OMAR J. AHMED Assistant Professor, Dept. of Psychology University of Michigan [email protected] 734-764-3853
Education Brown University Neuroscience PhD Providence, RI 2004 – 2010 Thesis: Interpreting the rhythms of the hippocampus and neocortex
Brown University Computer Science Providence, RI 1999 – 2000
Brown University Neuroscience BSc Providence, RI 1995 – 1999
Employment University of Michigan, Ann Arbor MI Department of Psychology Affiliated with: Department of Biomedical Engineering, Neuroscience Graduate Program, Kresge Hearing Research Institute & Michigan Center for Integrative Research in Critical Care Assistant Professor, July 2016 – present
Brown University, Providence RI Department of Neuroscience Investigator, Feb. 2015 – May 2016
Massachusetts General Hospital & Harvard Medical School, Boston MA Department of Neurology Research Fellow, April 2011 – Feb. 2015
Harvard University, Boston MA Lecturer (taught Brain Rhythms courses), Aug 2013 – May 2015
Brown University, Providence RI Department of Neuroscience Postdoctoral Fellow in Barry Connors’ lab, March 2010 – April 2011
Princeton University, Princeton NJ Research Assistant in Ken Norman’s lab, Aug 2003 – May 2004
Rovia & CYA Technologies (Rovia was acquired by CYA in 2002), Boston MA Chief Software Architect, Aug 2000 – July 2003
Grants & Fellowships Awarded (I am the PI on each) Whitehall Foundation Grant, 2021-2023 Michigan Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center Pilot Grant, 2019-2020 LSA New Initiative New Infrastructure Grant, 2018-2020 Udall Center for Parkinson’s Disease Research Pilot Grant, 2018-19 Michigan Institute for Computational Discovery and Engineering (MICDE) grant, 2018-19 MCubed 3.0 Grant, 2018-2019 American Epilepsy Society Junior Investigator Award, 2017-18 NIH BRAIN Initiative R03 Grant, 2016-18 CURE Epilepsy Taking Flight Award, 2015-16 NIH National Research Service Award Postdoctoral Fellowship, 2014 MGH Fund for Medical Discovery Postdoctoral Fellowship, 2013 Epilepsy Foundation Postdoctoral Fellowship, 2012 NIH National Research Service Award Predoctoral Fellowship, 2007 – 2010 Dana Mahoney Fellowship, 2007 Burroughs Wellcome Brain Science Fellowship, 2006 University Fellowship at Brown University, 2004-2005
National Fellowships Awards to Graduate Students in my Lab Tibin John, NSF Graduate Research Fellowship, 2018-2021 Ellen Wixted, NSF Graduate Research Fellowship, 2017-2020
Awards / Honors / Invited Committee Appointments / Conferences Organized & Chaired Invited Member, American Epilepsy Society Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Task Force, 2020- present Invited Member, American Epilepsy Society Presidential Basic Science Task Force, 2017-present Member, American Epilepsy Society Investigators Workshops Committee, 2018-present Contributing Editor, Epilepsy Currents, 2018-present Invited Ad Hoc Reviewer for American Epilepsy Society Grants, 2018-present Invited Ad Hoc Reviewer for NIH Grant Review Anonymization Study, 2017-present Invited Ad Hoc Reviewer for NIH CNNT Study Section, 2017 Chair – Gordon Research Seminar (GRS) on Mechanisms of Epilepsy, 2016 Chair – American Epilepsy Society Potassium Investigator Workshop, 2015 Selected for Featured Oral Presentation on my Human Epilepsy Research, Computational Neuroscience Meeting, 2014 - Inhibitory single neuron control of seizures and epileptic traveling waves in humans Harvard University Certificate of Teaching Excellence, 4 times, 2013-2015 - Awarded for each of the 4 semesters the course was taught Best Postdoctoral Poster Award, Mind-Brain Conference, Brown Univ., 2014 Young Investigator Award, American Epilepsy Society, 2013 Poster of Distinction Award, MGH Scientific Advisory Committee, 2013 Best Individual Clinical Research Award, MGH Clinical Research Day, 2012 Best Student Poster, Computational Neuroscience Conference, 2007 Elected to Sigma Xi, 1999
