Posts classified under: Neurotechnology and Neuromodulation

Daniel Benjamin Aharoni, Ph.D.

Faculty Member

Assistant Professor
Department of Neurology
David Geffen School of Medicine
University of California, Los Angeles

 

Personal Statement

Our research lies at the intersection of engineering, neuroscience, and physics. In particular, we focus on applying tool development methodologies from engineering and physics to address current challenges in neuroscience and medicine. Working often times in close collaboration with other researchers, we concentrate on finding solutions to critical design problems (hardware, software, analysis, experimental) and develop those solutions from concept to implementation. In recent years, Dr. Aharoni led the development of the Miniscope system, an open-source microscopy platform for recording and analyzing neural activity in freely behaving animals. Our platform is currently being used in over 450 laboratories with an active and growing user base, making it one of the most successful open-source neuroscience tools to date.

Ausaf Bari, MA, M.D., Ph.D., FAANS

Faculty Member

Professor in Residence
Department of Neurosurgery
David Geffen School of Medicine
University of California, Los Angeles

 

Biography

Dr. Bari specializes in the neurosurgical repair and restoration of brain and nerve function. Following his neurosurgery residency training at UCLA, Dr. Bari was awarded the prestigious William P. Van Wagenen Fellowship to train at the world-renowned functional neurosurgery program at the University of Toronto. He has extensive clinical and research experience in the use of deep brain stimulation (DBS) in the treatment of both movement and psychiatric disorders. Dr. Bari’s clinical practice includes DBS surgery for Parkinson’s disease, tremor, dystonia, depression and OCD. In addition, his clinical practice includes neurosurgery for brain tumors, pain, and peripheral nerve disorders.

Dr. Bari’s research focuses on an interdisciplinary approach to studying the neurobiology underlying movement and psychiatric disorders and expanding the frontiers of neurosurgery to treat those disorders. As a part of his fellowship training, Dr. Bari studied the relationship between the motor and reward systems of the brain and the use of deep brain stimulation to modify and enhance them. A native of California, Dr. Bari completed his neurosurgery residency training at UCLA after receiving his MD and PhD degrees from Boston University. He completed his undergraduate training at UC Berkeley in the field of neurobiology.

William Zeiger, M.D., Ph.D.

Faculty Member

Assistant Professor
Department of Neurology
David Geffen School of Medicine
University of California, Los Angeles

 

Westwood Neurology
300 Medical Plaza, Suite B200,
Los Angeles, CA 90095

Ian Cook, M.D.

Faculty Member

Biography

Ian A. Cook, M.D. holds the Joanne and George Miller and Family Endowed Chair in Depression Research. He is a Professor of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences in the David Geffen School of Medicine, and a Research Scientist at the Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior. Dr. Cook received his bachelors degree with high honors from Princeton University and his medical degree from the Yale University School of Medicine. He completed his psychiatry residency training at UCLA’s Neuropsychiatric Institute, where he also was an NIMH-funded research fellow. Dr. Cook served on the Executive Committee on Practice Guidelines of the American Psychiatric Association, and guided the electronic dissemination of their evidence-based guidelines in psychiatry. A board-certified Psychiatrist, he has also served as an examiner for the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology. His biography is profiled in Who’s Who in America, Who’s Who in the World, and Best Doctors. He is the author of numerous publications on brain function in mental illness and in aging, and holds several patents on biomedical devices and methods.

Publications

A selected list of publications:

Cook, IA Leuchter, AF Morgan, ML Conlee, EW David, S Lufkin, R Babaie, A Dunkin, JJ O’Hara, R Simon, S Lightner, A Thomas, S Broumandi, D Badjatia, N Mickes, L Mody, RK Arora, S Zheng, Z Abrams, M Rosenberg-Thompson, S   Cognitive and physiologic correlates of subclinical structural brain disease in elderly healthy control subjects Archives of neurology. , 2002; 59(10): 1612-20.
Cook, IA Leuchter, AF Morgan, M Witte, E Stubbeman, WF Abrams, M Rosenberg, S Uijtdehaage, SH   Early changes in prefrontal activity characterize clinical responders to antidepressants Neuropsychopharmacology : official publication of the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology. , 2002; 27(1): 120-31.
Leuchter, AF Cook, IA Witte, EA Morgan, M Abrams, M   Changes in brain function of depressed subjects during treatment with placebo The American journal of psychiatry. , 2002; 159(1): 122-9.