People
List of some of the rotating cast of characters involved in our research. All the email addresses given can be reached via [username] at neurosim dot downstate dot edu.
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Bill Lytton | Principal investigator |
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M.D. (Columbia University, 1983) I use computational neuroscience to try to forge links between disparate findings from normal and abnormal brain function. Primary research areas are modeling electrophysiological processes pertinent to epilepsy and modeling abstract neural networks to understand recovery from stroke and the basis of cognitive processes. |
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George Chadderdon | Postdoctoral fellow |
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Ph.D. (University of Indiana, 2009) I am currently working on a model of M1 learning to control a virtual arm in a reaching task using a type of reinforcement learning based on the functionality of the dopaminergic system. |
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Salvador Dura-Bernal | Postdoctoral fellow |
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Ph.D. (University of Plymouth, 2010) I am currently working on interfacing a large-scale biomimetic model of the brain with in vivo neurophysiological recordings of monkeys and a prosthetic device (e.g. robotic arm) for the In Silico Brain project. |
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Cliff Kerr | Postdoctoral fellow |
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Ph.D. (University of Sydney, 2010) I work on a large-scale network model for the In Silico Brain project. The eventual aim is to build a "neuroprosthesis": a detailed computer model of the thalamocortical system that engages in two-way communication with the real brain, via electronics or optogenetics, and thus restores lost function. My work so far has focused on the stimulus-response and information-processing aspects of the model -- and of the brains we hope it resembles. |
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Robert McDougal | Postdoctoral fellow |
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Ph.D. (The Ohio State University, 2011) I am working on developing models and methods that combine computational neuroscience and computational cell biology using NEURON. I have recently focused on SBML support, three-dimensional, and stochastic reaction-diffusion simulations. |
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Sam Neymotin | Research Assistant Professor |
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Ph.D. (SUNY Downstate / NYU-Poly, 2012) I am working on computer models of neuronal networks with the aim of understanding how dynamics emerge from the interacting neurons, how the neurons process information, and the effects of learning on dynamics. I also spend some time analyzing and developing methods of analysis for electrophysiological data obtained from labs we collaborate with. |
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Mohamed Sherif | Graduate student |
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M.D., M.Sc. (Ain Shams University, Cairo, 2003, 2008) I am a psychiatry resident & a graduate student at SUNY Downstate / NYU-Poly. I am working on applications of computational neuroscience to psychiatric diseases, particularly schizophrenia. Currently, I am exploring the effects of different NMDA-receptor antagonists through computer models of CA1 region. I am also involved in analysis of experiemental recordings from CA1 obtained from labs we collaborate with. |
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AnnMary Mathew | Research analyst |
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A.B. (Dartmouth, 2007) In the hippocampus, only a small percentage of pyramidal cells fire in a given gamma cycle; I am looking at the mechanism governing how these cells are chosen in a computer model of the CA3. |
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Yosef Skolnick | Research technician/graduate student |
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Email: yosefs I am a Computer Science graduate student at Brooklyn College working on second messenger effects on H-currents. This is a part of the ongoing extension of NEURON to include chemical reactions-diffusions. In the past, I was building a psycho-physics suite to test inter-hemispheric transfer for clinical trials. |
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Larry Eberle | Systems administrator |
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B.S. (SUNY Downstate, 1974) I'm one of the primary Linux administrators in the Neurosim Lab, with 11 years of experience as a Linux administrator. I earned an Associate in Applied Science in Electrical Technology from SUNY Farmingdale in 1970, and a BS in medical computer science from SUNY Downstate Medical Center in Brooklyn in 1974. I've been busy working in the medical computer science field ever since. |








