Stanford
NPSL
Diversity
Welcome to our roster of wonderful

NPSL & NPTL alumni

Alumni

PhD Students

Santhanam PhD Defense Announcement
  • Professor Byron Yu, PhD
    • UC Berkeley undergraduate
    • 2001-2006 EE PhD thesis, "Neural dynamics of movement preparation and execution," pdf
    • 2007-2009 Postdoc in NPSL, joint with Prof. Maneesh Sahani, Gatsby Computational Neuroscience Unit, University College London
    • 2010-2015 Assistant Professor, Departments of Biomedical Engineering and Electrical and Computer Engineering, Carnegie Mellon University
    • 2015-2019 Associate Professor
    • 2019- Professor
  • Dr. Afsheen Afshar, MD, PhD
    • Princeton University undergraduate
    • 2004-2008 EE PhD thesis, "Neural mechanisms of motor preparation and applications to prostheses," pdf
    • 2008-2010 Completed medical school (MSTP, MD) at Stanford University
    • 2010-2016 Managing Director, Goldman Sachs, New York City
    • 2016-2017 Chief Data Science Officer, JP Morgan, New York City; first such role on Wall Street
    • 2017-2018 Senior Partner and Chief Artificial Intelligence Officer, Cerberus Capital, New York City; first such role in private equity
    • 2019- Founder and CEO, Pilot Wave Holdings Management, New York City
  • Professor John Cunningham, PhD​
    • Dartmouth College undergraduate
    • 2004-2009 EE PhD thesis, "Algorithms for understanding motor cortical processing and neural prosthetic systems," pdf
    • 2009 Postdoc in NPSL
    • 2009 Accepted Assistant Professorship in the Department of Biomedical Engineering, Washington University, Saint Louis (WUSTL)
    • 2010-2011 Postdoc with Prof. Zoubin Ghahramani, Department of Engineering, Cambridge University
    • 2011-2013 Assistant Professor, WUSTL
    • 2013-2017 Assistant Professor, Department of Statistics & Neuroscience, Columbia University
    • 2017-2022 Associate Professor
    • 2022- Professor.
  • Associate Professor Vikash Gilja, PhD
    • MIT undergraduate
    • 2004-2010 Department of Computer Science PhD thesis, "Towards clinically viable neural prosthetic systems," pdf
    • 2010-2013 Research Associate, NPTL, Stanford University and co-founding member along with Dr. Cynthia Chestek, Prof. Jaimie Henderson and Prof. Krishna Shenoy
    • 2013-2020 Assistant Professor, Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, UCSD
    • 2017-2018 Neuralink Inc
    • 2020- Associate Professor, Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, UCSD.
  • Associate Professor Cindy Chestek, PhD​
    • Case Western Reserve University undergraduate
    • 2005-2010 EE PhD thesis, "Measurements and technology for long-term neural prosthetic systems," pdf
    • 2010-2012 Research associate, NPTL, Stanford University
    • 2012-2018 Assistant Professor, Department of Biomedical Engineering, University of Michigan
    • 2018- Associate Professor.
  • Dr. Rachel Kalmar, PhD
    • UC San Diego undergraduate
    • 2005-2010 Neurosciences Program PhD thesis, "Moving through the brain: A study of movement preparation in the oculomotor and reach systems," pdf
    • 2010- various Bay Area biomedical industry startups
    • 2016- Harvard Graduate School
  • Assistant Professor Matthew Kaufman, PhD​
    • Stanford University undergraduate
    • 2005-2011 Neurosciences Program PhD thesis, "Neural mechanisms and dynamics underlying reaching and decision making," pdf
    • 2011-2012 Postdoc in NPSL
    • 2012-2017 Postdoc with Prof. Anne Churchland at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory
    • 2017- Assistant Professor, Department of Organismal Biology and Anatomy, University of Chicago
  • Dr. Zuley Rivera Alvidrez, PhD​
    • University of Arizona undergraduate.
