| Contact Information: | lhamwi@yorku.ca |
| Degrees in Progress: | Ph.D. (Clinical-Developmental Psychology, Neuropsychology Stream) |
| Degrees Completed: | M.A. (Clinical-Developmental Psychology) B.Sc. (Honours Psychology, Carleton University) B.Sc. (Honours Biomedical Science, University of Ottawa) |
Research Interests:
Lojain Hamwi's master's thesis focused on advancing neonatal care through the application of machine learning for pain assessment in preterm infants. By analyzing multichannel EEG data, her research explored the ability of machine learning models to classify cortical responses to pain versus non-pain stimuli during routine procedures like heel lances. This work demonstrated the feasibility of using EEG-based machine learning algorithms to distinguish pain-related activity, paving the way for real-time, autonomous pain monitoring tools in NICUs to enhance care and improve long-term outcomes for vulnerable infants. Building on this foundation, her dissertation focuses on integrating multimodal assessments, such as heart rate, respiration, oxygen saturation, and facial coding, to enhance pain assessment models.
In addition to her academic work, Lojain is an EDIA Champion with the Digital Research Alliance of Canada, where she is designing initiatives to equip mental health researchers from diverse backgrounds with foundational knowledge in digital research infrastructure (DRI). Collaborating with DIVERT Mental Health, IBM Canada, and the Alliance, she is curating training pathways on advanced technologies such as AI, cloud computing, and data management. These efforts focus on bridging knowledge gaps, fostering inclusivity, and enabling researchers to effectively utilize DRI tools to advance mental health research and improve outcomes, particularly for marginalized populations.
Honours and Awards:
2024: DRI EDIA Champion Program, Digital Research Alliance of Canada
2024: Ontario Graduate Scholarship, York University
2023: Meighen Wright Foundation Maternal-Child Health Graduate Scholarship, York University
2022-2023: Canada Graduate Scholarship - Master’s Scholarship, Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC)
2022-2023: Ontario Graduate Scholarship (declined)
2020: Mitacs Research Training Award
2017, 2019 & 2020: Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) Undergraduate Student Research Award, University of Ottawa
2020: Naomi Rayner Scholarship, Carleton University
2018 & 2019: Merit Scholarship, University of Ottawa2016: Admission Scholarship, University of Ottawa
2016: Taylor Negm Award, Marianopolis College
Publications:
Hamwi, L., Du, H., Jasim, S., Wang, X., Cheng, C., Shah, V., Fabrizi, L., Fitzgerald, M., Meek, J., Racine, N., Stedman, I., & Pillai Riddell, R. (in review). Machine learning classification of EEG responses to pain vs non-pain related stimuli in preterm infants.
Racine, N.*, Chow, C.*, Hamwi, L., Bucsea, O., Cheng, C., Du, H., Fabrizi, L., Jasim, S., Johannsson, L., Jones, L., Laudiano-Dray, M. P., Meek, J., Mistry, N., Shah, V., Stedman, I., Wang, X., & Riddell, R. P. (2024). Health Care Professionals' and Parents' Perspectives on the Use of AI for Pain Monitoring in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit: Multisite Qualitative Study. JMIR AI, 3, e51535. https://doi.org/10.2196/51535. *Shared first co-author.
Pillai Riddell, R., Jasim, S., & Hamwi, L. (2022). Out of the Mouth of Babes: A Lot about Pain has Nothing to Do with Pain. Pain. https://doi.org/10.1097/j.pain.0000000000002761
Kopp, L., Hamwi, L., & Atance, C. M. (2021). Self-projection in early development: Preschoolers’ reasoning about changes in their future and past preferences. Journal of Cognition and Development. https://doi.org/10.1080/15248372.2021.1874954
Rogers, M., Hamwi, L., & McBrearty, N. (2020, August). Supporting families and children during the pandemic. Psynopsis, 42(3), 24.