Dani Bassett

{{Short description|American physicist}} {{Infobox scientist | name = Dani Bassett | native_name = | native_name_lang = | image = | imagesize = | alt = | caption = | birth_date = c. 1981  | birth_place = | death_date =  | death_place = | death_cause = | resting_place = | resting_place_coordinates =  | other_names = | residence = | citizenship = | fields = physics, neuroscience | workplaces = University of California, Santa Barbara University of Pennsylvania | patrons = | education = | alma_mater = Pennsylvania State University (BS) University of Cambridge (PgCert, PhD) | thesis_title =  | thesis_url =  | thesis_year =  | doctoral_advisor = Thomas Duke, Edward T. Bullmore, Andreas Meyer-Lindenberg | academic_advisors = | doctoral_students = | notable_students = | known_for = | influences = | influenced = | awards = Sloan Research Fellowship MacArthur fellowship Erdős–Rényi Prize ONR Young Investigator | author_abbrev_bot = | author_abbrev_zoo = | spouse = | partner =  | children = Two sons, b. 2011 and 2014<ref name = DBweb>{{cite web|title=Personal|url=http://www.danisbassett.com/personal.html|website=Complex Systems Group|access-date=2015-11-21|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171231025921/http://www.danisbassett.com/personal.html|archive-date=2017-12-31}}</ref> | signature =  | signature_alt = | website = {{URL|http://www.danisbassett.com}} | footnotes = }} '''Dani Smith Bassett''' (born {{circa|1981}}<ref name="Avril">{{cite news|url=http://www.philly.com/philly/news/20140917_Penn_researcher_Danielle_Bassett_wins_a__genius_grant_.html|title=Penn researcher Danielle Bassett wins a 'genius grant'|last=Avril|first=Tom|date=September 16, 2014|work=Philadelphia Media Network|access-date=17 September 2014|archive-date=10 October 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141010153728/http://www.philly.com/philly/news/20140917_Penn_researcher_Danielle_Bassett_wins_a__genius_grant_.html}}</ref>) is an American physicist and systems neuroscientist who was the youngest individual to be awarded a 2014 MacArthur fellowship.<ref name=macfound>{{cite web|url=http://www.macfound.org/fellows/907/|title=Danielle Bassett|publisher=MacArthur Foundation|access-date=17 September 2014}}</ref><ref name="Lee">{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2014/09/17/arts/macarthur-awards-go-to-21-diverse-fellows.html|title=MacArthur Awards Go to 21 Diverse Fellows|last=Lee|first=Felicia R.|date=September 17, 2014|work=The New York Times|access-date=17 September 2014}}</ref> They are also the J. Peter Skirkanich Professor at the University of Pennsylvania.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Danielle Bassett {{!}} Neurophotonics Center |url=https://www.bu.edu/neurophotonics/danielle-bassett/ |access-date=2026-03-16 |website=www.bu.edu}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Dani S. Bassett {{!}} Department of Physics and Astronomy |url=https://live-sas-physics.pantheon.sas.upenn.edu/people/standing-faculty/danielle-bassett |access-date=2026-03-16 |website=live-sas-physics.pantheon.sas.upenn.edu |language=en}}</ref>

