Mentor Areas
large-scale neurophysiology, wireless video EEG monitoring of large animals, cognitive touchscreen-based behavioral testing, sleep and circadian neurobiology
Description:
I am an Assistant Professor of Neurosurgery at Perelman School of Medicine and a Research Scientist at Philadelphia VA Medical Center. I am also a faculty member of the Penn Center for Brain Injury and Repair (CBIR) and Penn Chronobiology and Sleep Institute (CSI). My long-term research goals are to understand the mechanisms underlying cognitive dysfunction following traumatic brain injury (TBI) and to develop neuromodulation therapies for patients and veterans with TBI. My current research focus is on the role of disrupted sleep in the development of post-traumatic epilepsy (funded by the Department of Defense Epilepsy Research Program) and its contribution to the chronic cognitive deficits post-TBI (funded by the Department of Veterans Affairs).
Preferred Qualifications
I am looking for team-project-oriented students with an interest in understanding TBI-associated pathologies and behavioral changes following mild (concussion) or more severe types of brain injuries, specifically in the areas of sleep disturbances and cognitive dysfunction. Students will be part of multi-lab preclinical research projects centered around experimental models of TBI, with an opportunity to learn all (or some) of the following techniques based on interests and/or time commitment: 1) clinical monitoring and recovery of animals as well as surgical aseptic techniques as a part of an extensive team effort, 2) designing and implementing touchscreen-based cognitive tests in large animals (T-maze, Conditional Association Task, and Delayed Match to Sample Task), 3) applying AI-based pose estimation methodologies for sleep and circadian rhythm analyses (video-based analyses), and 4) using computational analyses (EEG-based Matlab algorithms) to understand animals' physiological and pathophysiological behaviors post-TBI. Over time in the lab, students will be able to contribute to team projects to design and create future neuromodulation therapies to improve the quality of life in patients and veterans with TBI and PTE. Students will also be given an individual project to complete as a part of the larger effort, which they can write up and present at local and National conferences.
Details:
Preferred Student Year
Junior, Senior
Academic Term
Fall, Spring, Summer
I prefer to have students start during the above term(s).Volunteer
Yes
Yes indicates that faculty are open to volunteers.Paid
No
Yes indicates that faculty are open to paying students they engage in their research, regardless of their work-study eligibility.Work Study
No
Yes indicates that faculty are open to hiring work-study-eligible students.