Results of late surgical intervention in children with early-onset bilateral cataracts. British Journal of Ophthalmology (2014) Oct; 98(10):1424-8.
18. Chatterjee G. Ophthalmology beyond Ophthalmologists and Also Including Ophthalmologists. Current Indian Eye Research (2014), 1(1): 42-43
19. Chakraborty N & Chatterjee G. Neural and behavioral correlates of face recognition in human infants. Current Indian Eye Research (2016), 3(1): 10
20. Chatterjee G, Kalia A et al. Assessing the impact of a program for late surgical intervention in early-blind children. Public Health (2017), 146: 15-23
21. Singh D & Chatterjee G. The evolution of religious belief in humans: A brief review with focus on cognition. Journal of Genetics. (Accepted)
22. Moitra T & Chatterjee G. Parenting behavior and juvenile delinquency among low income families Victims and Offenders. (Accepted)
23. Chakrabarty M, Chatterjee G, et al. Hemispheric asymmetry in attention and its impact on our consciousness: A review with reference to altered consciousness in Right hemisphere damaged subjects. Journal of Consciousness Studies. (Accepted)
Book Chapter:
1. Cognitive neuroscientist’s approach to death. Ed: Makarand Paranjape (Samvad India Foundation)
Conference proceedings:
1. Emergence of face-localization abilities following extended congenital blindness.Vision Science Society (VSS). Journal of Vision (2013)
2. Global motion coherence performance after extended congenital blindness: stretching the window. Vision Science Society (VSS). Journal of Vision (2013)
3. Development of Contrast Sensitivity Following Extended Congenital Blindness.Vision Science Society (VSS). Journal of Vision (2013)
4. Heterogeneity in cognitive maturation and aging: Why there is no such thing as an adult control. Vision Science Society (VSS). Journal of Vision (2013)
5. Global motion coherence performance after extended blindness: stretching the window. European Conference on Visual Perception, Alghero, Italy. Perception (2012)
6. Measurements of Contrast Sensitivity Functions Show Recovery from Extended Blindness. European Conference on Visual Perception, Alghero, Italy. Perception (2012)
7. Early susceptibility to visual illusions after treatment for early-onset blindness. European Conference on Visual Perception, Alghero, Italy. Perception (2012)
8. Development of face-localization after extended congenital blindness. European Conference on Visual Perception, Alghero, Italy. Perception (2012)
9. Measurements of Contrast Sensitivity Functions Show Recovery from Extended Blindness. Sixth Annual Berkeley Conference on Translational Research 2012.
10. Developmental prosopagnosia: A childhood case study. Vision Science Society (VSS). Journal of Vision (2011)
11. Holistic processing of face gender in developmental prosopagnosia. Vision Science Society (VSS). Journal of Vision (2011)
12. Phantom flashes caused by interactions across visual space. European Conference on Visual Perception, Lausanne, Switzerland. Perception (2010)
13. Perceptual and cognitive processes in face recognition deficits – the case of prosopagnosia. Asia Pacific Conference on Vision (APCV), Taipei, Taiwan. Vision (2010)
14. Non-identity based facial information processing in developmental prosopagnosia. Vision Science Society (VSS). Journal of Vision (2010)
15. Psychophysics of face processing in childhood: A developmental perspective. Vision Science Society (VSS). Journal of Vision (2010)
16. A genetic basis for face memory: Evidence from twins. Vision Science Society (VSS). Journal of Vision (2010)
17. Downloadable science: Comparing data from internet and Lab-based psychology experiments. Vision Science Society (VSS). Journal of Vision (2010)
18. Non-face visual memory impairments in developmental prosopagnosia. Vision Science Society (VSS). Journal of Vision (2009)
19. The use of shape and pigmentation information across the spectrum of face recognition ability. Vision Science Society (VSS). Journal of Vision (2009)
20. Characterization of flickering flanker induced blindness phenomenon. European Conference on Visual Perception, Utrecht, The Netherlands. Perception (2008)
21. Visual recognition memory in the absence of meaning. Scene Understanding Symposium (SUNS) 2008.
22. A test to explore the learning of multiple novel faces. Vision Science Society (VSS). Journal of Vision (2008)
23. Super-recognizers: Exceptional face recognition ability. Social and Affective Neuroscience Society Annual Meeting 2008.
24. Super-recognizers: People with exceptional face recognition ability. 2nd Annual Tufts University Conference: Cognitive Neuroscience of Visual Knowledge 2008.
25. Are some people exceptionally good at face recognition. Object, Perception, Attention and Memory Annual Meeting 2007.