Additional Training Analytical & Quantitative Light Microscopy Marine Biological Laboratory, Woods Hole, May 2016 Ion channel physiology Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, June 2006 Summer school in computational and experimental neurodynamics University of California San Diego, Aug 2005
Publications 1. Ahmed OJ, McFarland J, Kumar A (2008). Reactivation in ventral striatum during hippocampal ripples: evidence for the binding of reward and spatial memories? Journal of Neuroscience, 28(40): 9895-9897
2. Ahmed OJ, Mehta MR (2009). The hippocampal rate code: anatomy, physiology and theory. Trends in Neuroscience, [Cover Article] 32(6): 329-338
3. Connors BW, Ahmed OJ (2011). Integration and autonomy in axons. Nature Neuroscience, 14(2):128-30
4. Ahmed OJ, Mehta MR (2012). Running speed alters the frequency of hippocampal gamma oscillations. Journal of Neuroscience, 32(21):7373-7383
5. Cruikshank SJ*, Ahmed OJ*, Stevens TR, Patrick S, Gonzalez A, Elmaleh M, Connors BW (2012). Thalamic control of layer 1 circuits in prefrontal cortex. Journal of Neuroscience, 32(49):17813-23 *Co-first authors
6. Furtak SC, Ahmed OJ, Burwell RD (2012). Single neuron activity and theta modulation in postrhinal cortex during visual object discrimination. Neuron, 76(5):976-88
7. Sukhotinsky I, Chan AM, Ahmed OJ, Rao V, Gradinaru V, Ramakrishnan C, Deisseroth K, Majewska AK, Cash SS (2013). Optogenetic delay of status epilepticus onset in an in vivo rodent epilepsy model. PLoS One, 8(4): e62013
8. Ahmed OJ, Cash SS (2013). Finding synchrony in the desynchronized EEG: the history and interpretation of gamma rhythms. Frontiers in Integrative Neuroscience, 7:58.
9. Snider J*, Ahmed OJ*, Halgren E, Poizner H, Cash SS (2013). Human intracranial recordings during spatial exploration of a 3D virtual environment. IEEE Neural Engineering 6:464-467 *Co-first authors
10. Ahmed OJ, Vijayan S (2014). The roles of sleep-wake states and brain rhythms in epileptic seizure onset. Journal of Neuroscience 34(22):7395
11. Truccolo W, Ahmed OJ, Harrison MT, Eskandar EN, Cosgrove GR, Madsen JR, Blum A, Potter NS, Hochberg LR, Cash SS (2014) Neuronal ensemble synchrony during human focal seizures. Journal of Neuroscience 34(30):9927
12. Gokbayrak NS, Piryatinsky I, Gavett A, Ahmed OJ (2014). Mixed effects of deep brain stimulation on depressive symptomatology in Parkinson’s disease: a review of randomized clinical trials. Frontiers in Neurology 5:154
13. Gonzalez LR, Ahmed OJ, Cash SS, Wayne CE, Kramer MA (2015) A biologically constrained, mathematical model of cortical wave propagation preceding seizure termination. PLOS Computational Biology 11(2):e1004065
14. Martinet LE, Ahmed OJ, LePage K, Cash SS, Kramer MA (2015) Spatial organization of the recruitment of neocortical regions during secondarily generalized seizures and its relation to surgical outcome. Journal of Neuroscience 35(25):9477
15. Ishizawa Y, Ahmed OJ, Patel SR, Gail GT, Brown EN, Eskandar EN (2016) Dynamics of propofol-induced unconsciousness across primate neocortex. Journal of Neuroscience 36(29):7718
16. Scaplen K, Ramesh R, Nadvar N, Ahmed OJ, Burwell RD (2017). Inactivation of the lateral entorhinal area increases the influence of visual cues on hippocampal place cell activity. Frontiers in Systems Neuroscience 11:40
