• Jeff G. Ojemann, MD

  Jeff G. Ojemann, MD, is a Professor of Neurological Surgery and holds the Richard G. Ellenbogen Chair in Pediatric Neurological Surgery. His laboratory focuses on the signals obtained from patients with subdural electrodes implanted for the localization of intractable seizures. Using a variety of signal processing techniques, correlates of motor and other behaviors are used to map cortical function and to provide control signals for brain-computer interfaces, including computer cursor control and robotic hands. Related projects include the use of recursive stimulation to promote plasticity, pre-operative rehabilitation to mitigate deficits, and use of functional imaging in neurosurgical settings. His background includes a degree in Physics from Princeton University, medical school and residency at Washington University in St. Louis and a K23 project in fMRI in temporal lobectomy mentored by Drs. Marcus Raichle and Steve Petersen. As an affiliate of the Center for Sensorimotor Engineering, Integrative Brain Imaging Center, and Center for Integrative Brain Research, he is focused on neurosurgical opportunities to advance neuroscience.

• Felix Darvas, PhD

  Felix Darvas, PhD, is a research assistant professor in the Department of Neurological Surgery. His research interests are in direct brain-computer-interaction (BCI) and the study of complex cortical networks involved during such interactions. He is primarily using non-invasive methods for studying brain function in real time, such as electroencephalography (EEG) and magnetoencephalography (MEG). His main focus is on developing multi-modal control signals for BCI and methods to detect causal interaction. He is also engaged in studies to push the limits of EEG/MEG signal detection into frequency ranges of the human brain that were previously assumed to be the exclusive domain of invasive electrocorticography (i.e. direct recordings form the cortex). In order to establish usable control signals for BCI, he has also studied the human motor system extensively. Contact: fdarvas@u.washington.edu

• Lise Johnson, PhD

  Lise Johnson, Ph.D., is a postdoctoral research associate in the department of Neurological Surgery. She received her B.S. in Physics from the University of Oklahoma in 2003 and her Ph.D. in Biomedical Engineering from the University of Arizona in 2010. She is broadly interested in ECoG based brain-computer interfaces and specifically in how the brain changes in response to training. She is currently involved with two projects; one examining how sleep architecture is changed by learning to use a BCI and the other investigating how tactile feedback impacts BCI skill acquisition. In addition to her research activities, she is interested in science education and improving science literacy. Contact: liseaj@uw.edu

• Tim Blakely, MS

  Tim Blakely, M.S., is a Bioengineering graduate student studying the interactions between areas in the brain, specifically interactions that occur when subjects are learning to control a brain-computer interface. His thesis is an investigation into the small-scale interactions in primary motor cortex during highly dexterous hand motions. He pursued a Computer Science degree while doing undergraduate studies at Washington University in St. Louis and completed a masters in Robotics. Contact: tblakely@u.washington.edu

• Jeremiah Wander, BS

  Jeremiah Wander, B.S., is a graduate student in the Bioengineering department at UW. His research interests are centered around analysis of population level cortical signals, use of these signals for BCI applications and leveraging these signals in rehabilitation applications. Previously, he received two B.S. degrees, one in computer engineering and another in electrical engineering from North Carolina State University in Raleigh, NC. After completion of his undergraduate degrees, Jeremiah worked in a research lab in Milan, Italy helping develop an automated stroke rehabilitation system. He also worked for a biopharmaceutical OEM in Apex, NC, played music professionally and spent a year and a half building homes for underprivileged families in Costa Rica. To complement his graduate studies with a thorough understanding of business principles and entrepreneurial skills, Jeremiah participates in the Science and Engineering Business Association and is currently the VP of Membership. Contact: jdwander@uw.edu / staff.washington.edu/jdwander

• Kurt Weaver, PhD

  Kurt Weaver, Ph.D., is a research assistant professor in the department of Radiology. He is interested in how aberrant function and physiology of the default mode network (DMN) contributes to the clinical symptomatology of various neurological and psychiatric disorders. The existence of the DMN is a recent observation that has gained significant traction within systems neuroscience. This is due in part to the finding that elevated activity including blood oxygen level dependent (BOLD) activity (the blood flow alterations resolved by fMRI linked to neuronal potentials) within the DMN can impede activity within other functional neural networks responsible for constructing any number of normal cognitive functions and behaviors. Consequently, a variety of neurological (such Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s Disease) and Psychiatric (such as Schizophrenia, Autism and ADHD) disease states have been linked with abnormal DMN activity. Through his K01 project, he will combine fMRI with both surface based electrocorticography (ECoG) and scalp based electroencephalography (EEG) recordings to examine DMN neurophysiological activity during a variety of functional behaviors. Through these studies, he and his collaborators seek to gain a better understanding the natural physiology of the DMN with the hope that this will lead to a greater mechanistic understanding of how DMN dysfunction contributes to various brain diseases. Contact: weaverk@u.washington.edu

