CBIS Personnel

Desmond Oathes, PhD

Associate Professor, Center Director

Dr. Oathes is Associate Professor in the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Pennsylvania. He has secondary faculty appointments in Neuroscience, Neurosurgery, Neurology and Bioengineering. Dr. Oathes is a licensed Clinical Psychologist and has a small clinical practice at the Center for Treatment and Study of Anxiety. He has been on the Penn faculty since 2015 before which he was on faculty at Stanford University.  (CV). He is also Associate Director of the CNDS and Co-Director of brainSTIM at Penn.

Nicholas Balderston, PhD

Assistant Professor

Dr. Balderston is an experimental psychologist focusing on anxiety. His research uses psychophysiology, neuroimaging, and neuromodulation to develop and test brain-behavior hypotheses aimed at understanding the mechanisms that mediate clinical anxiety. 

Kristin Linn, PhD

Assistant Professor of Biostatistics

Dr. Linn's methodological research focuses on imaging and the design and analysis of sequentially randomized trials. She works on several center projects especially on clinical trials as well as in characterizing brain network responses to TMS in fMRI recordings.

Yong Fan, PhD

Associate Professor of Radiology

Dr. Fan has a broad background in medical image analysis and pattern recognition, with specific training in applied mathematics, statistics, and machine learning. Dr. Fan is working with us using deep learning to decode working memory targets from multi-modal MRI data then to use real-time rTMS/fMRI to optimize stimulation for achieving working memory enhancement. We are applying similar tools to remediate anxiety and depression in symptomatic patients.

Casey Halpern, MD

Chief of Stereotactic and Functional Neurosurgery

Dr. Halpern leads a collaboration with the center using stereo-EEG informed deep brain stimulation (DBS) treatment for OCD with plans to expand into more DBS + TMS projects in the near future.

Romain Duprat, PhD

I received my PhD in Medicine and Health Sciences from Gent University, Belgium. During my doctoral studies, I focused on the use of neuromodulation techniques to treat major depressive disorders. More specifically, I developed and tested a new stimulation protocol (accelerated iTBS) in treatment-resistant depressed patients. I also investigated the role of the reward system and anhedonia in the response to stimulation in the healthy and depressed state, at the behavioral and neuroimaging level (fMRI). Thanks to many collaborations and to my background in Molecular and Cellular Biology, I acquired a translational knowledge of rTMS neuromechanisms of action in the human brain and in animal models.

Hongming Li

Dr. Li's research interest focuses on the development of machine learning and deep learning methods applied to imaging and clinical data, including personalized brain functional image analysis, predictive modeling, and image processing. He collaborates with the Oathes lab on personalized targeting for TMS stimulation using multi-modal MRI data.

Gianna Perez

Neuroscience Ph.D. Student

Gianna attended Villanova University as a Presidential Scholar and graduated in 2019 with a B.S. in Cognitive and Behavioral Neuroscience. She began her graduate studies in the University of Pennsylvania Neuroscience Graduate Group in the fall of 2019 and joined the Oathes Lab in the summer of 2020. Gianna's work in the lab currently focuses on uncovering brain changes associated with depression treatment. She is also the Co-Director of Graduate Led Initiatives and Activities, a graduate student organization dedicated to building community, fostering professional development, and doing neuroscience outreach. As a first-generation college and graduate student, she aspires to use her career to continue to make Neuroscience a more inclusive place for historically underrepresented groups.

Kenji Kobayashi, PhD

Kenji is a post-doctoral researcher in Joe Kable's lab. He received his PhD in Neuroscience from University of California, Berkeley, and did postdoctoral training at Columbia University before moving to Penn. His past research focused on neurocognitive mechanisms of uncertainty reduction and information seeking in the service of value-based decision making, using behavioral modeling, fMRI, and EEG. In collaboration with Oathes lab, he is currently working on a project stimulating TPJ to modulate perspective-taking behavior.