26. Visual evoked potential in migraineurs - effect of age and disease duration. International Headache Congress. Cephalalgia (2007)
23. The effect of age and disease duration on visual evoked potentials in migraineurs. Annual meeting of the Indian Academy of Neuroscience. Annals of Neurosciences (2005)
24. Serum magnesium levels in migraine - clinical and electrophysiological correlations. World Congress of Neurology, Sydney. Journal of Neurological Sciences (2005)
25. L-Lysine monohydrochloride therapy in acute ischaemic stroke. World Congress of Neurology, Sydney. Journal of Neurological Sciences (2005)
26. Neurotoxicity from groundwater arsenic contamination in India-Bangladesh with special reference to neuropathy. World Congress of Neurology, Sydney. Journal of Neurological Sciences (2005)
27. Object recognition. Parts, wholes, and the conjunction index. European Conference on Visual Perception, Budapest, Hungary. Perception (2004)
Press coverage of research:
Scientific American, Boston Globe, National Public Radio (NPR), Anandabazar Patrika, Hindustan Times, All India Radio (AIR), Deccan Herald, NavHind Times, Pratyahik Khabor, Harvard gazette, FoxNews, AOL (America Online), BusinessWeek, Technology Review, The Independent (Bangladesh), Financial Chronicle, Twocircles.net, The Atlantic
Letters in journals / miscellaneous:
1.”Crisis in arsenic news” in Current Science, 25 May, 2005
2.”Co-ordination among institutions” in Current Science, 10 Aug, 2003
3.”Organ trafficking in Punjab” in Doctors’ Dialogue, Aug 2003
4.”Obscurantist criticism” in Current Science, 25 Jun, 2003
5."Undergraduate summer research-a positive step forward in attracting youngsters to science research as a career" in Current Science, 25 May, 2002
Ad-hoc Reviewer:
Cognitive Neuropsychology, Journal of Theoretical Biology, Current Science, Psychological Reports, Association for Computing Machinery – Transactions on Applied Perception, Psychology and Neuroscience, Frontiers in Psychology, Brain, Perceptual and Motor Skills
Membership:
Vision Sciences Society, Indian Academy of Neuroscience, New York Academy of Science.
Academic services:
2017: Session Chair, Networks and Games conference, ISI Kolkata
2016: Review Editor, Frontiers in Psychology
Honours and Awards:
2013: Indian National Science Academy INSPIRE Faculty Fellowship
2010: 33rd European Conference on Visual Perception Merit Travel Award, Lausanne, Switzerland
2010: Asia-Pacific Conference of Vision Merit Travel Award, Taiwan.
2010: Nominated for the Joseph R. Levenson Memorial Award for teaching excellence at Harvard University
2010: Psychophysics Fund research grant from Harvard University
2010: Graduate Society Fellowship, Harvard University
2010: Mind, Brain and Behavior Interfaculty Initiative Research grant, Harvard University
2010: Stimson Fund grant from Harvard University – twice in the same year.
2009: McMaster Fund research travel grant from Harvard University
2008: 31st European Conference on Visual Perception Merit Travel Award, Utrecht , The Netherlands
2008: McMaster Fund travel grant from Harvard University
2008: Harvard South Asia Initiative Graduate Research grant
2007: Harvard South Asia Initiative Tata Research grant.
2007: Barbara R Ditmas bequest research grant from Harvard University
2006: Stimson bequest research grant from Harvard University
2006: Debesh Kamal Scholarship for Overseas study from Ramakrishna Mission Institute of Culture, India
2006: South Point High School Travel award for best alumni going to study abroad
2006: University of Calcutta Maa Kali Sahay Scholarship for medical research.
2005: RIKEN Brain Science Institute International Summer Fellowship at RIKEN, BSI, Japan
2005: International Brain Research Organization(IBRO) Travel grant
2004: New York University (NYU), Centre for Neural Science, Summer Undergraduate Research Program(SURP)Fellowship
2004: John Merck Summer Institute Fellowship on Developmental Brain Disabilities at Princeton University.
2004 & 2003: Indian Council for Medical Research (ICMR) Short Term Research Studentship in Neurology
2004,2003 & 2002: National Centre for Biological Sciences (NCBS) Undergraduate Research Studentship
2000:Dr.Nani Lal Pan Memorial Medal as Best Dissector of Medical College, Calcutta (1999-2000)
1999: Ranked among top 25 students in India from Indian National Biology Olympiad (INBO)
1999 and 1997: National Prize by Govt. of West Bengal for performance in Secondary and HS examination
1997: National Talent Scholarship (NTS) by Govt. of India for 8 successive years (1997-2005)
Grants as Principal Investigator / Consultant :
2015: Indian Statistical Institute – DCSW grant
2014: Indian Statistical Institute – Start-up grant
2013: Indian National Science Academy - DST INSPIRE Research grant
2011: Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS) – International grant - consultant.
