Dr. Sudhin A. Shah, PhD
Co-Founder & CEOEngineer and neuroscientist with 16 years studying cognitive recovery at Weill Cornell Medicine, where the research led to MINDstat.
Columbia · Cornell
LinkedInEvery brain has a story We finally know how to listen
MINDstat is designed to measure cognition objectively using the brain's own response to spoken language, with no motor response required.
Why we build MINDstat
For years, no one could tell Aidan’s family he was still there.
At least1 in 4
patients who can’t respond to commands still show the brain activity of following them.
Bodien et al., NEJM 2024Starting in critical care
Cognition is often assumed from behavior rather than measured directly. Missing covert awareness can affect decisions about rehabilitation and continuation of care.
How MINDstat works
Just listen. MINDstat System. Step 1: PLAY AUDIOBOOK. The material is tailored to age, interest, complexity and native language — the listener just listens. Step 2: RECORD EEG. The brain generates electrical signals from multiple regions as it processes the words in the story. Step 3: DECODE. MINDstat uses large language models to guide analysis and isolate electrical signatures of hearing and comprehension. Step 4: REVEAL. Objective evidence of cognition revealed — quantified, trackable, and configurable across clinical and consumer settings. ADJUST FOR COMPLEXITY. REPEAT TO TRACK PROGRESS.
Just listen.
MINDstat System
1
PLAY AUDIOBOOK
The material is tailored to age, interest, complexity and native language — the listener just listens.
2
RECORD EEG
The brain generates electrical signals from multiple regions as it processes the words in the story.
3
DECODE
MINDstat uses large language models to guide analysis and isolate electrical signatures of hearing and comprehension.
4
REVEAL
Objective evidence of cognition revealed — quantified, trackable, and configurable across clinical and consumer settings.
Founding team
Meet the people behind the project
LinkedIn
Dr. N. Jeremy Hill, DPhil
Co-Founder & CTOFirst to demonstrate BCI decoding of auditory attention. Architect of MINDstat’s decoding intelligence.
Oxford · Max Planck
LinkedIn
Dr. Nicholas D. Schiff, MD
Co-FounderDefined cognitive-motor dissociation. Pioneer of deep brain stimulation for recovery of consciousness.
Stanford · Cornell
Dr. Edmund C. Lalor, PhD
Co-FounderCreated the foundational computational tools underpinning modern EEG-based language and cognition research.
Trinity College Dublin · University of Rochester
LinkedIn
Dr. Giacomo Scanavini, PhD
Founding EngineerPhysicist and signal-processing engineer. Co-lead of clinical validation studies.
Yale · Cornell
LinkedIn
Laura Galaska
Founding Director, Mission & StrategyLived-experience lead. Her relentless pursuit of answers for her son is the reason this company exists.
LinkedIn
Advisory Board
Advised by leaders in medicine and business
Clinical Advisor · UCSF · Neurocritical Care Society
Dr. J. Claude Hemphill III, MD, MAS
Founding director and past president of the Neurocritical Care Society. Co-chair of the Curing Coma Campaign. Chief of Neurocritical Care at Zuckerberg San Francisco General and Professor of Neurology and Neurosurgery at UCSF. Chaired the national guidelines for intracerebral hemorrhage, with 24,700+ citations.
LinkedIn
Clinical Advisor · MUSC · Hoplite Healthcare
Dr. Matthew Hulse, MD, MBA
Chief of Critical Care Medicine and Director of the Cardiothoracic ICU at MUSC. Specializes in advanced monitoring and AI-driven decision support for the highest-acuity patients. Co-founder of a physician-led firm guiding medtech from lab to market.
LinkedIn
Strategic Advisor · Weill Cornell · Columbia
Dr. Robert J. Min, MD, MBA
Invented the endovenous laser treatment now used as the global standard of care for venous insufficiency. President and CEO of the Weill Cornell Physician Organization and Chair of Radiology, overseeing clinical operations across one of the nation's top academic medical centers.
LinkedIn
Strategic Advisor · Prove Identity · Harvard
Rodger Desai, MBA
Co-founded Prove Identity and led it as CEO into the world's leading identity and verification company. A unicorn serving 19 of the top 20 US banks and 2,000+ enterprises across 195 countries.
