People

My research group brings together students and trainees from engineering, medicine, and computational sciences to work on problems at the intersection of physiology, data, and clinical care.

Mentorship focuses on developing both technical skills and the ability to translate quantitative insights into meaningful clinical and scientific questions.

Current Trainees

Gabriela Renta Lopez

PhD Candidate, Biomedical Engineering (UT Austin)

Research focuses on developing dynamic network metrics as biomarkers for cognitive reserve using EEG data.

Sophia Epstein

PhD Candidate, Oden Institute

Research focuses on neuromodulation and computational modeling of neural systems, including stimulation strategies for therapeutic applications.

Jilliane Lagus

PhD Candidate, Speech-Language-Hearing Sciences

Research focuses on signal processing and machine learning approaches for detecting swallowing events using physiological audio signals.

Polina Lee

Undergraduate Student

Research focuses on movement metrics captured from smartphones as a predictor for fall risk.

Selected Alumni

Students and trainees have gone on to careers in medicine, academia, and industry.

  • Ally Richardson → Data Scientist, Austin, TX (co-authored publication)
  • Henry Nguyen → Medical Student, UT San Antonio
  • Anjana Ganesh → Medical Student, UT Rio Grande Valley
  • Rohan Shah → Medical Student, UTMB
  • Nitya Rao → Ophthalmologist, Austin, TX (co-authored publication)
  • Daniel Paydarfar → PhD Candidate, Biostatistics, Harvard (co-authored publication)
  • Alisha Ragatz → Data Engineer, Dell Medical School (co-authored publication)
  • Alan Gee → Applied Machine Learning Scientist, Austin, TX (co-authored publication)

Clinical and Residency Mentorship

In my role as Associate Program Director for Quantitative Research in the Neurology Residency Program, I mentor residents on research and quality improvement projects.

This includes guidance on:

  • Study design and evaluation
  • Data collection and analysis
  • Institutional review processes
  • Translating clinical questions into quantitative frameworks

Projects span stroke systems of care, health equity, clinical workflow optimization, and patient outcomes.