• Jared Olson, MD

  Jared Olson, M.D., is a resident in the Department of Rehabilitation Medicine, with research interests in cortical motor function, plasticity following neurologic injury, and the application of electrocorticography in brain-computer interface. He has a clinical interest in neuro-rehabilitation, with an emphasis in stroke. He earned his Medical Degree from the University of Chicago Pritzker School of Medicine in 2008. Originally from Colorado, he holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Colorado at Boulder. Prior to medical school, he worked as an engineer at Seagate technology before taking time to live in Central America. He has a wife, daughter, and two dogs, and loves to spend time with family and friends. In his free time he likes to bicycle, hike, sail, snowboard, play music, and make beer. Contact: jaredol@u.washington.edu

• Conor Sayres, BS

  Conor Sayres, B.S., graduated from UW in 2010 with degrees in Physics and Astronomy. As an undergrad, he was awarded a Mary Gates Research Scholarship to study coherence structure in ECOG recordings with Professors Larry Sorensen and Jeff Ojemann. Since graduation, he has continued working with group members and collaborators. His current projects focus on data management, cortical surface reconstructions, and microgrid array ECOG recordings. His interests are data mining, signal analysis, travel, and skiing. Contact: csayres@u.washington.edu

• Kai J. Miller, MD

  Contact: kmiller@gmail.com

• Melissa Smith, BS

  Melissa Smith, B.S., is a Neurobiology and Behavior graduate student working with advisor Dr. Rajesh Rao. Melissa received her bachelor’s degree in cellular biology from Western Washington University. After graduating, she spent the next five years as a research technician in the Center for Integrative Brain Research at Seattle Children’s Research Institute. Her project at Seattle Children’s focused on developing treatments for craniopharyngioma patients. Her interests eventually grew towards cortical control of movement and neural interface systems. Her current work is focused on EEG-based brain-computer interfaces. Contact: ralstom@u.washington.edu

Affiliate Members

• Rajesh P.N. Rao, PhD

  Rajesh P.N. Rao, PhD, is an associate professor of Computer Science and Engineering at the University of Washington. The primary goal of his research is to discover the computational principles underlying the brain's remarkable ability to learn, process and store information, and to apply this knowledge to the task of building adaptive robotic systems. and brain-computer interfaces (BCIs). He uses a combination of probabilistic techniques, computer simulations, and collaborative neurobiological experiments. Such an interdisciplinary approach has provided functional interpretations of several otherwise puzzling neurobiological properties while at the same time suggesting biologically-inspired solutions to problems in computer vision, robotics and artificial intelligence. Contact: rao@u.washington.edu

• Marcel den Nijs, PhD

  Marcel den Nijs, Ph.D., is a professor in the department of Physics. He is interested in equilibrium and non-equilibrium statistical mechanics and low dimensional quantum field theory, with applications to surface science, on dimensional quantum fluids and solids, and to neuroscience. Contact: dennijs@phys.washington.edu

• Bill Shain, PhD

  Bill Shain, PhD is an Acting Research Professor in Neurological Surgery at the University of Washington. Contact: william.shain@seattlechildrens.org

• Larry Sorensen, PhD

  Larry Sorensen, PhD is a Professor of Physics at the University of Washington.

• Eberhard E. Fetz, PhD

  Dr. Eberhard Fetz is a Professor in the Department of Physiology & Biophysics at UW, and is the principal investigator on the Keck Foundation grant. His team is working on a tiny implantable computer to record from and stimulate the brain, spinal cord and muscles. Contact: fetz@u.washington.edu

• Shahin Hakimian, MD

  Shahin Hakimian, M.D., is a neurologist at Harborview Medical Center. His research interests include corticography, brain mapping, EEG signal processing for seizure localization, physiological topography of EEG signals and their significance in various conditions including sleep and chronic pain, signal processing by population models of neurons, and in-silico models of populations of neurons. Contact: shahink@u.washington.edu

• John Miller, MD

  John Miller, M.D., is a UW professor of neurology and director of the UW Regional Epilepsy Center. His research interests include new methods of locating the seizure focus, optimizing presurgical workup and animal models of epilepsy. Contact: millerjw@u.washington.edu

• Ceon Ramon, PhD

  Ceon Ramon, Ph.D., has been involved in neuroscience research for the last 20 years. His main interest is in computer modeling of the electrical activity of the brain under normal and diseased conditions and its application to epilepsy. He has built 3-D anatomically realistic models of human heads which are being used all over the world for modeling of the electrical activity of human brain. His main focus is on phase synchronization studies, EEG and phase transitions. He also works with high density (256 channel) scalp EEG and cortical (EcoG) data for noninvasive epilepsy detection and language mapping. He currently holds an affiliate professorship in electrical engineering at the UW and professor of bioengineering at Reykjavik University in Iceland. Contact: ceon@uw.edu

2011 Summer Interns

• Anthony Wohns

  Anthony Wohns is a senior at Charles Wright Academy in Tacoma, Washington. He spent eight weeks in the GRID Lab, presenting papers, learning MATLAB (a computer programming language), and creating the lab website, among other work. His areas of research interest include electrocortiocography mapping with multilingual patients. Anthony is also an avid runner, violinist, mountain climber, and martial artist.