17. Naftulin J, Ahmed OJ, Piantoni G, Eichenlaub J, Martinet LE, Kramer MA, Cash SS (2018). Ictal and preictal power changes outside of the seizure focus correlate with seizure generalization. Epilepsia 59(7):1398-1409
18. Hill M, Rios E, Sudhakar SK, Roosien D, Caldwell C, Cai D, Ahmed OJ, Lempka S, Chestek CA (2018). Quantitative simulation of extracellular single unit recording from the surface of cortex. Journal of Neural Engineering 15:056007
19. Sudhakar SK, Choi TJ, Ahmed OJ (2019). Biophysical modeling suggests optimal drug combinations for improving the efficacy of GABA agonists after traumatic brain injuries. Journal of Neurotrauma 36(10):1632–1645
20. Ahmed OJ, John T (2019). A straw can break a neural network’s back and lead to seizures – but only when delivered at the right time. Epilepsy Currents 19(2):115-116
21. Ahmed OJ, Sudhakar SK (2019). High frequency activity during stereotyped low frequency events might help to identify the seizure onset zone. Epilepsy Currents 19(3):184-186
22. Brennan EW, Ahmed OJ (2019). Ripple while you walk and you may get lost: pathological high frequency activity can alter spatial navigation circuits. Epilepsy Currents 19(5):344-346
23. Sudhakar SK, Ahmed OJ (2019). More is more: potential benefits of characterizing high frequency activity over long durations. Epilepsy Currents 19(6):397-399
24. Ahrens AM, Ahmed OJ (2020). Neural circuits linking sleep and addiction: understanding why select individuals are more vulnerable to sleep-related substance use disorders Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews 108:435-444
25. Sheeran W, Ahmed OJ (2020). The neural circuitry supporting successful spatial navigation despite variable movement speeds Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews 108:821-833
26. Brennan EW, Sudhakar SK, Jedrasiak-Cape I, John T, Ahmed OJ (2020). Hyperexcitable neurons enable precise and persistent encoding in the superficial retrosplenial cortex Cell Reports 30:1598-1612
27. Patel S, Huang P, Ahmed OJ, Briscoe J, Brown EB, Eskandar EN, Ishizawa Y (2020). Dynamics of recovery from anesthesia-induced unconsciousness across primate neocortex Brain 143(3): 833–843
28. Ghosh M, Shanahan BE, Furtak SC, Mashour GA, Burwell RD, Ahmed OJ (2020) The amplitude and shape of postrhinal theta oscillations differentially encode running speed Behavioral Neuroscience, 134:6 516–528
29. Ahmed OJ (2020). Slower, fewer hippocampal ripples in loss-of-function model of Dravet Syndrome. Epilepsy Currents 20(6):387-389 Publications – Submitted & In Preparation 30. Brennan EW, Jedrasiak-Cape I, Kalaisa S, Rice SP, Sudhakar SK, Ahmed OJ Thalamus and claustrum control parallel layer 1 circuits in retrosplenial cortex eLife Revision Invited
31. Ahmed OJ*, John T, Sudhakar SK, Wixted E, Naftulin JS, Eskandar EN, Cosgrove GR, Blum AS, Potter NS, Mashour GA, Hochberg LR, Cash SS* Two modes of inhibitory neuronal shutdown distinctly amplify seizures in humans Under review *Co-senior authors
32. Ghosh M, Yang FC, Sudhakar SK, Brennan EW, Lorenzo Gonzalez A, Rice S, Siu D, John T, Jedrasiak-Cape I, Hetrick V, Ahmed OJ Fast oscillations in the retrosplenial cortex are mechanistically distinct from ripples and gamma In preparation
33. Sudhakar SK, Ahmed OJ Depolarization block susceptibility of inhibitory fast-spiking neurons: biophysical mechanisms that can contribute to seizure initiation & propagation In preparation
Abstracts Presented as Posters Only posters since 2017 are listed below. Several dozen additional posters presented from 2004- 2016 at the Society for Neuroscience, American Epilepsy Society, Computational Neuroscience Meeting, Gordon Research Conferences, MGH and Brown University.
