Lab Members

While studying at the University of Colorado Denver, I had the opportunity to work on a wide range of projects including studying the effect of smoking on tuberculosis diagnosis, executive function in Parkinson Disease and the neuroanatomy of volitional action.  After graduating with my Bachelor's of Science in Psychology, I spent time in industry using mycelial fermentation to develop sustainable food products.  This variety of experiences allowed me to confidently decide to study the human brain as a doctoral student at Yale.  My research interests include the neural correlates of consciousness, cross-brain coherence between dyads, and decision making.  I am a passionate advocate for diversity in higher education. I believe in promoting science-based political policy reform and am dedicated to leveraging science as a vehicle for social justice.

Dr. Blumenfeld's clinical and research work focuses on epilepsy, cognition and brain imaging. He directs Yale's Clinical Neuroscience Imaging Center (CNIC), a new multi-disciplinary core facility for innovative study and treatment of brain disorders. Teaching activities include a textbook titled Neuroanatomy Through Clinical Cases, Sinauer Assoc., Publ. 2002, 2010, 2020.

Samiksha graduated from the University of California, Los Angeles in 2019 with a BS in Neuroscience. Her research avenues thus far have centered on Major Depressive Disorder, Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation, neurodegenerative diseases like Huntington's Disease, and electrophysiology. Future interests include but are not limited to neurodevelopment, epilepsy, substance use disorders, and the circuitry of addiction.

I am a trained clinical neurologist and have always been interested in combining clinical practice with a better understanding of disease concepts and pathomechanisms from basic research. In my education and training, I have taken a multidisciplinary approach that allows me to explore topics such as the application of real-time processing of brain biosignals to the analysis of epileptiform phenomena that may result in transient impairment of behavior and cognition. A second focus is to study the development of epilepsy and resistance to therapy with seizure suppressing drugs from the perspective of genetics.

Yang Zheng obtained her MD and PhD in China focusing on the drug-resistant epilepsy and the neural circuit mechanisms. She has completed an adult neurology residency, during which she received the International Scholarship Award from the American Academy of Neurology and the Harinarayan Young Neuroscientist Award from the International League Against Epilepsy. She has a deep passion for neurology, with her research and clinical interests in epilepsy, neurophysiology and neuroimmunology. Outside medicine, she enjoys anything outdoors, including hiking, running, and traveling around the world.