Bassett, whose pronouns are they/them,<ref>{{Cite web|title=Personal|url=https://complexsystemsupenn.com/personal|access-date=2022-01-27|website=Complex Systems Lab UPenn|language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=NIH VideoCast - Thinking Critically About How We Do Science|url=https://videocast.nih.gov/watch=44188|access-date=2022-01-27|website=videocast.nih.gov| date=5 January 2022 }}</ref> was also awarded a 2014 Sloan fellowship.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.sloan.org/sloan-research-fellowships/2014-sloan-research-fellows/ |title=2014 Sloan Research Fellows |publisher=Alfred P. Sloan Foundation |access-date=17 September 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141006043252/http://www.sloan.org/sloan-research-fellowships/2014-sloan-research-fellows/ |archive-date=6 October 2014 }}</ref> They are currently the J. Peter Skirkanich Professor in the Departments of Bioengineering, Electrical & Systems Engineering, Physics & Astronomy, Neurology, and Psychiatry at the University of Pennsylvania<ref name="Avril" /><ref name="rdp">{{cite web|url=http://www.seas.upenn.edu/directory/profile.php?ID=193|title=Penn Engineering – Research Directory Profile|publisher=University of Pennsylvania|access-date=17 September 2014}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=Dani S. Bassett|url=https://directory.seas.upenn.edu/danielle-s-bassett/|access-date=2022-01-27|language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|date=January 27, 2022|title=Bassett's CV as of 9/2021|url=https://complexsystemsupenn.com/s/Bassett_CV_9_21_2021_forweb.pdf}}</ref> and an external professor of the Santa Fe Institute.<ref>{{Cite web|title=People {{!}} Santa Fe Institute|url=https://www.santafe.edu//people/type/researcher|access-date=2022-01-27|website=www.santafe.edu|language=en|archive-date=2022-05-25|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220525210353/https://www.santafe.edu/people/type/researcher}}</ref> Their work focuses on applying network science to the study of learning in the human brain<ref name="Avril" /> in addition to the study of other complex physical and biological systems.<ref name="rdp" />

==Early life and education== Dani S. Bassett (born Danielle Perry) was born in 1981 and was raised in Lock Haven and Reading, Pennsylvania.<ref name=cbio>{{cite journal|last1=Hagan|first1=Molly|title=Danielle Bassett|journal=Current Biography|date=June 2015|volume=76|issue=6|pages=7–11}}</ref> Pursuing a passion for medicine, and following in family footsteps, Bassett began higher education in an RN program at the Reading Hospital School of Nursing. After discovering a passion for mathematics, Bassett sought to combine the concepts of physics and mathematics to neuroscience. Bassett graduated from Pennsylvania State University with a bachelor of science in physics in 2004.<ref name=macfound/> Basset received the NIH-Cambridge Scholarship and the Winston Churchill Scholarship and studied at the University of Cambridge. Bassett received a certificate in postgraduate studies from Churchill College, Cambridge in 2005 and a doctor of philosophy from King's College, Cambridge in 2009.<ref name=resume>{{cite web|title=Danielle Bassett|url=http://www.danisbassett.com/uploads/1/1/8/5/11852336/bassett_cv_1_12_2015_forweb.pdf|access-date=19 November 2015|archive-date=20 November 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151120004406/http://www.danisbassett.com/uploads/1/1/8/5/11852336/bassett_cv_1_12_2015_forweb.pdf}}</ref>

== Career ==

Dani S. Bassett became a postdoctoral associate from 2009 to 2011 at the University of California, Santa Barbara and a Sage Junior Research Fellow from 2011 to 2013. Bassett is currently on the faculty of the University of Pennsylvania as the J. Peter Skirkanich Professor in the department of bioengineering.<ref name=macfound />

Bassett's early work used and developed concepts in network science and complex systems to understand the organization of the brain.<ref name=macfound /> Bassett focused on the "small-world" topology of the brain, which refers to networks and the way in which they express dense local clustering and how the presence of connections leads to a short path of communication between distant nodes. Bassett's research team applied mathematical concepts in graph theory to small-world analysis to quantify cortical connectivity. The small-world models Bassett produced introduced a means to understanding the brain's structure and function.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Bassett|first1=D. S.|last2=Bullmore|first2=E.|title=Small-World Brain Networks|journal=The Neuroscientist|date=1 December 2006|volume=12|issue=6|pages=512–523|doi=10.1177/1073858406293182|pmid=17079517|citeseerx=10.1.1.132.2709|s2cid=4305469}}</ref>

These topological measures developed early in Bassett's career were used to examine the cortex and its divisions and wiring to determine the properties that the cortex has. Bassett found that of the various cortical regions, the multimodal portion of the cortex has hierarchical organizations with low clustering, and the transmodal portion was more assortative. Bassett applied these concepts to schizophrenic individuals and noticed that the organization of these portions were abnormal with increasing connection distances. Bassett continues to research the implications of network behaviors on mental disorders, particularly schizophrenia.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Bassett|first1=D. S.|last2=Bullmore|first2=E.|last3=Verchinski|first3=B. A.|last4=Mattay|first4=V. S.|last5=Weinberger|first5=D. R.|last6=Meyer-Lindenberg|first6=A.|title=Hierarchical Organization of Human Cortical Networks in Health and Schizophrenia|journal=Journal of Neuroscience|date=10 September 2008|volume=28|issue=37|pages=9239–9248|doi=10.1523/JNEUROSCI.1929-08.2008|pmid=18784304|pmc=2878961}}</ref>

