Brendon Watson, MD-PhD 

• Physician-scientist with an interest in both basic neuroscience and translational neuroscience. 

• Expertise in electrophysiology and rodent behavior.

• PhD with Dr. Rafael Yuste studying cortical microcircuit dynamics using calcium imaging (Columbia University)

• Postdoctoral fellowship with Dr. György Buzsaki studying cortical circuits in sleep and wake cycles of freely behaving animals using silicon probes (New York University)

• Practicing general psychiatrist at University of Michigan (website).   MD from Columbia University. Psychiatry residency at Cornell University Medical Center / New York Presbyterian Hospital

• University of Michigan Experts profile

Simeone Marino, PhD - Research Scientist

• Big Data: The theoretical foundations of Big Data Science remain a wide open field. We investigate a new Big Data theory for high-throughput analytics and model-free Inference. Specifically, we explore the core principles of distribution-free and model-agnostic methods for scientific inference based on Big Datasets and we call it Compressive Big Data analytics (CBDA).

• Data Sharing, Privacy and Utility: Sharing of Big biomedical data, including millions of records with thousands of complex features, provides enormous opportunities for disruptive healthcare innovations. However, the process of data sharing is currently impractical without compromising data value and utility while simultaneously protecting sensitive information. We are proposing a multidisciplinary approach to develop a novel statistical technique (DataSifter) that solves this data-sharing challenge.

• Systems Biology: mathematical modeling of immune response to pathogens (mathematical modeling of Mycobacterium tuberculosis) and host-microbiome interactions. Infection data are are from human, primate and mouse.

• Mathematics: representing cell populations dynamics and interaction by various mathematical modeling techniques, e.g. deterministic Ordinary Differential Equation (ODE) and Delay Diffferential Equation (DDE) systems, as well as Stochastic models (Agent Based Models– ABM)).

• Statistics: Parameter estimation and statistical techniques for uncertainty and sensitivity analysis in complex mathematical models (for example, statistical and computational techniques are used to model the effect of antigen dose on the early events in the immune response during Mycobacterium tuberculosis infection).

• Bioinformatics: Data Mining and Biochemical System Network discovery

Lezio Soares Bueno-Júnior, PhD - Research Investigator

• Biologist with Psychology MSc and Neuroscience PhD (University of Sao Paulo in Ribeirao Preto, Brazil, University of Pittsburgh and University of Michigan).

• Expertise in electrophysiology and behavioral monitoring in multiple rodent species. Experienced in the analysis of human electroencephalography and polysomnography.

• Past/present research involve collaborations with biologists, psychologists, psychiatrists, and neurologists in a range of neuroscientific topics, including operant conditioning, interval timing, synaptic plasticity,  drug sensitization, cholinergic modulation of brain states, sleep, psychiatric comorbidities in epilepsy, animal models of depression, social bonding, behavioral rhythms, somatotopy, and neural activity in forebrain (hippocampus, thalamus and neocortex).

• Skills include programming, brain recording/stimulation, electrode making, whisker/pupil videography, pose estimation, sensory stimulation, histology, 3D printing, video editing, and figure making.

• Current interests: temporal structure of REM sleep, behavioral and physiological markers of social bonding, impact of both learning and arousal states on neocortical activity, and sleep architecture alterations in psychiatric disease

• Michigan Experts profile

Jeremiah Hartner, PhD - Research Ivestigator

• PhD in Neuroscience from Tulane University with Dr. Laura Schrader: studied the effects of stress hormones on cell circuitry in the entorhinal cortex using patch clamp electrophysiology.

• Expertise in rodent behavior, electrophysiology, entorhinal and hippocampal anatomy and entorhinal-hippocampal connectivity

• Expertise in circadian rhythms

• Expertise in tech development

Nicolette Ognjanovski, PhD - Gilmore Fellow

• PhD from University of Michigan studying sleep-dependent hippocampal network dynamics associated with memory.

• Marie Curie Leading Postdoctoral Fellowship for Chronobiology at Leiden University Medical Center in the Netherlands. Focused on circadian electrical properties in the suprachiasmatic nucleus and hippocampus across the light-dark cycle.

• Current interests include expanding electrophysiological baseline signatures brain regions associated with stress, understanding the biological meaning of ‘time’, and groaning over processing 2TB data files.

Maxwell Ruckstuhl - Doctoral Student, Neuroscience

• BS in Physiology & Neuroscience from UCSD

• Additional studies in Cognitive Science and Philosophy

• Studied gene expression in the Sejnowski lab at the Salk Institute

Guanha Sun - Doctoral Student, Applied Interdisciplinary Mathematics (primary mentor Daniel Forger)

• Current research: Modeling and simulation of synaptic dynamics between sleep and wake

• Past Research: Fluid-structure Interaction and applied mechanics 

• BA in Mathematics, Minor in Physics from NYU

Josh Ghimire  - Doctoral Student

• Michigan State University Class of 2015

• Masters in Physiology, University of Michigan, 2020

• Background in microbial ecology and bioremediation, MSU Center for Microbial Ecology

David Kim  - Doctoral Student

• Doctoral program in Biomedical Engineering, University of Michigan

• Masters in Biomedical Engineering, University of Michigan, 2024

• B.S.E Biomedical Engineering, University of Michigan, 2021

• Background in signal processing and analytical mathematics

• Research interests in electrophysiology, circadian biology, and antidepressants

Diksha Anoop Kumar Zutshi  - Masters Student

• Masters program in Biomedical Engineering, University of Michigan (2023 - 2025)

• Integrated MTech, Bioengineering, School of Bioengineering, Sciences and Research, MIT-ADT, India (2017- 2022)

• Background in Signal Processing, Machine Learning, Data Analysis & Visualization.

