Lead

Gene Gurkoff, PhD

  • Project 3 Lead
  • Project 3
Dr. Gene Gurkoff is an Associate Professor in the Department of Neurological Surgery in the School of Medicine. His research focuses on using advanced in-vivo electrophysiology techniques to identify systems-level changes in brain function with the goal of developing novel and innovative neuromodulatory approaches for treating patients suffering chronic cognitive deficits following traumatic brain injury or epileptic seizures.

Co-Lead

Jill Silverman, PhD

  • Project 3 Co-Lead
  • Project 3
Dr. Jill Silverman is a Professor in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, School of Medicine, and affiliated with the MIND Institute. She specializes in rodent cognitive behavioral assays using technology that is analogous to clinical assessment tools.

Consultant

Kia Shahlaie, MD, PhD, FAANS

  • Consultant
  • Project 3
Dr. Shahlaie is a Professor and Interim Chair of the Department of Neurological Surgery. He directs the Bronte Research Laboratory at the UC Davis Center for Neuroscience, where his team is developing new deep brain stimulation techniques to improve learning and memory function. He is involved in drug trials for management of traumatic brain injury and brain and nerve stimulation trials to improve cognition in patients with epilepsy. 

Professional Researcher

Emily Huie, BS

  • Junior Specialsit
  • Project 3
Emily Huie is a junior specialist in the Silverman laboratory. Under the guidance of Dr. Jill Silverman and Dr. Gene Gurkoff, her work for CounterACT involves using standardized rodent behavioral assays to investigate the effects of acute organophosphate intoxication on various behavioral domains, with a specific focus on cognition.

Ali Izadi, PhD

  • Assistant Project Scientist
  • Project 3
Dr. Ali Izadi is an assistant project scientist in the Department of Neurological Surgery in the School of Medicine. His research concentrates on the functional relationship between neural oscillations and cognition in the context of preclinical models of neurological disease. The goal of his research is to develop effective deep brain stimulation paradigms that can ultimately be translated into the clinical setting.

Kyle Tran, BS

  • Junior Specialsit
  • Project 3
Kyle Tran is a junior specialist in the Silverman laboratory. He has extensive and comprehensive experience performing behavioral assays at various ages (neonatal to highly aged). He will assist with in vivo behavioral cognitive experiments in the touchscreen and sleep and seizure assays for CounterACT.