Yuncong Ma, PhD

Yuncong received a PhD in Bioengineering at Penn State University. He pursued technical advancement and data analysis on animal fMRI during anesthesia and awake states, combined with multi-echo fMRI, calcium fiber photometry and electrophysiology. He also collaborated with labs focusing on biomaterial design, two photon imaging, and structure MRI. During his training as a post doc in UNC Chapel Hill, he obtained expertise in ZTE-fMRI sequence design and image reconstruction. Currently, he is focusing on toolbox design for personalized functional network modeling, joint identification of surface cortical area and deep brain region for TMS targeting. He is particularly interested in TMS-related fMRI signal denoising, multi-echo fMRI analysis, and TMS-EEG-fMRI analysis and real-time feedback system for TMS.

Almaris Figueroa

 Almaris.Figueroa-Gonzalez@pennmedicine.upenn.edu

Alma graduated from the University of Puerto Rico-Rio Piedras Campus in 2017 with a B.S. in Molecular Cell Biology. During her post-baccalaureate at the NIH, she studied the neuronal pathways involved in anxiety-related behaviors. Alma is pursuing a Master's degree in Social Work at Penn while also working full time in the Oathes lab.

Camille Blaine

Camille graduated from Virginia Tech in 2022 with a B.S. in Computational and Systems Neuroscience and a minor in Computer Science. She is interested in using TMS and neuroimaging analysis to better understand neural pathways and the effects of neuromodulation. In the future, Camille intends to pursue a Ph.D. in Neural Engineering. 

Sarai Garcia

Sarai graduated from the State University of New York at New Paltz in 2023 with a B.S. in Psychobiology and a B.A. in Sociology-Criminology with a minor in Disaster Studies. Sarai hopes to merge her interests and examine the neurocircuitry underlying anxiety and stress-related psychopathology to understand the mechanisms by which this circuitry contributes to the development of cognitive-affective changes and negative mental health outcomes within underserved populations most impacted by stress and trauma. In the future, Sarai plans to pursue a Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology.

Ethan Hammett

Ethan graduated from Fordham University in 2023 with a B.S. in Integrative Neuroscience, concentrating on Cognitive Neuroscience, with a minor in Computer Science. His research interests lie in exploring neural pathways implicated in affective and neuropsychiatric disorders. Specifically, they intend to investigate neural networks involved in comorbid substance use and mood disorders via non-invasive stimulation and functional imaging (TMS/fMRI). The broad purpose of their research is to improve current and introduce novel diagnostic, treatment, intervention, and community based practices in clinical populations. He focuses on LGBTQ+ populations and those underserved by both research and practice in psychological sciences. He plans on pursuing a PhD in clinical psychology.

Julie Grier

Julie graduated from the University of Pittsburgh in 2022 with a B.S. in Computational Biology and Sociology. Her responsibilities include neuroimaging data processing and analysis. She is interested in leveraging data science methods and machine learning techniques to better understand and analyze TMS-evoked brain responses. 

Yvette Sheline, MD

McClure Professor of Psychiatry and Director of the Center for Neuromodulation in Depression and Stress

As Professor of Psychiatry, Radiology and Neurology and Director, Center for Neuromodulation and Stress at the University of Pennsylvania, I have over two decades of experience conducting innovative clinical neuroscience research that bridges the fields of neuroimaging, translational research and clinical treatment. Recent projects include how inflammation may moderate antidepressant outcomes, how ‘anxious-misery’ across disorders relates to resting fMRI signals, and the neural predictors of outcome to computerized cognitive behavioral psychotherapy.

Ted Satterthwaite, MD

Associate Professor of Psychiatry (PENN)

Dr. Sattherthwaite uses multi-modal neuroimaging to characterize abnormalities in neuropsychiatric disorders as well as to describe brain/behavior changes in neurodevelopment.  He collaborates with the Oathes lab on DSI derived network control predictors of TMS/fMRI (w/ Dani Bassett). We also have a donor funded project with the Kable lab zapping TPJ to improve 'mentalizing' based decisions.

Yu Zhang, PhD

Assistant Professor, Lehigh University

Yu Zhang is an Assistant Professor with the Department of Bioengineering and the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at Lehigh University in Pennsylvania. He collaborates with the Oathes lab on an R01 using brain-based biomarkers to determine optimized treatment selection in depression.

Joe Kable, PhD

Professor of Psychology (Penn)

Dr. Kable is the Baird Term Associate Professor of Psychology at the University of Pennsylvania. Research in his lab is concerned with the neurobiology of decision-making. He collaborates with the Oathes lab on projects related to social judgment and reward learning with TMS including a donor funded project with Ted Satterthwaite.