• Research Interests: Electrophysiology, Neuro-Psychiatric Disorders, Brain Computer Interface & Assistive Technologies in Rehabilitation.

• Mail Id: dikshaz@umich.edu

• Linkedin Profile: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dikshazutshi/

• Github Profile: https://github.com/Diksha1118

Yipeng Efraim Liu  - Masters Student

• Masters program in Data Science, Department of Statistics, University of Michigan

• Previously received B.S. degree in Data Science from the Central University of Finance and Economics, China

• Background in data obfuscation and privacy/utility metrics generation of big biomedical data

• Interested in high-dimensional statistics, latent linear models, and bioinformatics

Antwan Green  - Lab manager 

• Behavioral Neuroscience B.S.

• Background in computational creation of teahing tools and teaching itself

• Interest in mental illness and its long-term effects 

Matthew Tong - Undergraduate Researcher/Volunteer

• University of Michigan class of 2023

• B.S. in Biomedical Engineering

• Pre-medical interests

• Specializes in CAD design, printing and engineering

Deniz Kirca  - Undergraduate Researcher

• University of Michigan Honors College, class of 2024

• Working towards a double major in neuroscience and computer science

• Background in studying neurobiological underpinnings of stress in mice, current interests involve studying the network properties of neurons from electrophysiology recordings. Please ask me about neural criticality.

• Magnificent Michigan Summer Undergraduate Research Fellow 2022

• kirca@umich.edu

Noah Muscat - Undergraduate Researcher

• University of Michigan class of 2025

• Pre-medical student working towards a B.S. in Biomedical Engineering

Ethan Goldiez - Undergraduate Researcher

• University of Michigan class of 2026

• Pre-medical student working towards a B.S. in Neuroscience with a minor in Gender and Health

• Magnificent Michigan Summer Undergraduate Research Fellow 2024

Kennedy Knopf - Undergraduate Researcher

• University of Michigan class of 2025

• Pre-medical student working towards a B.S.E. in Biomedical Engineering

Paul Fitzgerald, PhD - Postdoctoral Fellow

• Ph.D. in Neuroscience from Johns Hopkins University, studied somatosensory cortex with the late Dr. Steven Hsiao

• Postdoctoral fellowship at the National Institutes of Health studying fear circuitry with Dr. Andrew Holmes 

• Postdoctoral fellowship at Texas A&M University studying interactions of fear circuitry with neuromodulatory systems with Dr. Stephen Maren.  

• Interest in both basic and translational neuroscience

• Expertise in rodent brain electrophysiology, behavior and limbic system function

• CV Download

Ivo Cerda - Masters Student, Biomedical Engineering

• BS in Biology from University of Michigan

• Pre-medical

• Focused on multi-dimensional measurement of behavior and electrophysiology in mice over weeks

Mingxin Ding - Technician

• Masters in Biology from New York University 

• Went next to the Brandeis University PhD program in Neuroscience

Pho Hale - Technician 

• BS in Computer Engineering with Honors from University of Kansas

• Went next to UMich Neuroscience PhD program.

• Personal Website: http://www.phohale.com/

• GitHub profile: https://github.com/CommanderPho  

Tangyu Liu, PhD - Postdoctoral Fellow

• PhD in Biophysics, The Ohio State University, 2016 with Dr. Janet Best: Decoding and incorporating estrogen and pulsatile GnRH signals into a mathematical model of hypothalamus-pituitary-ovary system.

• Expertise in mathematical modeling, analytical coding, quantitative approaches

• MS in Electrophysics,  National Chiao Tung University, Taiwan

• BS in Electrophysics, National Chiao Tung University, Taiwan

Mustaba Khan Mohammed - Masters student and Technician

• Masters in Robotics, University of Michigan, 2024

• Background in embedded systems, Data analytics, problem-solving Algorithms

• Research interests Electromyography, electrophysiology

Abheek Mukherjee  - Undergraduate Researcher

• University of Michigan Class of 2021

• Pre-medical student working towards a B.S. in Neuroscience (BCN).

• Background in studying mitochondrial movements in a LRRK2 mouse model

Andrew Polis  - Undergraduate Researcher

• University of Michigan Class of 2020

Amanda Roberts - Undergraduate Researcher

• Wellesley College class of 2026

• Neuroscience Major

• SIREN/NURO Program fellow 2024

Aiswarya Saravanan - Undergraduate Researcher

• University of Michigan class of 2026

• Pre-medical student working towards a B.S. in CMBS with a minor in Applied Statistics

Tia Tsimpanouli, PhD - Postdoctoral Fellow

• Researcher in the group of Jeff Iliff at University of Washington

• PhD in sleep and memory consolidation in humans using EEG and psychological testing

• Science Communication Fellow @UMMNH 

• Currently studying the impact of spinocerebellar ataxia mutations on sleep and behavior in mice

Priya Vijayakumar  - Technician and post-bac student

• B.S Mechanical Engineering, UC Berkeley 2021

• Background in microfluidics for point-of-care cancer diagnostics and mechanical phenotyping of adipocytes

• Research interests in control system applications in neuroscience and medicine 

Ridge Weston  - Undergraduate Researcher

• University of Michigan class of 2022

• Pre-medical student working towards a B.S. in Biopsychology, Cognition, and Neuroscience

• Co-President of Blood Drives United

• Auditor and Treasurer-elect of Alpha Chi Sigma, U of M professional chemistry fraternity

• Background in studying  the effects of repeated ketamine dosing on rodents

• Current activities: Mouse neurosurgery

Jessica Yen - Undergraduate Researcher

• University of Michigan Class of 2021