Bassett also has worked with Fabio Pasqualetti (currently at University of California, Riverside) to apply control theory to the study of the brain;<ref name=":0">{{Cite journal|last=Servick|first=Kelly|date=2019-04-12|title=The trespasser|url=https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.364.6436.118|journal=Science|volume=364|issue=6436|pages=118–121|doi=10.1126/science.364.6436.118|issn=0036-8075|pmid=30975871|bibcode=2019Sci...364..118S|s2cid=109939235|url-access=subscription}}</ref> their initial study on the subject was published in 2015.<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Bassett|first1=Danielle S.|last2=Grafton|first2=Scott T.|last3=Miller|first3=Michael B.|last4=Vettel|first4=Jean M.|last5=Medaglia|first5=John D.|last6=Kahn|first6=Ari E.|last7=Yu|first7=Alfred B.|last8=Telesford|first8=Qawi K.|last9=Cieslak|first9=Matthew|date=2015-10-01|title=Controllability of structural brain networks|journal=Nature Communications|volume=6|article-number=8414|doi=10.1038/ncomms9414|pmid=26423222|pmc=4600713|issn=2041-1723|arxiv=1406.5197|bibcode=2015NatCo...6.8414G}}</ref>

Bassett and their team have also been conducting research regarding brain flexibility. Brain flexibility is how often a region of the brain switches communication patterns. The more often the brain switches patterns, the more flexible the brain is. They have also found correlations between the ability for the brain to learn and the flexibility of the brain. Bassett's research may have implications in rehabilitation, particularly in patients who have had a stroke.<ref>{{cite web|title=Danielle Bassett: The Flexible Brain|url=http://www.brainfacts.org/about-neuroscience/meet-the-researcher/articles/2014/danielle-bassett-the-flexible-brain/|website=BrainFacts}}</ref>

==Awards and honors== During their undergraduate studies, Bassett was the sole recipient of the Paul Axt Prize, which is given to a student who demonstrates commitment to inquiry and fosters intellectual curiosity. They were also a Schreyer Honors Scholar and were named the Most Achieving Undergraduate Woman of the Year in 2004. Bassett received the Winston Churchill Scholarship and the National Institute of Health- Cambridge Health Science Scholarship to fund their graduate education. Bassett received the Alumni Achievement Award from the Schreyer Honors College at Pennsylvania State University for extraordinary accomplishment under 35 years of age. Bassett was named American Psychological Society "Rising Star" in December 2012. In January 2014, they won the Sloan Research Fellowship.<ref name=resume /> Most notably, they were one of the 21 winners of the MacArthur Research Fellowship in September 2014.<ref name=macfound />

In 2016, Bassett was named one of the ten most brilliant scientists of the year by ''Popular Science'' magazine.<ref name="Greenwood">{{cite news|last1=Greenwood|first1=Veronique|last2=Willyard|first2=Cassandra|title=The Woman Who Reimagines How The Brain Works Danielle Bassett is one of the 10 most brilliant people of 2016|url=http://www.popsci.com/woman-who-revealed-brain-flexibility|access-date=28 April 2017|work=Popular Science|date=September 13, 2016}}</ref> In 2017, they received the Lagrange Prize in Complex Systems.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Prize|url=https://www.isi.it/en/lagrange-project/prize|access-date=2022-01-27|website=www.isi.it}}{{Dead link|date=August 2025 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> In 2018, Bassett received the Erdős–Rényi Prize for "fundamental contributions to our understanding of the network architecture of the human brain".<ref>{{Cite web | url=https://beblog.seas.upenn.edu/erdos-renyi-prize-bassett/ |title = Erdős-Rényi Prize for Danielle Bassett|date = 2018-06-14}}</ref>