2020 Posters Functional impact of cholinergic dysfunction on retrosplenial circuits in the 5xFAD mouse model of Alzheimer’s disease I Jedrasiak-Cape, OJ Ahmed Alzheimer's Association International Conference, 2020
Diverse subtypes of principal neurons enable parallel encoding circuits in the retrosplenial cortex EKW Brennan, I Jedrasiak-Cape, SK Sudhakar, S Rice, OJ Ahmed University of Michigan Neuroscience Conference, Ann Arbor, MI 2020
Splines: Fast oscillations in the retrosplenial cortex that are mechanistically distinct from ripples and gamma M Ghosh, FC Yang, SK Sudhakar, EKW Brennan, AP Lorenzo Gonzalez, TT John, SP Rice, D Siu, IJ Cape, AM Ahrens, V Hetrick, OJ Ahmed UM Neuroscience Conference, Ann Arbor, MI 2020
2019 Posters 8 Posters – all by different members of my lab – presented at the 2019 Society for Neuroscience Meeting in Chicago: Retrosplenial high frequency oscillations demarcate high activity REM sleep frames M Ghosh, FC Yang, AP Lorenzo Gonzalez, V Hetrick, OJ Ahmed Society for Neuroscience Meeting, Chicago, IL 2019
Anatomical and behavioral correlates of retrosplenial oscillations AP Lorenzo Gonzalez, M Ghosh, V Hetrick, OJ Ahmed Society for Neuroscience Meeting, Chicago, IL 2019
Mechanisms of dynamic inhibitory neuronal control of human seizures OJ Ahmed, T John, S Sudhakar, EKW Brennan, AJ Lorenzo Gonzalez, J Naftulin, GA Mashour, LR Hochberg, SS Cash Society for Neuroscience Meeting, Chicago, IL 2019
Computational modeling reveals novel biophysical mechanisms underlying profound theta phase-amplitude coupling in the retrosplenial cortex S Sudhakar, EKW Brennan, OJ Ahmed Society for Neuroscience Meeting, Chicago, IL 2019
Comparison of retrosplenial oscillatory dynamics during head-fixed vs unrestrained behaviors SP Rice, M Ghosh, D Siu, V Hetrick, OJ Ahmed Society for Neuroscience Meeting, Chicago, IL 2019
Stability and flexibility in the hippocampal theta sequence coding circuit T John, OJ Ahmed Society for Neuroscience Meeting, Chicago, IL 2019
Reward-encoding across the hippocampus – Nucleus accumbens – ventral pallidum circuit during a Pavlovian conditioning approach task D Siu, AM Ahrens, M Varela, V Hetrick, OJ Ahmed Society for Neuroscience Meeting, Chicago, IL 2019
Uniquely excitable neurons enable precise information encoding in the superficial retrosplenial cortex EKW Brennan, S Sudhakar, I Jedrasiak-Cape, T John, S Rice, V Hetrick, OJ Ahmed Society for Neuroscience Meeting, Chicago, IL 2019
2018 Posters: Comparative dynamics of activity patterns in the retrosplenial cortex, visual cortex and hippocampus across sleep-wake states. Fang-Chi Yang, Megha Ghosh, Vaughn Hetrick, Danny Siu & Omar J. Ahmed Society for Neuroscience Meeting, San Diego, CA 2018
Biophysical modeling reveals efficacious drug combinations for improved neuroprotection immediately after traumatic brain injury Shyam Kumar Sudhakar, Thomas J. Choi, Vaughn Hetrick, Omar J. Ahmed Society for Neuroscience Meeting, San Diego, CA 2018
Quantitative simulation of extracellular single unit recording from the surface of cortex Mackenna Hill, Estefania Rios, Shyam Kumar Sudhakar, Douglas H. Roossien, Ciara Caldwell, Dawen Cai, Omar J. Ahmed, Jonathan Viventi, Scott F. Lempka, and Cynthia A. Chestek Neural Interfaces Conference, Minneapolis, MN 2018
Sea-of-Electrode Arrays for massive-scale, customizable neural recordings from 3-dimensionally complex brain regions (selected as Nanosymposium talk) Amin Sandoughsaz, Vaughn Hetrick, Omar J. Ahmed, Khalil Najafi Society for Neuroscience Meeting, San Diego, CA 2018
Novel biophysically-inspired combinations of drugs for improved neuroprotection immediately after traumatic brain injury Thomas J. Choi, Shyam Kumar Sudhakar, Fang-Chi Yang, Megha Ghosh, Tibin John, Vaughn Hetrick, Omar J. Ahmed Massey TBI Grand Challenge, Ann Arbor, MI 2018
Rhythmic neural correlates of motion in the mouse secondary motor cortex Nikhil Ramachandra, Sharena Rice, Keaton Bonds, Tibin John, Vaughn Hetrick, Shyam Kumar Sudhakar, & Omar J. Ahmed UM Summer UROP Symposium, Ann Arbor, MI 2018
Neuropia: a cloud-based, interactive, educational tool for use in college classrooms Ruben Wu, Rex Hu, Danny Siu, Shyam Sudhakar, Omar J. Ahmed UM Winter UROP Symposium, Ann Arbor, MI 2018
Novel algorithms for decoding sleep-wake states Megha Ghosh, Fang-Chi Yang, Omar J. Ahmed UM EECS Symposium, Ann Arbor, MI 2017
Combinations of pre-existing drugs for improved neuroprotection immediately after traumatic brain injury Thomas J. Choi, Shyam Kumar Sudhakar, Fang-Chi Yang, Megha Ghosh, Tibin John, Vaughn Hetrick, Omar J. Ahmed Joyce Massey TBI Summit, Ann Arbor, MI 2017
Invited Talks University of Michigan Biopsychology Colloquium, January 2021 Building & Breaking a Neural GPS: Lessons from Health & Alzheimer’s Cortical Circuits
Michigan Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center, May 2020 Retrosplenial circuit dysfunction in Alzheimer’s disease.
