2018 NTS Faculty
Thank you to everyone who makes NTS a thriving community!
A. Bolu Ajiboye, PhD
Assistant Professor, Biomedical Engineering Case School of Engineering, Case Western Reserve University
Bio Dr. A. Bolu Ajiboye's research interest is in the development and control of brain-computer-interface (BCI) technologies for restoring function to individuals who have experienced severely debilitating injuries to the nervous system, such as…
Adriana Galvan, PhD
Assistant Professor, Department of Neurology, Emory University School of Medicine
Bio Adriana Galvan, PhD, studies the brain regions involved in movement planning and execution known as the basal ganglia. These structures are deeply affected in movement disorders, such as Parkinson’s disease. Dr. Galvan studies…
Andre Machado, MD, PhD
Chairman of the Neurological Institute and the Charles and Christine Carroll Family Endowed Chair in Functional Neurosurgery, Cleveland Clinic
Dr. Andre Machado performs deep brain stimulation (DBS) surgery for patients with Parkinson’s disease, tremor, dystonia and obsessive-compulsive disorder as well as surgical procedures for patients with trigeminal neuralgia, intractable pain syndromes and spasticity.…
Andrei Sdrulla, MD, PhD
Assistant Professor of Anesthesiology and Perioperative Medicine, OHSU School of Medicine
Dr. Andrei Sdrulla specializes in the treatment of patients with complex, persistent pain in the spine, cancer pain, neuropathic pain (e.g. complexregional pain syndrome), shingles pain (post herpetic neuralgia) and post-surgical pain. He has…
Atilla Kilicarslan, PhD
Research Assistant Professor, University of Houston
Dr. Atilla Kilicarslan earned his Bsc in Mechanical Engineering and PhD in Medical Robotics and Advanced Control of Smart Materials at the University of Houston and is currently leading a project (NeuroREX) to control…
Bengt Linderoth, MD, PhD
Emeritus Professor Functional Neurosurgery Karolinska Instituted; Adj. prof., Dept Physiology Oklahoma University, USA
Bio Bengt Linderoth, MD, PhD´s recent and on-going research projects can be regarded as “translational research” and relate mostly to physiological mechanisms of spinal cord stimulation for neurogenic pain and ischemic syndromes e.g. intractable angina…
Chad Bouton, MS
Vice President, Advanced Engineering & Technology at The Feinstein Institute for Medical Research
Bio Prior to joining the Northewell Health, Mr. Bouton was a research leader at Battelle, the world’s largest nonprofit research and development (R&D) organization, and was involved in medical device R&D programs for 18…
Changfeng Tai, PhD
Associate Professor of Urology and Pharmacology, University of Pittsburgh
Changfeng Tai received his Ph.D. degree in biomedical engineering from the Xi’an Jiaotong University, China, in 1992. After his postdoctoral training in the Department of Rehabilitation Science and Technology at the University of Pittsburgh,…
Christopher Bettinger, PhD
Associate Professor of Materials Science and Biomedical Engineering, Carnegie Mellon University
Bio Prof. Christopher Bettinger is an Associate Professor in the Departments of Materials Science and Engineering and Biomedical Engineering. Prof. Bettinger received an S.B. in Chemical Engineering in 2003, an M.Eng. in Biomedical Engineering…
Christopher J. Czura, PhD
Co-Founder and Chief Scientist, Convergent Medical Technologies, Inc.