Greg Fonzo, PhD

Assistant Professor, University of Texas - Austin

Greg is an Assistant Professor in Psychiatry at UT-Austin. He collaborates with the Oathes Lab on Dr. Zhang's R01 using brain-based biomarkers to determine optimized treatment selection in depression. We have a long history of collaboration since working together at Stanford before starting our own labs.

Mark Elliott, PhD

Associate Director CMROI, Department of Radiology (Penn)

Dr. Elliott is a biophysicist with expertise in MRI acquisition and analysis, particularly in the field of functional neuroimaging. In the Oathes lab, Dr. Elliott contributes to triggering TMS in the scanner, testing image quality, and designing MRI sequences to capture neural responses to TMS.

Mario Cristancho, MD

Assistant Professor of Clinical Psychiatry, Penn TMS Treatment Program Director

Dr.Cristancho’s clinical focus is in the area of mood disorders particularly treatment resistant depression. He specializes in the use of psychopharmacology and neuromodulation interventions including Electroconvulsive Therapy (ECT), Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS), Vagus Nerve Stimulation (VNS), and Deep Brain Stimulation (DBS).  His clinical and research activities include the assessment and treatment of mood and anxiety disorders, optimization of existing treatments, and development of new therapeutic options.  He has co-authored over 20 manuscripts and projects including peer reviewed papers and book chapters in mood disorders and neuromodulation. For the Oathes Lab, Dr. Cristancho provides oversight and training of personnel delivering repetitive TMS as well as provides coverage for scans utilizing rTMS as a research device.

Jennifer Goldschmied, PhD

Assistant Professor, Psychiatry (Penn)

Jen will be starting a project (with Phil Gehrman) studying slow wave sleep, depression, and cortico-cortico paired-associative TMS.  Bio coming soon. See: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Jennifer_Goldschmied

(Russell) Taki Shinohara, PhD

Professor of Biostatistics (Penn)

Dr. Shinohara's methodological research spans several concentrations, including causal inference, survival analysis, imaging and large data sets, and general inference problems. He works on several CNDS projects and with the Oathes lab is working on analysis strategies to characterize brain network responses to TMS in fMRI recordings.

Dani Bassett, PhD

Professor of Bioengineering (PENN)

Dr. Bassett is a leader in applying concepts from network control theory to studies of the brain which is the basis for a collaboration with Drs. Oathes and Satterthwaite (R01 supplement + Multi-PI RF1).

Ben Rosenberg

Graduate student, UCLA Psychology

Ben helped to start the lab at Penn and was instrumental in setting up many of the scan, psychophysiological and behavioral protocols that include TMS in the Oathes lab.  He will continue to collaborate on publishing data by remote as he continues his Ph.D. Clinical Psychology program at UCLA.

Colleen Bontrager

Colleen earned her bachelor’s degree in psychology from the University of Notre Dame and worked as a joint research specialist for the Kable Lab and a clinical research coordinator for the Oathes Lab. Before joining Penn, she worked as a research assistant in the psychology department at Penn State. Her project examined the effect of TMS stimulation on the temporoparietal junction on social decision-making. In the future, Colleen hopes to seek a Ph.D. in clinical psychology. In her free time, Colleen enjoys running, cooking, and reading books. 

Justin Reber, PhD

Scientific Program Specialist, National Institute on Aging, NIH

Justin was a postdoctoral fellow in the lab working on TMS/fMRI.  He now works at NIA/NIH.

Joe Deluisi

Graduate student Kinesiology/Psychology University of Michigan

Joe graduated from Northeastern University with a B.S. in Behavioral Neuroscience. He worked on several projects in the Oathes lab including network control theory TMS targeting of working memory and closed loop TMS/fMRI. He began a PhD program in Kinesiology/Psychology at the University of Michigan in 2022.

Collin Lovelace

Collin worked as a research coordinator when he was a sophomore student and Benjamin Franklin Scholar at the University of Pennsylvania majoring in neuroscience. He is broadly interested in the neurobiological basis of mental illness and treatment modalities. Collin joined the Oathes lab in summer 2022 as an undergraduate research assistant. He also works in the Penn Center for AIDS Research studying harm reduction implementation in Philadelphia. In the future, he hopes to conduct research and provide inpatient care as a psychiatrist with a focus on mood and psychotic disorders.

