Translational NeuroElectronics Lab
Designing and developing electronics to better understand the brain
About Us
“Without stones there is no arch” -Marco Polo
Dion Khodagholy, PhD
Associate Professor
Dion Khodagholy is Henry Samueli Associate Professor the Department of Electrical Engineering at UCI. He received his Master’s degree from the University of Birmingham (UK). He obtained his Ph.D. in microelectronics at the Department of Bioelectronics (BEL) of the Ecole des Mines (France). His postdoctoral research at New York University, Langone Medical Center was focused on large-scale cortical acquisition and analysis. He was an associate professor at Columbia University prior to joining UCI. His research explores the interface of electronics and the brain in the context of both applied and discovery sciences, with the ultimate goal of new innovations in device engineering and neuroscience methods to improve diagnosis and treatment of neuropsychiatric disease.
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Jose Ferrero Lopez, PhD
Associate Project Scientist
Jose obtained his PhD in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology at Complutense University with research focused on metabotropic receptors role in synaptic plasticity. His postdoctoral research, supported by the pharmaceutical company Takeda, investigated the function of these receptors in brain diseases. He currently studies the use of neurostimulation to investigate memory consolidation and treat cognitive impairments associated to epilepsy.
Hyung Joon Shim, PhD
Post-Doctoral Fellow
Hyung Joon Shim a is post-doctoral researcher in the Translational Neuroelectronics lab, Department of Electrical Engineering at University of California - Irvine. He received his B.Sc. in Electrical Engineering, Chemical and Biological Engineering from Seoul National University in Korea. After graduation, he joined Prof. Dae-Hyeong Kim's lab at Seoul National University and received Ph.D. with thesis "Development of skin-like electronics using mechanical design strategies and intrinsically stretchable materials". His current research focuses on the development and application of soft electronic materials for neural interface.
Shan Sho Shim, PhD
Post-Doctoral Fellow
Shan received her Bachelor of Science in Experimental Medicine and Psychology from Peking University, China. She then obtained her PhD supervised by Dr. You Wan and Dr. Ming Yi in Neuroscience at the Neuroscience Research Institute of Peking University. She also completed a visiting studentship in Dr. Kay Tye’s lab at MIT/Salk Institute. Her current research is focusing on investigating the underlying mechanism of memory impairment associated to the temporal lobe epilepsy.
Ahnaf Rashik Hassan, PhD
Post-Doctoral Fellow
Ahnaf Rashik Hassan received a PhD in Biomedical Engineering at Columbia University in 2024. Ahnaf completed his MASc in Biomedical Engineering from the University of Toronto in 2018 and his BSc in Electrical and Electronic Engineering from Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology in 2015. Ahnaf's prior research focused on applying biomedical signal analysis and machine learning for pathological state identification and computerized diagnosis. His current research focuses on neural signal processing to study the neural mechanisms of memory and spatial navigation.
Liang is a post-doctoral researcher working in the Translational Neuroelectronics lab, Department of Pediatrics at University of California - Irvine. He comes from Shenzhen, China. In 2018, Liang received his Bachelor of Science in Electrical & Electronics Engineering from Tel Aviv University, Israel. For his undergraduate project, Liang joined Prof. Yosi Shacham-Diamand’s group as an researcher to perform EIS and Van der Pauw measurements on SAM-enhanced semiconductor devices. At the Translational NeuroElectronics Lab, Liang investigates brain states of neonatal rodents using neural electrophysiology, and build electronics for clinical use. Liang hopes to continue research at the intersection of Electrical Engineering and Neuroscience.
Liang Ma
Post-Doctoral Fellow
Onni Rauhala
Post-Doctoral Fellow
Onni is a post-doctoral researcher working in the Translational Neuroelectronics lab, Department of Pediatrics at University of California - Irvine. Originally from Finland, Onni is a graduate from the College of Biological Sciences at the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities where he got his B.Sc. in neuroscience with a minor in anthropology. His past research experience includes behavioral studies in rodents utilizing optogenetics and electrophysiological methods as well as materials projects for improved histological procedures in neuroscience. Currently, Onni's research work is split between investigating learning and memory in spatial navigation and object recognition using rodent models, and developing biocompatible implants for neural recordings.
Sahra Genc
PhD Student
Sahra is a graduate student researcher pursuing her PhD in the Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science at the University of California, Irvine. She is originally from Istanbul, Turkey. She earned her B.Sc. in Computer Engineering from Fort Lewis College in Durango, Colorado. In her undergraduate research, she worked on fabricating Lung-on-a-Chip devices by integrating porous silicon membranes with PDMS microfluidic channels to model lung physiology, and she also fabricated and characterized p-channel MOSFETs. Her current research focuses on fabricating conformable neural interface devices as she pursues her PhD.
Elias Heanue
PhD Student
Elias Heanue is a graduate student pursuing a PhD in Electrical Engineering at UC Irvine. He received a bachelor of science in biophysics from Emory University in Atlanta. During his undergraduate studies, he focused on electrically stimulating protein fluctuations while monitoring real-time dynamics using EPR.Now, he plans to develop biocompatible neural devices as he completes his graduate studies.
Kiwon Park
PhD Student
Kiwon is pursuing a PhD in Biomedical Engineering at UCI. He received his Bachelor of Science in Biological Science from University of Tsukuba, Japan. His past research focused on the role of glia cells in brain homeostasis and electrophysiological methods to investigate brain circuits for memory. Kiwon is currently focused on investigating spatial learning and memory using rodent models.
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