TNEL - UC San Diego

Principal Investigator

Vikash Gilja, Ph.D.
Associate Professor
Electrical and Computer Engineering
Health Sciences Neurograduate Program
University of California, San Diego
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Current Lab Members

Ezequiel (Zeke) Arneodo, Ph.D.

Assistant Project Scientist
Ph.D. in Physics, University of Buenos Aires, 2012
M.S. in Physics, Universidad Nacional de La Plata, 2006

Zeke grew up in the Argentinean Patagonia and went from theoretical physics to experimental neuroscience. He spent some time working on olfaction with mice at NYU and developing tools for recording neural activity and behavior in freely moving birds at the Hahnloser Group at ETH Zurich.

Research Interests: nonlinear dynamics, birdsong, BCI

Daril Brown, M.S.

Ph.D. Student, Electrical and Computer Engineering
M.S. Bioengineering, UC San Diego, 2016
B.S., Mechanical Engineering, Howard University, 2014

Daril was born in Rockville, Maryland and raised in Dallas, Texas. He is an advocate for STEM mentorship & outreach efforts and is involved in several science communication efforts. In his free time he likes to hike, swim, lift weights, and play water polo. He also dabbles in entrepreneurship and writing fiction.

Research Interests: equitable neurotechnology, motor control, translational neuroscience, open source software, mechanical design & prototyping

Pablo Tostado Marcos, M.S.

Ph.D. Student, Bioengineering
M.S. Neurotechnology, Imperial College London
B.S. Bioengineering, Universidad Carlos III Madrid

Pablo was born in Madrid, Spain. Lived in London, Chicago, and finally landed in San Diego following his passion for the brain and the ocean.

Research Interests: brain dynamics, sensorimotor control, brain-controlled prosthesis

Abdullah Alothman, M.S.

Ph.D. Student, Electrical and Computer Engineering
M.S. Electrical Engineering, University of Washington - Seattle
B.S. Electrical Engineering, King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals (KFUPM)

Prior to pursuing his PhD, Abdullah worked in Saudi Aramco as a team leader in security engineering projects. He lived in Seattle for a couple of years and hated it every time it rained (but now misses it) and then moved to San Diego. Abdullah enjoys swimming, cooking and walks on the beach.

Research Interests: neural dynamics, motor control, motor prosthesis, brain machine interfaces, compressed sensing

Aashish Patel, M.S.

Ph.D. Student, Electrical and Computer Engineering
M.S. Electrical and Computer Engineering, UC San Diego, 2017
B.S., Biomedical Engineering, Georgia Tech, 2015
B.S., Computer Science, Georgia Tech, 2015

Prior to rejoining TNEL for his PhD, Aashish worked in industry on numerous projects spanning BCIs, autonomous driving, and robotics. He enjoys running, basketball, and a good game of ultimate frisbee in the beautiful San Diego scenery.

Research Interests: machine learning, neural dynamics, brain-machine interfaces, prostheses

Paul Ngo, B.S.

Ph.D. Student, Electrical and Computer Engineering
B.S., Computer Engineering, Wichita State University, 2018

Before pursuing his PhD studies as an NSF Graduate Fellow, Paul worked as a software engineer at a Fortune 500 company and gained experience with neural engineering techniques at the University of Michigan. He enjoys playing piano, drawing, and cooking succulent foods for fitness outside of the lab.

Research Interests: brain-machine interface, motor control, sensorimotor neuroscience, neurorehabilitation

Lauren Stanwicks, M.S.

Ph.D. Student, Neuroscience
M.S., Neuroscience and Behavior, UMass Amherst, 2016
B.S., Animal Science, UMass Amherst, 2015

Lauren was born, raised, and educated in Massachusetts. Prior to coming to UCSD, she spent several years working at MIT's McGovern Institute and The Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard. She loves her puggle Penelope, roller skating, obscure board games, and a well-made cocktail. More often than not, you can find her watching a sunset on one of San Diego's beautiful beaches.

Research Interests: error processing, dopamine pathways, sensory-motor feedback

Sophia Huang, M.S.

Student Researcher, Electrical and Computer Engineering
M.S. Electrical and Computer Engineering, UC San Diego, 2021
B.S. Mathematics - Computer Science, UC San Diego, 2020
B.S. Cognitive Science, UC San Diego, 2020

Sophia was born and raised in Chengdu, China (hometown of the Panda bear). In her free time she likes to paint and surf.

Research Interests: visual motor integration, neural representation, brain dynamics, dimensionality reduction