Research

Located in a Level I Trauma Center, which designates the highest standard for surgical care, we work to explore and utilize computational and engineering tools to improve neuromodulation treatments for patient populations with severe traumatic brain injury (sTBI). Traumatic brain injury results in severe morbidities and mortality and accounts for more than 61,000 deaths every year(1). Coma and disorders of consciousness are common after TBI. A current lack of prognosis not only makes it difficult to counsel family members but hinders our ability to measure whether prospective treatments can be proven effective.

Our lab’s main focus is to develop a computational framework to understand the dynamical system that underlies different brain states (coma and consciousness states) and utilize stimulations to effectively improve the brain state from a pathological state to a healthy state. To do so, we utilize functional neurosurgery techniques in combination with imaging, computational neuroscience, and state-of-the-art machine learning tools. We work closely with our collaborators in Radiology, Electrical Engineering, Material Science, Applied Mathematics and Statistics, and Psychology to tackle this complex problem and accomplish this ambitious mission.