ICAN – International Conference for Advanced Neurotechnology, March 2020 Retrosplenial high frequency oscillations are mechanistically distinct from ripples and gamma
Neural Networks Meeting, Nov. 2019 The Unique Microcircuitry and Rhythms of the Retrosplenial Cortex
Basic Epilepsy Research Group, Inaugural Seminar, Univ. of Michigan, Sept. 2019 The Unique Microcircuitry of the Retrosplenial Cortex and its Implications for Alzheimer’s Disease and Epilepsy
Gordon Research Conference, Inhibition in the CNS, July 2019 Inhibitory mechanisms of retrosplenial splines: 140 Hz oscillations precisely-locked to theta
Michigan State University, Institute for Quantitative Health Science and Engineering and Biomedical Engineering, Sept. 2018 Deciphering neuronal dynamics in epilepsy & spatial navigation circuits
Gordon Research Conference, Mechanisms of Epilepsy, Aug. 2018 Uniquely powerful and precise high frequency oscillations in the retrosplenial cortex
University of Michigan, Dept. of Neurology, Jan. 2018 Inhibitory neural dynamics in epilepsy and traumatic brain injury
Hope College, April 2017 The neural code for successful spatial navigation
University of Michigan, Dept. of Pharmacology, Jan. 2017 Mechanisms of behavioral and epileptic rhythms
Stanford University, Nov. 2016 Mechanisms of behavioral and epileptic rhythms
University of Michigan, Dept. of Biomedical Engineering, Sept. 2016 Understanding and repairing inhibitory neuronal circuits in humans, rodents and computational models
Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Med. School Job Talk Apr. 2015 Human inhibitory neuronal control of normal and pathological brain states
Brown University School of Engineering Job Talk, Mar. 2015 Human inhibitory neuronal control of normal and pathological brain states
Boston University Dept. of Health Sciences Job Talk, Jan. 2015 Human inhibitory neuronal control of normal and pathological brain states
University of Michigan Dept. of Psychology Job Talk, Nov. 2014 Human inhibitory neuronal control of normal and pathological brain states
NYU School of Medicine, Nov. 2014 Human inhibitory neuronal control of normal and pathological brain states
Emory Med School / GA Tech. Dept. of BME Job Talk, Oct. 2014 Human inhibitory neuronal control of normal and pathological brain states
NeuroElectronics Research Flanders, Belgium, Job Talk Sept+Oct. 2014 Human inhibitory neuronal control of normal and pathological brain states
Gordon Research Conference, Mechanisms of Epilepsy, 2014 Inhibitory neuronal control of human epilepsy and the role of K+ channels
Featured Oral Presentation, Computational Neuroscience Meeting, 2014 Inhibitory neuronal control of seizures and epileptic traveling waves in humans
Dynamics of Disease States, Computational Neuroscience Workshop, 2014 Human E-I single neuron interplay during normal and pathological rhythms
Cognitive Rhythms Collaborative Conference, Boston, MA 2014 Inhibitory single neuron control of human epilepsy Neuronal Circuits Meeting, Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, 2014 Neocortical inhibitory control of human epilepsy and traveling waves
Dept. of Neurobiology, Yale University. 2014 Inhibitory single neuron control of human epilepsy
Young Investigator Talk, American Epilepsy Society Meeting, 2013 Human inhibitory single neurons switch off before dramatic increases in seizure intensity
Accepted Platform Presentation, American Epilepsy Society Meeting, 2013 Epileptic travelling waves are shaped by local inhibitory and excitatory single neuron activity in humans
Cognitive Rhythms Collaborative Conference, Boston, MA, 2012 Running speed controls the speed of hippocampal gamma oscillations
