Penn Brain Science, Translation, Innovation, and Modulation Center
Welcome
The Penn Brain Science, Translation, Innovation, and Modulation (brainSTIM) Center brings together a team of leading neuroscientists, neurologists, psychiatrists, psychologists, and engineers from the University of Pennsylvania who use groundbreaking neuromodulation techniques to research, repair, and enhance human brain function. In order to accomplish this goal, the brainSTIM Center has created a framework for cooperation that cuts across departmental and institutional boundaries. The center promotes intellectually rewarding, productive, and novel scientific collaborations in the field of neuromodulation by leveraging critical skills and resources, creating unique opportunities for growth, innovation, and sustainability for neuromodulation research.
The brainSTIM Center sucessfully held its third annual TMS Workshop on Sept 17-19, 2025. More information can be found on the TMS Workshop 2025 tab!
brainSTIM News
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Leveraging AI to help stroke survivors recover speech abilities
Friday, February 13, 2026
Stroke survivors with aphasia often face long, highly variable paths to regaining speech and language abilities. In a recent study, Shreya Parchure, a researcher in the LCNS Lab (Laboratory for Cognition and Neural Stimulation), explored how explainable artificial intelligence (AI) can help personalize speech therapy for individuals recovering from stroke.
Rather than relying on standardized treatment approaches, Parchure and her team developed AI models that integrate clinical characteristics—such as stroke severity and patient background—with linguistic features like word difficulty. The system can predict how a patient may respond to specific therapy targets and suggest more individualized treatment strategies. Importantly, the AI is designed to be transparent, allowing clinicians to understand how recommendations are generated and increasing trust in its use in clinical settings.
The research also includes the development of an AI-powered tool intended to support therapists in designing more precise, data-informed rehabilitation plans.
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NationaI Institutes of Health Directors Award for High-Risk, High-Reward Research
Wednesday, October 8, 2025
Congratulations to Casey Halpern, MD, for winning the Pioneer Award! This award will support his long-standing vision of developing technologies for multiple disorders of the brain, including major depression, obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), and substance use disorder (SUD). These disorders have all been linked to dysfunction of areas that exist very deep in the brain, unreachable by available treatments.