People

Anna Chamot

Catherine Dulac, Ph.D.

Harvard Faculty of Arts and Sciences, Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology

Project Title: Study of the structural and functional relationships across the hypothalamic social and instinctive behavior circuits

Project Summary: Animal Behavior seeks to understand why animals behave the way they do. Advances in understanding the underlying mechanisms, from the reception and processing of input signals to the effectors of animal behavior, can help to better...

Alexis Cogne

Conor J. Walsh, Ph.D., Biodesign Lab, Harvard School of Engineering and Applied Sciences

Project Title: Breaking the Cycle of Learned Non-Use: Wearable Digital Interventions for Upper-Limb Recovery After Stroke

Project Summary: Stroke is a leading cause of long-term disability worldwide, with upper-limb motor impairments affecting a large proportion of survivors. As populations age and the prevalence of risk factors increases, the incidence of stroke is expected...

Valérie Costa

Dr. Demba Ba, Ph.D.

CRISP Group, Harvard School of Engineering and Applied Sciences (SEAS)

Project Title: Sparse Unrolled Networks for Interpretable Analysis of Neural Data

Project Summary: Sparse autoencoders are widely used in computer science to enhance the interpretability of large language models (LLMs). In this project, we aim to investigate their potential for understanding neural computation. We are using a recently...

Gabriele Dall'Aglio

Evan Macosko, Ph.D., Stanley Center for Psychiatric Research, Broad Institute of Harvard and MIT

Project Title: Spatial Resolution of Molecular Mechanisms Underlying Striatal Vulnerability in XD

Project Summary: X-linked dystonia–parkinsonism (XDP) is a rare neurodegenerative disorder found almost exclusively in the Philippines, caused by a mutation in the TAF1 gene. The disease devastates the striatum (particularly medium spiny neurons) leading...

Isabelle Dalle Fusine

Faculty Mentor: Bernardo L. Sabatini, M.D., Ph.D.

Department of Neurobiology, Harvard Medical School

Project Summary: This study will focus on long-term depression (LTD), an important mechanism of synaptic plasticity that modifies synapses in response to neuronal activity and experience. Long-lasting changes in synapse function such LTD are involved in...

Gregor Dederichs

Paola Arlotta, Ph.D, Stem Cell & Regenerative Biology, HMS

Project Title: Network Dynamics in Human Cortical Organoid Models of Neuropsychiatric Disorders

Project Summary: Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is prevalent and complex neurological disorder, characterised by a spectrum of cognitive, social, and communicative challenges first manifested in early childhood. Unique to every patient, ASD has a strong...

Anna Diop

Faculty Mentor: Paolo Bonato, Ph.D.

Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital

Project Title: Exploring motor adaptation in response to perturbations generated by a lower-limb exoskeleton

Curriculum Vitae Project Summary : The ability of humans to modify their motor plan in response to changes in their walking environment is a phenomenon referred to as locomotor adaptation. Studying the processes underlying the generation of motor...

Sara Djambazovska

Gabriel Kreiman, Ph.D.

Center for Brain Science, Boston Children's Hospital

Project title: Effects of visual angle on the alignment between ANNs and the macaque ventral stream and its dependence on image context

Project summary: A family of deep convolutional neural networks (DCNNs) currently best explains primate ventral visual stream activity that supports object recognition. Such models are often evaluated with neurobehavioral datasets where the stimuli are...

Penghui Du

Randy Buckner, Ph.D., Department of Psychology, Harvard

Project Title: Evaluating Personalized and Standard Targeting Strategies for TMS in Depression

Project Summary: Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS) is a standard treatment for depression, with target location traditionally determined by empirical rules or group-level functional connectivity combined with individual structural MRI. However...

Gasser Elbanna

Satrajit Ghosh, Ph.D.

Department of Otolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery, Massachusetts Eye and Ear

Project Title: Evaluating voice identity perception in humans and deep learning models

Curriculum Vitae Project Summary: Efforts to highlight salient acoustic parameters for identity perception were inefficacious. Conversely, we can relatively characterize specific acoustic correlates when studying the perception of other social signals (e...

Emma Farina

Shriya Srinivasan, Ph.D.

Harvard School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, Department of Bioengineering

Project Title: Injectable electrotherapeutic scaffold for celiac plexus stimulation for medically refractory gastroparesis

Project Summary: Gastroparesis is a debilitating disorder characterized by delayed gastric emptying in the absence of mechanical obstruction, leading to nausea, vomiting, early satiety, bloating, and abdominal pain. Existing drugs have failed to...

Hugo Fluhr

Faculty Mentor: Mark L. Andermann, PhD

Department of Medicine, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center

Project Title: Automated analysis of mating behavior across timescales

Project Summary: In the Andermann lab, I investigate the neural circuits involved in the mating behavior of mammals. Using this behavioral model, I hope to understand how neurons and cells, which are governed by events on the millisecond scale, can...