Executive Editor, Molecular Medicine Bio Chris Czura, PhD is a molecular biologist who has been studying vagus nerve stimulation for the past 20 years. He has made seminal discoveries in neural control of bleeding…
Corey Smith, PhD
Associate Professor, Neurosciences, Case Western Reserve University
Research Interests Regulation of the sympatho-adrenal stress response. Varied sympathetic activity is translated into differential hormonal profiles under the sympatho-adrenal stress response. Our lab studies multiple components of this vital physiological response system. We…
Dominique Durand, PhD
Editor in chief, Journal of Neural Engineering; EL Lindseth Professor of Biomedical Engineering, Director, Neural Engineering Center, Case Western Reserve University
Bio Dr. Druand received an engineering degree from Ecole Nationale Superieure d'Electronique, Hydrolique, Informatique et Automatique de Toulouse, France in 1973. In 1974, he received a M.S. degree in Biomedical Engineering from Case Reserve University…
Dustin Tyler, PhD
Kent H. Smith II Professor of Biomedical Engineering, Case Western Reserve University
Dustin Tyler earned his BS in Biomedical Engineering Michigan Technological University and his PhD from Case Western Reserve University. He currently participates as Principal Investigator for studies at the Cleveland VA Medical Center /…
Edy Soffer, MD
Director of the GI Motility Program, Keck School of Medicine of USC
Edy E. Soffer, MD is Director of the GI Motility program at the Division of Gastroenterology, Keck School of Medicine of USC. Dr. Soffer's primary areas of research interest involve innovative treatments for gastroesophageal…
Elliot S. Krames, MD
Conference Director
Founding editor of Neuromodulation: Technology at the Neural Interface, journal of the International Neuromodulation Society (INS), serving as Editor-in-Chief from 1998 - 2009 INS President 2006 - 2009 Author of: Operative Neuromodulation: Volume 1:…
Eric Grigsby, MD, MBA
Conference Director
Founder, CEO of The SpectrumCare Group Chief Medical Officer of the Alfred E. Mann Foundation Medical Director of the Napa Pain Institute, Spine and Pain Center of Kauai, N3 Laboratories, Redwood Pain Institute, Neurovations…
Esther Krook-Magnuson, PhD
McKnight Land-Grant Assistant Professor, Department of Neuroscience, University of Minnesota
Dr. Krook-Magnuson is an Assistant Professor at the University of Minnesota in the Department of Neuroscience. During her postdoctoral research in the lab of Ivan Soltesz, Dr. Krook-Magnuson helped develop and successfully implemented on-demand…
Eugene Civillico, PhD
Program Manager, NIH's Stimulating Peripheral Activity to Relieve Conditions (SPARC) Program
Eugene Civillico, PhD, is the Program Manager for Stimulating Peripheral Activity to Relieve Conditions (SPARC), a program of the NIH Common Fund. Dr. Civillico earned his PhD in neuroscience at the University of Pennsylvania…
Gengqing (Gavin) Song, MD, PhD
Gastroenterology Fellow, Cleveland Clinic
Gavin Song attended the Tongji Medical University and Medical Doctorate (MD) program at Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center School of Medicine, and is currently a second year Gastroenterology and Hepatology Fellow at the…
Ilknur Ay, MD, PhD
Assistant Professor of Radiology, Massachusetts General Hospital & Harvard Medical School
Ilknur Ay, MD, PhD is an Assistant Professor at the Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging at Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School in Boston, MA. Her main research interest has been on the use…
J. Douglas Bremner, MD
Professor of Psychiatry and Radiology and Director of the Emory Clinical Neuroscience Research Unit (ECNRU), Emory University School of Medicine
Director of Mental Health Research, Atlanta VA Medical Center Bio Dr. Douglas Bremner is on the faculty of the Neuroscience Graduate Program in the Division of Biological and Behavioral Sciences at Emory University. In 2000-2006…
Jeff Kramer, PhD
Founder, Volta Research
Bio Dr. Kramer received his PhD in Molecular and Integrative Physiology from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Chapmaign. He has been conducting both basic and clinical neuroscience research for more than 20 years. Having taken…
Jeffrey L. Ardell, PhD, FAHA
Director, UCLA Neurocardiology Research Center of Excellence
Bio Dr. Jeffrey Ardell is the Director of the UCLA Neurocardiology Center for Excellence. Previously, he was Professor of Biomedical Sciences and Vice Chair for Research at the Quillen College of Medicine in Johnson…
Jennifer Sweet, MD
Assistant Professor, Neurosurgery, CWRU School of Medicine
Jennifer Sweet, MD, is a neurosurgeon in the Division of Functional & Stereotactic Neurosurgery at University Hospitals Cleveland Medical Center in Cleveland. She is also Assistant Professor of Neurological Surgery at Case Western Reserve…
Jey Subbaroyon, PhD
Director, Clinical Research, Nevro Corp
Dr. Subbaroyon earned a BE in Electronics and Instrumentation from Annamalai Universityin India, and a PhD in bioengineering and Biomedical Engineering and Research Fellowship at the University of Michigan. He worked as a Senior…