2010: Harvard University Mind, Brain and Behavior Inter-faculty Initiative research grant
Invited talk:
2018: Indian Institute of Science, Bengaluru
2017: Indian Statistical Institute, Bengaluru
2017: WTO, Virginia
2017: Panjabi University, Patiala
2017: HBCSE, TIFR, Mumbai
2017: Ahmedabad University, Ahmedabad, India
2017: Jadavpur University, Kolkata, India ‘ 2017: Jadavpur University, Kolkata, India ‘ 2017: Bengal Institute, Dhaka, Bangladesh
2017: North South University, Dhaka, Bangladesh
2017: Jadavpur University, Kolkata, India
2017: Indian Statistical Institute, Tezpur
2017: Indian Statistical Institute, Tezpur
2017: Sikkim Manipal Institute of Technology, Majitar, Sikkim, India
2017: Jawaharlal Nehru Centre for Advanced Scientific Research, Bangalore, India
2017: T A Pai Management Institute, Manipal, India
2016: Manipur University, Imphal, India
2016: University of Dhaka, Bangladesh
2016: Indian Institute of Science, Education and Research, Pune, India
2016: Bodoland University, Kokrajhar, India
2016: Gonoswasthyo Shomajvittik Medical College, Gono Biswobidyaloy (People's University), Savar, Bangladesh
2016: Indian Statistical Institute, Kolkata, India
2015: University of Liberal Arts Bangladesh, Dhaka, Bangladesh
2015: Rajiv Gandhi University, Rono Hills, Arunachal Pradesh, India
2015: University of Madras, Chennai, India
2015: Indian Institute of Technology - Madras, Chennai, India
2015: Modern Academy for Continuing Education, Kolkata, India
2015: Nagaland University, Dimapur, India
2015: Asian University for Women, Chittagong, Bangladesh
2014: St.Xavier’s College, Kolkata, India
2014: Ashoka University, Haryana, India
2014: UCS Summer Symposium, Princeton University, NJ, USA
2013: Indian Statistical Instute, Kolkata, India
2012: Brain seminar, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, USA
2012: Cognitive Science seminar, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, USA
2012: University of Dhaka, Bangladesh
2012: Jagannath University, Bangladesh
2011: VisionFest, Hanover, New Hampshire, USA
2011: Indian Statistical Institute, Kolkata, India
2011: Dartmouth College, USA
2010: University of Zurich, Switzerland
2010: University Hospital, Zurich, Switzerland
2010: Wellesley College, USA
2010: National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan
2010: Regional Institute of Ophthalmology, Kolkata, India
2010: National Brain Research Centre, Delhi, India
2010: Vision seminar, University of Washington, Seattle, USA
2010: Centre for Behavioral and Cognitive Sciences, Allahabad University, India
2010: Center for Cognitive Sciences, Jadavpur University, Kolkata, India
2010: Cognition, Brain, Behavior seminar, Harvard University, Cambridge, USA
2009: Indian Statistical Institute, Kolkata, India
2008: University of Liege, Belgium
2006: Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi, India
Collaborators:
Ryota Kanai (University College, London) Albert Yonas (University of Minnesota) Daw An Wu (California Institute of Technology) Brad Duchaine (University College, London – Dartmouth College, NH) Bhavin Sheth (University of Houston) Himadri Datta (West Bengal University of Health Sciences) Joe DeGutis (Boston VA Medical Center) Jeremy Wilmer (Wellesley College) Laura Germine (Harvard University) Adelaide Blavier (University of Liege) Daniel Saunders (Harvard Medical School)
Service positions and extra-curricular activities:
1. Representative, Department of Psychology, Harvard University Graduate Students Council
2. GSAS Representative on the Harvard Faculty-Student Judicial Board
3. Corresponding secretary, Postdoctoral Association (PDA), MIT
4. Diplomate in Vocal Rabindra Sangeet (Bengali musical art form)
5. Convener, Institution Ethical Committee for Human Subjects research, ISI Kolkata
6. Member, Division Computer Purchase Committee, CCSD, ISI Kolkata
7. Convener, Website Committee, ISI, Kolkata
8. Convener, Ranking Committee, ISI Kolkata
9. GIAN coordinator, ISI Kolkata
10. Convener – MTech CS Dissertation committee 2016
11. Member– MTech CS Dissertation committee 2017
12. Member – Ethics Committee- School of Cognitive Science, Jadavpur University
13. Member – Board of Studies – Department of Microbiology, St.Xavier's College, Kolkata.
14. Member – PC Mahalonobis 125th Birthday Celebration Committee
15. Member – Technical Review Committee, 7th International Conference on Pattern Recognition and Machine Intelligence
Academic references (more available on request):
Dr. Pawan Sinha Professor of Vision and Computational Neuroscience Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences Massachusetts Institute of Technology Email: [email protected]
Dr.Ken Nakayama Edgar Pierce Professor of Psychology Vision Sciences Laboratory Department of Psychology Harvard University Email: [email protected]
Dr. George Alvarez Associate Professor Department of Psychology Harvard University Email: [email protected]