LinkedIn
Scientific foundation
The science behind the signal
Peer-reviewed work on natural speech, comprehension and covert cognition forms the scientific foundation for MINDstat.
Cognitive Motor Dissociation Following Severe Brain Injuries
Naming the problem: Schiff defined cognitive motor dissociation: awareness the brain shows on imaging or EEG that the body can’t show through movement.
Electrophysiological Correlates of Semantic Dissimilarity Reflect the Comprehension of Natural, Narrative Speech
The foundation: EEG can track how the brain processes the meaning of each word in natural speech. This signal is present when listeners understand speech and diminishes when they don’t.
Cortical Response to the Natural Speech Envelope Correlates with Neuroimaging Evidence of Cognition in Severe Brain Injury
The bridge to patients: In patients with severe brain injury, the brain’s EEG response to natural speech matched what motor-imagery tests showed about hidden cognition, without the need for a motor command.
More than words: Neurophysiological correlates of semantic dissimilarity depend on comprehension of the speech narrative
Evidence it reflects comprehension: The brain’s response to word meaning depends on following the story as a whole, so it reflects real comprehension and not just word recognition.
Neurology®
Clinical Practice
Cognitive-Motor Dissociation Following Pediatric Brain Injury: What About the Children?
The pediatric gap: Cognitive-motor dissociation is not just an adult problem. Two adolescents considered unresponsive for years showed clear evidence of understanding on EEG and fMRI.
Neurology®
Clinical Practice
Objective Neurophysiologic Markers of Cognition After Pediatric Brain Injury
From yes/no to a scale: EEG markers of how the brain responds to sound separated four levels of cognitive state in 47 children and adolescents, and identified hidden awareness that bedside exams missed.
Cognitive Motor Dissociation in Disorders of Consciousness
Why it matters: About one in four unresponsive patients could follow motor-imagery commands (“imagine squeezing your hand”) in their brain activity, but those tests demand sustained effort, a gap that natural speech listening can fill.
Leveraging meaning-induced neural dynamics to detect covert cognition via EEG during natural language listening: a case series
Bringing it to patients: In a case series of patients with disorders of consciousness, EEG responses to the meaning of natural speech revealed covert cognition alongside standard motor-imagery testing.
Funding
Supporting the next stage
News & media
Follow the work
Coverage of Cognitive Signals and our team members in talks, podcasts, interviews
Exploring Cognitive Motor Dissociation in Consciousness Disorders: Nicholas Schiff, MD
Nicholas Schiff discusses cognitive motor dissociation, the challenges of assessing patients who cannot respond to commands, and the implications of detecting hidden cognition.
Read interview: NeurologyLive
Nicholas Schiff on hidden awareness
Entrepreneurship at Cornell
Cognitive Signals selected to pitch at Eclectic Convergence 2026, the Cornell Entrepreneurship Summit at Cornell Tech.
View event: Eclectic Convergence 2026
How do you know someone understands you when they cannot tell you?
Chay Carter interviews Sudhin Shah and Jeremy Hill about MINDstat, natural-language EEG and the company’s path toward clinical use.
Read feature: Carter Intel
Vegetative Patients May Be More Aware Than We Knew
Katie Engelhart examines hidden consciousness, the limits of bedside assessments and the difficult choices facing families, including perspectives from Nicholas Schiff and other researchers.
Read article: The New York Times Magazine
Weill Cornell Medicine spotlights Cognitive Signals
Weill Cornell Medicine introduces Cognitive Signals and its approach to measuring responses to natural spoken language when patients cannot communicate through behavior.
Read post: LinkedIn
Cognitive Signals at the Cornell Silicon Valley Showcase
Cognitive Signals announces its participation in the Cornell Silicon Valley Showcase on 26 March 2026 in San Francisco, introducing its approach to objective cognitive assessment.
Read post: LinkedIn
Cognitive Signals invited to pitch at Ignite Connect 2026
Weill Cornell Medicine highlights Sudhin Shah among the innovators pitching to investors at Ignite Connect 2026, with her presentation in the Digital track.
Read post: LinkedIn
Some coma patients may be conscious. New research could identify them
Sam Jones reports on cognitive motor dissociation, with commentary from Sudhin Shah and Laura Galaska on recognizing hidden consciousness after severe brain injury.
Read article: The Washington Post
The brain speaks MINDstat listens Every brain, finally heard
Our journey together starts here