Jiande Chen, PhD
Professor of Medicine and Biomedical Engineering, Director, Clinical Gastrointestinal Motility Lab, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine
Dr. Jiande D. Chen is a professor of medicine at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. He holds a joint appointment in biomedical engineering. Considered the “father of electrogastrography,” Dr. Chen has conducted…
Kathleen Meacham, MD, PhD
Pain Physician & Postdoctoral Fellow, Gereau Lab, Washington University in St. Louis, School of Medicine
Dr. Kathleen Meacham earned her BS in Electrical and Computer Engineering from Carnegie Mellon University, PhD in Biomedical Engineering from Georgia Institute of Technology, and MD from Emory University in 2012. She is a…
Kerry Bradley
Sr. Director of Research, Nevro
Bio Kerry Bradley, trained as an Electrical Engineer, has worked in an R&D, Clinical, and Research capacity in implantable electrical stimulation for 27 years. Working for St Jude Medical in the 1990s, he developed…
Kevin L. Kilgore, PhD
Associate Director of Technology, Cleveland FES Center
Bio Dr. Kevin Kilgore's primary research interest is in the application of functional electrical stimulation (FES) to provide disabled individuals with increased independence and improved quality of life. In particular, I have focused my work…
Kristl Vonck, MD, PhD
Professor of Neurology and Laboratory for Clinical and Experimental Neurophysiology, Ghent University
Kristl Vonck is Professor in Neurology at Ghent University Hospital, Ghent, Belgium. Her medical training was carried out at Ghent University and her PhD thesis was entitled ‘Neurostimulation for refractory epilepsy, clinical efficacy and…
Lee Fisher, PhD
Assistant Professor, Rehab Neural Engineering Labs, University of Pittsburgh
Lee Fisher, PhD, is an assistant professor in the Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation. He completed his doctoral studies in Biomedical Engineering at Case Western Reserve University. His PhD work focused on the…
Magdy M. Hassouna, MSc, PhD, MB BCh, ChB, FRCSC
Professor of Surgery (Urology), University of Toronto
Bio After obtaining his Ph.D. from McGill University in Montreal, Quebec, Dr. Hassouna continues to pursue research in the clinical and basic fronts. Dr. Hassouna's main interest is the field of neuro-urology with special emphasis…
Marian Kollarik, MD, PhD
Associate Professor of Medicine, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine
Research in the Marian Kollarik Lab focuses on specific phenotype of visceral sensory nerves, termed nociceptive, that detect stimuli associated with impeding or actual tissue damage. Nociceptors trigger defensive reflexes and/or sensations of discomfort…
Meaghan C. Creed, PhD
Assistant Professor of Pharmacology, University of Maryland School of Medicine
Bio Dr. Megan Creed obtained her HBSc ad PhD at the University of Toronto. During her graduate work with Dr. José Nobrega, she studied deep brain stimulation (DBS) applied to the basal ganglia in models…
Michael W. Jenkins, PhD
Assistant Professor of Pediatrics & Biomedical Engineering, Case Western Reserve University
Dr. Jenkins received his PhD in Biomedical Engineering from Case Western Reserve University in 2008. Since 2014, he has been an Assistant Professor in the Department of Pediatrics & Biomedical Engineering, Case Western Reserve…
Milan Obradovic, MBiomedE
Sr. Clinical Field Engineer &Lead Training Specialist, Saluda Medical
Milan Obradovic received his BS in Electrical and Electronics Engineering in 2009, and his Master’s in Biomedical/Medical Engineering in 2010 from the University of New South Wales. Milan joined National ICT Australia (NICTA) in…
Niloy Bhadra, MD, PhD
Assistant Professor Biomedical Engineering, Case Western Reserve University
Bio Dr. Niloy Bhadra's ongoing research is investigating high-frequency waveforms for inducing a rapid yet fully reversible peripheral motor nerve block, which will have clinical applications in the control of spasticity and other movement…
Olujimi A. Ajijola MD, PhD
Director, Clinical Autonomic Neuroscience Programs, UCLA Cardiac Arrhythmia Center
Assistant Professor of Medicine Dept. of Cardiology, Dept. of Molecular, Cellular, and Integrative Physiology Bio Dr. Olujimi Ajijola is an interventional cardiac electrophysiologist, and autonomic neuroscientist focused on understanding how neuromodulation may be aimed at repairing…
Paul Boon, MD, PhD, FEAN
Professor and Chairman Department of Neurology & Division of Head, Movement and Senses, Ghent University Hospital
Bio At UZ Gent, Professor Boon runs a large sleep disorders and epilepsy clinic and the recently established Centre for Neurophysiological Monitoring (CNM), a 16-bed intensive monitoring unit for sleep and epilepsy performing 3500…
Paul Yoo, PhD
Associate Professor, Institute of Biomaterials & Biomedical Engineering, University of Toronto