    • 2005-2011 EE PhD thesis, "Low-dimensional neural features reflect the features of muscle activation," pdf
    • 2011- Novelist, New York City.  Board of Directors, Center for Anti-Violence Education, New York City.
  • Assistant Professor Paul Nuyujukian, MD, PhD​
    • UCLA undergraduate
    • 2007-2012 BioE PhD thesis, "Towards clinically relevant neural prostheses," pdf
    • 2012-2014 Completed medical school (MSTP, MD) at Stanford University
    • 2014-2017 Postdoc with NPTL, Stanford University
    • 2017- Assistant Professor, Department of Bioengineering, Stanford University.
  • Dr. Werapong Goo, PhD
    • Duke University Undergraduate
    • 2009-2014 BioE, Jointly advised by Professor Karl Deisseroth. PhD thesis, "Development of optogenetics for motor systems neuroscience in non-human primates," pdf
    • 2014-2015 Senior Associate, Boston Consulting Group, Bangkok, Thailand
    • 2015-2017 Consultant, Boston Consulting Group, New York City
    • 2017-2019 Project Leader, Boston Consulting Group, New York City
    • 2019-present Head of e-commerce division, Lazada Thailand, Bangkok, Thailand
  • Dr. Justin Foster, PhD
  • Dr. K. Cora Ames, PhD
  • Assistant Professor Sergey Stavisky, PhD
    • ​​​​​​​2004-2008 Brown University undergraduate
    • 2008-2010 BrainGate Research Engineer, Brown University
    • 2010-2016 Neurosciences PhD student with NPSL / Shenoy Group with PhD thesis, "Advancing motor neural prosthesis robustness and neuroscience," pdf
    • 2016-2021 Postdoc with NPTL, Stanford. 2021- Assistant Professor, Department of Neurosurgery, UC Davis.
  • Assistant Professor Jonathan Kao, PhD
    • Stanford University undergraduate
    • 2010-2016 EE PhD thesis, "Decoder algorithm design for high-performance and robust neural prostheses," pdf
    • 2016-2017 Postdoc with NPSL
    • 2017- Assistant Professor, Department of Electrical Engineering, UCLA
  • Dr. Dan O'Shea, PhD​
    • ​​​​​​​Princeton University undergraduate
    • 2009-2016 Neurosciences PhD thesis, "Probing the motor cortical dynamics of flexible feedback control," pdf
    • 2017- Postdoc with NPSL
  • Dr. Eric Trautmann, PhD
    • ​​​​​​​Dartmouth University undergraduate
    • 2011-2018 Neurosciences PhD thesis, "Neural dynamics of motor preparation and tools for large scale neuroscience," pdf
    • 2018- Postdoc with NPSL
    • 2019- Postdoc with Prof. Mark Churchand and Prof. Michael Shadlen, Columbia University
  • Dr. Nir Even-Chen, PhD
    • ​​​​​​​Technion - Israel Institute of Technology, undergraduate and masters
    • 2014-2018 Electrical Engineering PhD thesis, "Towards clinically viable neural prostheses through innovations in neuroscience, decoders, and interfaces," pdf
    • 2019 Postdoc with NPSL
    • 2019-2021 Lyft
    • 2021- Neuralink
  • Dr. Megan Wang, PhD
    • ​​​​​​​University of California, Irvine undergraduate
    • 2014-2019 Neurosciences PhD thesis, "The role of dorsal premotor cortex in decision-making and action selection," pdf
    • 2019- Postdoc with Prof. Mala Murthy, Princeton University.
  • Dr. Saurabh Vyas, PhD
    • ​​​​​​​​​​​​​​Johns Hopkins University undergraduate
    • 2014-2020 Bioengineering PhD thesis, "Neural population dynamics underlying motor learning," pdf
    • 2020- Postdoc with Prof. Mark Churchand, Columbia University
    • Congrats to Saurabh for his incredible thesis work for which he was awarded The Highest Possible Recognition from Society for Neuroscience (SFN) for his dissertation work -- The 2021 Donald B. Lindsley Prize in Behavioral Neuroscience! url
  • Dr. Xulu Sun, Ph.D
Xulu Sun defense flyer

MS Students

  1. Dr. Joline Fan, MS.  Princeton University undergraduate.  2009-2011 Bioengineering MS.  2011-2015 Medical school, UCSF.  2015-2019 Neurology resident, UCSF.  2019- