Wu Tsai Neurosciences Institute


Showing 1-13 of 13 Results

  • Dáibhid Ó Maoiléidigh, PhD

    Dáibhid Ó Maoiléidigh, PhD

    Assistant Professor of Otolaryngology - Head & Neck Surgery (OHNS)

    Current Research and Scholarly InterestsThe Ó Maoiléidigh group employs mathematical and computational approaches to better understand normal hearing and hearing impairment. Because complete restoration of auditory function by artificial devices or regenerative treatments will only be possible when experiments and computational modeling align, we work closely with experimental laboratories. Our goal is to understand contemporary experimental observations, to make experimentally testable predictions, and to motivate new experiments. We are pursuing several projects.

    Hair-Bundle Mechanics

    Auditory and balance organs rely on hair cells to convert mechanical vibrations into electrical signals for transmission to the brain. In response to the quietest sounds we can hear, the hair cell's mechanical sensor, the hair bundle, moves by less than one-billionth of a meter. To determine how this astounding sensitivity is possible, we construct computational models of hair-bundle mechanics. By comparing models with experimental observations, we are learning how a hair bundle's geometry, material properties, and ability to move spontaneously determine its function.

    Cochlear Mechanics

    The cochlea contains the auditory organ that houses the sensory hair cells in mammals. Vibrations in the cochlea arising from sound are amplified more than a thousandfold by the ear's active process. New experimental techniques have additionally revealed that the cochlea vibrates in a complex manner in response to sound. We use computational models to interpret these observations and to make hypotheses about how the cochlea works.

  • Lauren O'Connell

    Lauren O'Connell

    Assistant Professor of Biology

    Current Research and Scholarly InterestsThe O'Connell lab studies how genetic and environmental factors contribute to biological diversity and adaptation. We are particularly interested in understanding (1) how behavior evolves through changes in brain function and (2) how animal physiology evolves through repurposing existing cellular components.

  • Ruth O'Hara

    Ruth O'Hara

    Director, Spectrum, Senior Associate Dean, Research and Lowell W. and Josephine Q. Berry Professor

    Current Research and Scholarly InterestsDr. O'Hara's research aims to investigate how cognitive information processing deficits subserve affective symptoms in psychiatric disorders, and interact with key brain networks integral to these disorders. To do so, she has implemented a translational, interdisciplinary program that encompasses cellular models, brain and behavioral assays of affective and cognitive information processing systems in psychiatric disorders across the lifespan.

  • Detlef Obal

    Detlef Obal

    Assistant Professor - University Medical Line, Anesthesiology, Perioperative and Pain Medicine

    Current Research and Scholarly InterestsI am primarily working at the Cardiovascular Institute (Director Joseph Wu, MD, PhD), studying the effect of different anesthetics on human induced pluripotent stem cells (hiPSC). Considering the current opioid epidemic, I am currently focusing on the effect of chronic opioid exposure on endothelial and cardiac function.

  • Michelle Odden

    Michelle Odden

    Associate Professor of Epidemiology and Population Health

    Current Research and Scholarly InterestsMultilevel - from cells to society - epidemiologic study of healthy aging

  • Allison Okamura

    Allison Okamura

    Richard W. Weiland Professor in the School of Engineering and Professor, by courtesy, of Computer Science

    Current Research and Scholarly InterestsMy research focuses on developing the principles and tools needed to realize advanced robotic and human-machine systems capable of physical interaction. Application areas include surgery, simulation and training, rehabilitation, prosthetics, neuromechanics, exploration of hazardous and remote environments (e.g. space), design, and education.

  • Kunle Olukotun

    Kunle Olukotun

    Cadence Design Systems Professor, Professor of Electrical Engineering and of Computer Science

    BioKunle Olukotun is the Cadence Design Professor of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science at Stanford University. Olukotun is a pioneer in multicore processor design and the leader of the Stanford Hydra chip multiprocessor (CMP) research project. He founded Afara Websystems to develop high-throughput, low-power multicore processors for server systems. The Afara multi-core processor, called Niagara, was acquired by Sun Microsystems and now powers Oracle's SPARC-based servers. In 2017, Olukotun co-founded SambaNova Systems, a Machine Learning and Artificial Intelligence company, and continues to lead as their Chief Technologist.

    Olukotun is the Director of the Pervasive Parallel Lab and a member of the Data Analytics tor What's Next (DAWN) Lab, developing infrastructure for usable machine learning. He is a member of the National Academy of Engineering, an ACM Fellow, and an IEEE Fellow for contributions to multiprocessors on a chip design and the commercialization of this technology. He also received the Harry H. Goode Memorial Award.

    Olukotun received his Ph.D. in Computer Engineering from The University of Michigan.

  • Anthony Oro, MD, PhD

    Anthony Oro, MD, PhD

    Eugene and Gloria Bauer Professor

    Current Research and Scholarly InterestsOur lab uses the skin to answer questions about epithelial stem cell biology, differentiation and carcinogenesis using genomics, genetics, and cell biological techniques. We have studied how hedgehog signaling regulates regeneration and skin cancer, and how tumors evolve to develop resistance. We study the mechanisms of early human skin development using human embryonic stem cells. These fundamentals studies provide a greater understanding of epithelial biology and novel disease therapeutics.

  • Michael Ostacher

    Michael Ostacher

    Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences (Public Mental Health and Population Sciences)

    BioDr. Ostacher is Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences. He is the Site Director for the Addiction Medicine Fellowship at the VA Palo Alto Health Care System, where he also serves as the Medical Director of the Pharmacology of Addiction Recovery Clinic, the Director of the Bipolar and Depression Research Program and the Co-Director of the VA/Stanford Exploratory Therapeutics Lab, the Director of Advanced Fellowship Training in Mental Illness Research and Treatment for MDs for the VISN 21 MIRECC, and the Site Director at the VA Palo Alto for Advanced Fellowship Training for Stanford. A graduate of Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, the Harvard School of Public Health, and Harvard Medical School, he completed his training at The Cambridge Health Alliance at Harvard Medical School in Adult Psychiatry, Public Psychiatry, and Geriatric Psychiatry, and is currently board certified in Psychiatry, Addiction Psychiatry, and Addiction Medicine. He is the Digital Content Editor for the journal Evidence-Based Mental Health and is on the editorial boards of Bipolar Disorders, the International Journal of Bipolar Disorders, the Journal of Clinical Psychiatry, Current Psychiatry, and Psychiatric Annals. His current research includes roles as Site Investigator for VA-BRAVE, multicenter, randomized trial comparing long-acting injectable buprenorphine to sublingual buprenorphine/naloxone, and trials of psychedelic drugs in psychiatric disorders in Veterans. With funding from NIDA, he studied, along with Jaimee Heffner, Ph.D. at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle, smoking cessation in people with bipolar disorder using a novel online psychotherapy derived from Acceptance and Commitment Therapy. His primary research interest is in large clinical trials mental health and addiction, and the implementation of evidence-based mental health practices.

  • Einar Ottestad

    Einar Ottestad

    Clinical Professor, Anesthesiology, Perioperative and Pain Medicine

    Current Research and Scholarly InterestsI have a strong interest in ultrasound for chronic pain management for diagnostics as well as therapeutics. I also have strong interest in acute pain in the hospital setting, including post-operative as well as cancer pain.

  • Nicholas Ouellette

    Nicholas Ouellette

    Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering

    Current Research and Scholarly InterestsThe Environmental Complexity Lab studies self-organization in a variety of complex systems, ranging from turbulent fluid flows to granular materials to collective motion in animal groups. In all cases, we aim to characterize the macroscopic behavior, understand its origin in the microscopic dynamics, and ultimately harness it for engineering applications. Most of our projects are experimental, though we also use numerical simulation and mathematical modeling when appropriate. We specialize in high-speed, detailed imaging and statistical analysis.

    Our current research includes studies of turbulence in two and three dimensions, with a focus on coherent structures and the geometry of turbulence; the transport of inertial, anisotropic, and active particles in turbulence; the erosion of granular beds by fluid flows and subsequent sediment transport; quantitative measurements of collective behavior in insect swarms and bird flocks; the stability of ocean ecosystems; neural signal processing; and uncovering the natural, self-organized spatiotemporal scales in urban systems.

  • Art Owen

    Art Owen

    Max H. Stein Professor

    Current Research and Scholarly InterestsStatistical methods to analyze large data matrices in bioinformatics