Dept. of Neuroscience Annual Retreat, Brown University, 2009 Run faster, think faster? Neural correlates of speed
National Institute on Deafness and Communication Disorders, NIH, 2009 Ripple while you walk: Temporal and kinematic coding in the hippocampus
Medical Research Council, Oxford University, England, 2008 Interplay of asymmetric inhib. And excit. in hippocampal phase precession
Bernstein Computational Neuroscience Center, Freiburg, Germany, 2008 The genesis and inheritance of hippocampal temporal codes
Neuronal Circuits Meeting, Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, 2008 Mechanisms of hippocampal phase precession
Teaching Introduction to Neural Circuits (Psych 330) University of Michigan, Winter 2018, Winter 2019, Winter 2020 A new course for undergraduates studying Neuroscience, Biopsychology and Cognitive Neuroscience. Offered every winter semester.
Advanced Neural Circuits (Psych 733) University of Michigan, Winter 2018, Winter 2019, Winter 2020 A new course for graduate students studying Neuroscience, Biopsychology, Cognitive Neuroscience and Biomedical Engineering. Offered every winter semester. One of three core course options for the new Computational Neuroscience Certificate at UM.
Brain Rhythms in Cognition, Mental Health & Epilepsy (Psych 433) University of Michigan, Fall 2016, Fall 2018 Designed and taught a seminar course for advanced undergraduates, focused on ways of potentially improving diagnosis and treatment of mental health and neurological disorders by developing an in depth understanding of brain rhythms and neural circuits.
Navigation, Fear, Dissociated States & Alzheimer’s Disease: the Neuroscience of the Mysterious Retrosplenial Cortex (Psych 433) University of Michigan, Winter 2021 Designed and now teaching a new seminar course for advanced undergraduates focused on understanding how one brain region (the retrosplenial cortex) is involved in a multitude of behavior and neuropsychiatric disorders.
Behavioral Neuroscience Journal Club (Psych 730) University of Michigan, Winter 2018
Neuroscience Bootcamp - Intro to Molecular Neurobiology and Neurophysiology (Neuro 623) University of Michigan, Summer/Fall 2017, Summer/Fall 2018 One of six core faculty in the team-taught neuroscience bootcamp. My lectures/modules focus on electrophysiological recordings in vivo from the rodent brain and Matlab analysis of neural data.
NSF IPAN Boot Camp Lecture University of Michigan, May 2017 Guest lecture on neural dynamics as part of the NSF sponsored IPAN program that focuses on neurotechnology training for students from diverse backgrounds
Guest Lectures in Computational & Mathematical Neuroscience (MATH 568 / MATH 569) University of Michigan, Sept. 2016; Oct 2017 Guest lectures on neural coding strategies in health and disease
Guest Lecture in Circuits and Computational Neuroscience (Neuro 613) University of Michigan, Dec. 2016 Guest lectures on neural coding strategies in health and disease
Brain Rhythms in Cognition, Mental Health & Epilepsy Harvard University, 2013-14, 2014-15 Awarded Harvard University Certificate of Teaching Excellence each semester
Guest Lectures in Neural Dynamics, Systems Neuroscience, Discrete Mathematics Brown University, 2004-2013
STUDENT THESIS COMMITTEES Ph.D. Candidates I Mentor in my Lab as Advisor & Chair of their Thesis Committees 1. Danny Siu, Biopsych (expected graduation: 8/2022) 2. Megha Ghosh, Biopsych (expected graduation: 8/2022) 3. Ellen Wixted, NSF Fellow, Neuroscience (expected graduation: 8/2021) 4. Sharena Rice, Neuroscience (expected graduation: 8/2021) 5. Tibin John, NSF Fellow, Neuroscience (expected graduation: 8/2022) 6. Alcides Gonzalez, Neuroscience (expected graduation: 8/2022) 7. Sameer Kailasa, Mathematics (expected graduation: 8/2023)