Bassett was named a fellow of the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering in 2020<ref>{{cite web|url=https://pics.upenn.edu/danielle-bassett-named-american-institute-for-medical-and-biological-engineering-aimbe-fellow/|title=Danielle Bassett Named American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering (AIMBE) Fellow|website=Penn Institute for Computational Science, University of Pennsylvania|date=April 13, 2020|access-date=2021-10-13}}</ref> and a fellow of the American Physical Society in 2021.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.aps.org/programs/honors/fellowships/archive-all.cfm|title=APS Fellow Archive|access-date=2021-10-13}}</ref>

== Personal life == Dani S. Bassett has two children. During Bassett's earlier years, they captained the crew team at King's College, Cambridge.<ref name = DBweb/> Bassett's twin is Perry Zurn, professor at the department of philosophy at American University.<ref name=funfacts>{{cite web|title=Danielle Bassett / Personal|url=https://www.danisbassett.com/personal.html|access-date=27 November 2018|archive-date=31 December 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171231025921/http://www.danisbassett.com/personal.html}}</ref>

===Books=== *''Curious Minds: The Power of Connection'' (2022) : Cambridge: The MIT Press. ({{ISBN|0262047039}})

===Articles=== * {{cite journal|last=Bassett|first=Danielle S|author2=Felix Siebenhühner|author3=Shennan A Weiss|author4=Richard Coppola|author5=Daniel R Weinberger|year=2013|title=Intra- and Inter-Frequency Brain Network Structure in Health and Schizophrenia|journal=PLOS ONE| doi=10.1371/journal.pone.0072351|bibcode = 2013PLoSO...872351S|volume=8|issue=8|article-number=e72351|pmid=23991097|pmc=3753323|doi-access=free}} * {{cite journal|last=Bassett|first=D. S.|author2=B G Nelson|author3=B A Mueller|author4=J Camchong|author5=K O Lim|year=2012|title=Altered resting state complexity in schizophrenia|journal=NeuroImage|volume=59|issue=3|pages=2196–2207| doi=10.1016/j.neuroimage.2011.10.002|pmid=22008374|pmc=3254701}} * {{cite journal|last=Bassett|first=D. S.|author2=E. Bullmore |year=2006|title=Small-World Brain Networks|journal=The Neuroscientist|volume=12|issue=6|pages=512–523|issn=1073-8584|doi=10.1177/1073858406293182|pmid=17079517|citeseerx=10.1.1.132.2709|s2cid=4305469}} * {{cite journal|last=Bassett|first=D. S.|author2=A. Meyer-Lindenberg |author3=S. Achard|author3-link= Sophie Achard |author4=T. Duke |author5=E. Bullmore |year=2006|title=Adaptive reconfiguration of fractal small-world human brain functional networks|journal=Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences|volume=103|issue=51|pages=19518–19523|issn=0027-8424|doi=10.1073/pnas.0606005103|bibcode = 2006PNAS..10319518B |pmid=17159150 |pmc=1838565|doi-access=free}} * {{cite journal|last=Bassett|first=D. S.|author2=E. Bullmore |author3=B. A. Verchinski |author4=V. S. Mattay |author5=D. R. Weinberger |author6=A. Meyer-Lindenberg |year=2008|title=Hierarchical Organization of Human Cortical Networks in Health and Schizophrenia|journal=Journal of Neuroscience|volume=28|issue=37|pages=9239–9248|issn=0270-6474|doi=10.1523/JNEUROSCI.1929-08.2008 |pmid=18784304 |pmc=2878961}}

== External links == * {{google scholar id|id=siYpAPsAAAAJ}}

==References== {{Reflist}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bassett, Danielle}} Category:1980s births Category:21st-century American physicists Category:Alumni of the University of Cambridge Category:American women neuroscientists Category:American neuroscientists Category:Living people Category:MacArthur Fellows Category:Eberly College of Science alumni Category:People from Lock Haven, Pennsylvania Category:Sloan Research Fellows Category:University of Pennsylvania faculty Category:Year of birth missing (living people) Category:American network scientists Category:Fellows of the American Physical Society Category:University of California, Santa Barbara faculty Category:21st-century American women academics Category:21st-century American academics Category:21st-century American women physicists