Dr. Paul Yoo is an Assistant Professor of Biomaterials & Biomedical Engineering and Electrical and Computer Engineering at the University of Toronto. He is an expert in the field of Neural Engineering in which…
Peter S. Staats, MD, MBA
Chief Medical Officer, National Spine and Pain Centers
Dr. Peter Staats is an American physician, educator, author, inventor and clinical researcher, specializing in interventional pain medicine. He was the founder of the Division of Pain Medicine at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in 1994 and served as its director for…
Prasad Shirvalkar, MD, PhD
Assistant Professor in Anesthesiology and Neurology, UCSF
Bio Prasad Shirvalkar, MD, PhD has been engaged in Neuroscience research since 2002, completing a PhD in Neurophysiology studying hippocampal mechanisms of memory formation and retrieval. Early in his career, he helped to develop…
Ricardo Vallejo, MD, PhD
Co-Founder & Director of Research, Millennium Pain Center
Dr. Ricardo Vallejo is the Director of Research at Millennium Pain Center. He is deeply committed to discovering new methods and treatments for chronic pain. Dr. Vallejo holds multiple appointments in the editorial boards…
Richard McCallum, MD
Professor & Founding Chair of the Department of Internal Medicine, Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center El Paso
Dr. McCallum's research has been focused on the physiology, pathophysiology, and pharmacology of gastrointestinal smooth muscle relating to disorders of motility and functional bowel disease involving the esophagus, stomach, small bowel, and colon. He…
Robert E. Gross, MD, PhD
MBNA/Bowman Professor of Neurosurgery at Emory University, and co-founder and Director of the Emory Neuromodulation and Technology Innovation Center (ENTICe)
Bio Robert E. Gross, MD, PhD is the MBNA/Bowman Professor of Neurosurgery at Emory University, with appointments in Neurology, Neuroscience and Biomedical Engineering. Dr. Gross completed his neurosurgical residency at Albert Einstein College of…
Robert M. G. Reinhart, PhD
Assistant Professor, Department of Psychological & Brain Sciences, Boston University
PI/Director, Visual Cognitive Neuroscience Laboratory Faculty Member, Center for Systems Neuroscience (CSN) Faculty Member, Cognitive Neuroimaging Center (CNC) Faculty Member, Center for Research in Sensory Communication and Emerging Neural Technology (CReSCENT) Faculty Member, Graduate…
Robrecht Raedt, PhD
Assistant Research Professor, Ghent University
Prof. Dr. Robrecht Raedt works as Associate Research Professor at the Laboratory for Clinical and Experimental Neurophysiology, Neurobiology and Neuropsychology of Ghent University (Belgium) focusing on modulation of epileptic brain networks using neurostimulation and…
Sean Nagel, MD
Staff Physician, Neurological Surgery, Center for Neurological Restoration, Cleveland Clinic
Assistant Professor, Department of of Neurological Surgery, Cleveland Clinic, Lerner College of Medicine of Case Western Reserve University Dr. Sean Nagel focuses on the neurosurgical management of movement disorders, pain, cranial vault reconstruction, spasticity and…
Seth Hays, PhD
Eugene McDermott Assistant Professor of Bioengineering, University of Texas at Dallas
Bio Dr. Seth Hays' research is focused on developing closed-loop vagus nerve stimulation (VNS) therapy to improve recovery of motor function after stroke, traumatic brain injury, peripheral nerve injury, and spinal cord injury, and…
Stavros Zanos, MD, PhD
Assistant Professor, Translational Neurophysiology Lab, Center for Bioelectronic Medicine, The Feinstein Institute for Medical Research
Dr. Zanos obtained his MD diploma from Aristotle University, in Thessaloniki, Greece. He served as a general medical practitioner and a military physician, before training in internal medicine at the Papageorgiou General Hospital, in…
Stuart Cogan, ScD
Professor of Bioengineering, Neural Interfaces Laboratory, University of Texas at Dallas
Bio Professor Stuart Cogan worked at EIC Laboratories prior to joining the faculty at The University of Texas at Dallas. At EIC, he was responsible for developing and managing a research and development program…
Teresa Spix, BS
Graduate student, Gittis Lab, Carnegie Mellon University
Teresa Spix is a fourth year graduate student in the Gittis Lab at Carnegie Mellon University. Her work explores the functional implications of stimulation on different cell types within the basal ganglia in optogenetic…
Tina Vrabec, PhD
Assistant Research Professor, Case Western Reserve University
Research Interests Dr. Vrabec's research involves direct current block of the peripheral nerve. There are many clinical issues that can benefit from electrical nerve block. New electrode technology was developed to provide direct current…
Yun Guan, MD, PhD
Professor of Anesthesiology & Critical Care Medicine, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine
Dr. Yun Guan is an associate professor of anesthesiology and critical care medicine at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. His multidisciplinary research focuses on mechanisms of chronic pain and developing better strategies…