Neha Shakir

Neha Shakir is graduating with degrees in biomedical engineering from the Ira A. Fulton Schools of Engineering and neuroscience from The College of Liberal Arts and Sciences at Arizona State University.

Shakir knew she wanted to be a pre-med student when she was in high school, so biomedical engineering was a great choice for her.

She declared for her neuroscience degree after doing lab research as an intern in the Banner Neuroscience Scholars program, where her research involved using coding and data science to investigate patterns of neuropsychiatric symptom expression in neurodegenerative diseases with and without Lewy body pathology.

“I was fascinated by the concepts I was being exposed to and wanted to get a deeper understanding so that I could make more meaningful contributions in my research,” Shakir says.

Through that experience, she fell in love with the data science principles she would later explore further through her coursework and thesis project.

“It deepened my appreciation for seeing the real-life implications of these principles in patient care, reaffirming my belief that biomedical engineering was the perfect place for me to explore the intersections between my dual passions in engineering and medicine,” Shakir says.

The ASU Barrett, The Honors College, student was selected to give an oral presentation at the 2023 American Academy of Neurology annual conference in Boston. She also co-first authored a research paper that was recently published in the Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease.

In addition to her academic and research accomplishments, Shakir is deeply committed to supporting others through leadership and service. She was the professional development co-director of the National Pre-Health Community, for which she connected students preparing to become health care professionals with accessible research, internships and clinical resources to aid them on their career paths.

Shakir also volunteers at the Sindh Institute of Urology and Transplantation in Karachi, Pakistan.

“Coming from my sheltered life in the Arizona suburbs, my childhood trips to Pakistan, my father’s home country — where I saw mothers bathing their infants by the roadside and children scavenging through trash for food — were sobering,” Shakir says. 

She will be attending the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine this fall, where she will take her next steps to impact the world around her.

“I have developed a heightened appreciation of the complex financial and social barriers precluding people, especially women, from seeking sexual and reproductive health services,” she says. “In this resource-limited setting, I hope even the small actions within my power can make a difference.”

Read about other exceptional graduates of the Fulton Schools’ spring 2025 class here.