Jillian Troth

Jillian is an undergraduate student at the University of Pennsylvania studying Neuroscience and Creative Writing. She joined the Oathes lab in Summer 2023 as part of the MindCORE Summer Fellowship Program and is interested in researching the neurobiological etiologies of mental illnesses to produce more effective treatments. In the future, Jillian plans to pursue a career in neuropsychiatric research.

Morgan Scully, BA

Graduate student Masters of Education, Penn

Morgan graduated with a psychology major from Villanova University. She is attending a Masters in Education graduate program but also still works in the lab part time. In the Oathes lab, she does clinical screens of patients, administers TMS and records MRI and psychophysiological data.

Ximo Liang

Junior Data Analyst

Ximo graduated from Drexel University with an M.S. in Business Analytics. In the lab, Ximo's responsibilities included MRI image processing, analysis and related data management. He is now pursuing an advanced degree in Canada.

Echo (Wenyi) Xu

Graduate student Neuroscience UCLA

Echo earned a bachelor's degree from  the University of Pennsylvania majoring in cognitive science. She joined Dr. Oathes lab in fall 2021 as an undergraduate research assistant. Echo is interested in the field of mental health. She started a Ph.D. program at UCLA in Neuroscience in 2022.

Heather Robinson

Clinical Research Coordinator

Heather graduated from Haverford College with a bachelor’s degree in Psychology and a minor in Neuroscience. Her primary interest is in the neural correlates of cognitive biases underlying psychopathology. Heather hopes to pursue a PhD in Cognitive Neuroscience. She worked on a combined Kable/Oathes lab project and now is a coordinator for Dr. David Roalf.

Monica (Mengqun) Lyu

I graduated from the University of California, San Diego with an Honors in Psychology and a minor in Cognitive Science. I am really excited to join the Oathes lab to explore the neural mechanisms that are involved in people with mood disorders. In the future, I wish to study Clinical Psychology in graduate school.

Gabriela Bagdon (Vogeley)

Medical student

Gabriela graduated from Princeton University in 2018 with a bachelor's degree in neuroscience. She worked as a CRC in the Oathes Lab and is now in medical school.  Her primary interest is treatment of abnormal brain functioning, and she plans to pursue a medical degree with the ultimate goal of practicing neurology.

Hannah Long, BA

Data analyst

Hannah graduated from the University of Miami with departmental honors in Neuroscience and a minor in Computer Science. Hannah worked in the lab as a CRC and is now a Data Analyst at MedStar.

Matt Flounders

Medical resident

Matt graduated from the University of Pittsburgh in 2015 with a B.S. in Neuroscience. During a fellowship at NIH, he studied perceptual awareness and top-down processing using MEG and fMRI. His research interests include multi-modal imaging of the healthy and psychiatric brain. Matt completed medical school (PCAM) and is now on residency at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center.

Kristin Brethel-Haurwitz, PhD

NIH Admin

Dr. Brethel-Haurwitz was a Postdoctoral Researcher in the Kable Lab at Penn. She collaborated with the Oathes Lab on a project examining modulation of social preferences via TMS. She is now a Social and Behavioral Scientist Administrator at OBSSR/NIH.

Jared Zimmerman

Graduate Student, Penn

Jared did a rotation followed by one year doing TMS/fMRI data analysis in the lab. He is currently on an auditory neuroscience fellowship and working in Roy Hamilton's lab at Penn (Neurology).

Golkoo Hosseini, MD, MSED

Assistant Professor

Golkoo received her M.D. in 2010. After graduation, she worked as a general physician for almost three years. This experience enabled her to confirm and establish her commitment to the field of mental health. Since coming to the U.S. in 2014 she sought to expand her knowledge regarding human development and mental health and earned an M.S.Ed from the department of Applied Psychology and Human Development, University of Pennsylvania. Recently, she was the coordinator of the TMS Treatment Program, Department of Psychiatry, University of Pennsylvania, part time clinical research coordinator at Mood and Anxiety Disorders Treatment and Research Program. In the Oathes Lab, Golkoo provided rTMS treatment to patients and provides physician coverage for rTMS delivered in the MRI. She completed her residency in Psychiatry at Penn and was subsequently hired as an Assistant Professor.