Sahar Elyahoodayan

Center Director @Usc Viterbi School Of Engineering

Los Angeles, CA, US

Spearheaded key initiatives for CARSS, an NIH-funded Center developing an open-source, implantable neuromodulation system in collaboration with two industry and three academic partners to support diverse clinical research applications.• Directed cross-functional project execution including strategic planning, budgeting, recruitment and team development, scheduling, and reporting to sponsors and advisors.• Led grant writing efforts that secured supplemental NIH funding to address a critical preclinical gap in the original award, enabling animal studies for safety and feasibility study.• Expanded use cases to support indication-specific studies through NIH partnership.• Established and maintained external collaborations with academic labs, clinicians and industry partners to co-develop studies, gain insight, and validate results. • Served as subject matter expert: providing input on device architecture, stimulation parameters, safety, computational modeling and bridging insights from preclinical work to potential clinical study design. • Designed, coordinated, and led multiple small- and large-animal studies across specific indications (including bladder and bowel control for spinal cord injury models), from protocol design through execution and data analysis. • Led launch of a public data repository and coordinated intra- and inter-center working groups to promote transparency, reproducibility, and engagement. • Established strategic partnerships with external academic labs, clinical collaborators, and commercial vendors to support long-term sustainability and adoption of open-source tools.

University of Southern California

Master's degree

University of Southern California

Master's degree

University of Southern California

Doctor of Philosophy - PhD

University of Southern California

Bachelor of Science (B.S.)