Additional Ph.D. Student Thesis Committees on which I Serve as Member or Cognate Member 8. Nan Zheng, EECS (defended 2017) 9. Adam Mendrela, EECS (defended 2018) 10. Amin Sandoughsaz, EECS (defended 2018) 11. Dakota Crisp, Biomedical Engineering (defended 2019) 12. Kyra Phillips, Biopsych (Martin Sarter’s lab, defended 2019) 13. Cassandra Avila, Biopsych (Martin Sarter’s lab) 14. Taylor Craig, Neuroscience 15. Maxwell Ruckstuhl, Neuroscience 16. Michael Brito, Neuroscience 17. Jack Lin, Neuroscience 18. Audrey Dotros, Neuroscience Several additional Biopsych & Neuroscience Preliminary Exam Committees
Graduated Masters Students 1. Megha Ghosh, Masters in EECS, 2018. Now a Ph.D. student at UM Dept. of Psychology 2. William Sheeran, Masters in MCDB, 2018. Now an M.D./Ph.D. MSTP student at the University of Colorado 3. Mingxizo Zhang, Masters in MCDB, 2018. Now a Ph.D. student in BME at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign
Undergraduate Theses Mentored While I was a Graduate Student at Brown University Joshua Lai, 2006 – 2010 Single unit spiking predicts the power & coherence of gamma rhythms Anne van Beuningen, 2006 – 2009 Kinematic encoding by neurons in the posterior parietal cortex Alison Boyd, 2006 – 2009 Gamma modulation of neurons in rat prefrontal cortex during behavior Vivek Chellappa, 2006 – 2009 Phase analysis of neurons during hippocampal gamma rhythms Lyle Muller, 2006 – 2009 Learning with oscillations Samuel Reiter, 2006 – 2009 Hippocampal sharp waves: identification and quantification John Schilling, 2006 – 2008 Behavioral correlates of single unit activity in the frontal cortices Valerie Yanofsky, 2006 – 2008 Spatio-temporal structure of hippocampal ripples in freely behaving rats Ethan Brown, 2005 – 2007 Spatio-temporal structure of slow oscillations during sleep
SERVICE Departmental Service Chair, Biopsych Admissions Committee, 2017-2018 Member, Biopsych Admissions Committee, 2016-2017, 2019-2020, 2020-2021 Member, Biopsych Faculty Search Committee, 2016-2017 Member, Biopsych Self-Study Committee, 2018-2019 Psychology Annual Review Committee, 2017-2018 Member, Wyvell Award Committee, 2016-2017, 2017-2018
University Service Member, UPiN (Undergrad Program in Neuroscience) Steering Committee, 2018-2019 Member, UPiN (Undergrad Program in Neuroscience) Steering Committee, 2017-2018 Neuroscience Graduate Program Admissions Committee, 2019-2020, 2020-2021 Sensory Science Symposium Executive Committee, 2018 Computational Neuroscience Certificate Committee, Jan. 2019 onwards LSA Safety Committee, Jan. 2020 onwards MICDE (Michigan Institute for Computational Discovery & Engineering) Education Committee, May 2020 onwards
National Service Invited Member, American Epilepsy Society Diversity, Inclusion & Equity Task Force, 2020-present Invited Member, American Epilepsy Society Presidential Basic Science Task Force, 2017-present Member, American Epilepsy Society Investigators Workshops Committee, 2018-present Invited Ad Hoc Reviewer for American Epilepsy Society Grants, 2018-present Invited Ad Hoc Reviewer for NIH Grant Review Anonymization Study, 2017-present Invited Ad Hoc Reviewer for CURE Epilepsy Grants, 2019-present Invited Ad Hoc Reviewer for NIH CNNT Study Section, 2017, 2021 Chair – Gordon Research Seminar (GRS) on Mechanisms of Epilepsy, 2016 Contributing Editor, Epilepsy Currents, 2018-present Ad hoc Reviewer for several neuroscience and epilepsy journals, including: eLife, Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews, Nature Communications, Cell Reports, Sleep, Epilepsia, Experimental Neurology, PLoS Biology, Progress in Neurobiology
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