EPILEPSY AND COGNITION LAB
LAB MEMBERS
JENNIFER GELINAS, MD PHD
Assistant Professor
Jennifer obtained her MD/PhD at University of Alberta, with research focused on cellular correlates of learning and memory. She completed residency in pediatric neurology at University of British Columbia, and an epilepsy fellowship at NYU Langone Medical Center (NYULMC). Her postdoctoral research fellowship at NYULMC investigated physiologic and epileptic neural networks using in vivo electrophysiology.
She is interested in understanding the neurobiology of higher cognitive function, especially as it relates to neuropsychiatric disease.
SOLEDAD DOMINGUEZ, PHD
Research Associate
Soledad obtained her PhD in Neuroscience at Autónoma de Madrid University, working at the Cajal Institute in the cellular electrophysiology group of Prof. Washington Buño. She completed a postdoctoral fellowship at Paris Descartes University in the Brain Physiology laboratory as part of Dr. Vivien Chevaleyre’s team. She is also interested in optogenetics tools, and worked in the Neurophotonics Lab of Prof. Valentina Emiliani. Currently, her research is focused on understanding the maturation of physiologic and epileptic neural networks over the course of development.
NAUREEN GHANI, BSC
Research Technician
Naureen currently works on studying neural networks of epilepsy. She received her BSc in biomedical engineering at Columbia University. In her spare time, she enjoys reading and painting.
JOSE FERRERO LOPEZ, PHD
Postdoctoral Fellow
Jose obtained his PhD in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology at Complutense University with research focused on metabotropic receptors role in synaptic plasticity. His postdoctoral research, supported by the pharmaceutical company Takeda, investigated the function of these receptors in brain diseases. He currently studies the use of neurostimulation to investigate memory consolidation and treat cognitive impairments associated to epilepsy.
​Talia Boyers is an undergraduate at Barnard College majoring in Biology with a concentration in cell and molecular. Her prior research involved developing rapid methods for detecting and treating UTIs. In her free time, Talia enjoys reading and hiking.
TALIA BOYERS
Undergraduate Student
LAB MEMBERS
JOSE FERRERO LOPEZ, PHD
Associate Project Scientist
Jose obtained his PhD in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology at Complutense University with research focused on metabotropic receptors role in synaptic plasticity. His postdoctoral research, supported by the pharmaceutical company Takeda, investigated the function of these receptors in brain diseases. He currently studies the use of neurostimulation to investigate memory consolidation and treat cognitive impairments associated to epilepsy.
JENNIFER GELINAS, MD PHD
Associate Professor
Jennifer obtained her MD/PhD at University of Alberta, with research focused on cellular correlates of learning and memory. She completed residency in pediatric neurology at University of British Columbia, and an epilepsy fellowship at NYU Langone Medical Center (NYULMC). Her postdoctoral research fellowship at NYULMC investigated physiologic and epileptic neural networks using in vivo electrophysiology.
She is interested in understanding the neurobiology of higher cognitive function, especially as it relates to neuropsychiatric disease.
SHAN SHAO, PHD
Postdoctoral Scholar
Shan received her Bachelor of Science in Experimental Medicine and Psychology from Peking University, China. She then obtained her PhD supervised by Dr. You Wan and Dr. Ming Yi in Neuroscience at the Neuroscience Research Institute of Peking University. She also completed a visiting studentship in Dr. Kay Tye’s lab at MIT/Salk Institute.
Her current research is focusing on investigating the underlying mechanism of memory impairment associated to the temporal lobe epilepsy.
AHNAF RASHIK HASSAN, PHD
Postdoctoral Scholar
Ahnaf Rashik Hassan received a PhD in Biomedical Engineering at Columbia University in 2024. Ahnaf completed his MASc in Biomedical Engineering from the University of Toronto in 2018 and his BSc in Electrical and Electronic Engineering from Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology in 2015. Ahnaf's prior research focused on applying biomedical signal analysis and machine learning for pathological state identification and computerized diagnosis. His current research focuses on neural signal processing to study the neural mechanisms of memory and spatial navigation.
LIANG MA, PHD
Postdoctoral Scholar
Liang received a BSc in Electrical & Electronics Engineering from Tel Aviv University in 2018 and an MSc in Electrical Engineering from Columbia University in 2019, and a PhD in Biomedical Engineering in 2024. At Epilepsy & Cognition Lab, Liang investigated postnatal development of both physiological and pathological neural networks, as well as developed novel neural interface devices. Liang is currently studying maturation trajectories of long-term memory network activity.
LAB ALUMNI
Soledad Dominguez: Postdoctoral Scholar
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Kimberly Hernandez: Graduate Student
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Han Yu: Graduate Student
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Naureen Ghani: Research Technician
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Talia Boyers: Undergraduate Student
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Janlyn Hoffman: Graduate Student
Yian Yu: Graduate Student
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Shuai Ren: Graduate Student
Xiu Wen: Undergraduate Student
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Dhruv Khanna: Graduate Student
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Prof. Takeshi Kawano: Visiting Scholar
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Zifang (Frank) Zhao: Postdoctoral Scholar​
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Onni Rauhala: Ph.D. Student
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Zelin Yu: Graduate Student
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Brandon Schumacher: Research Technician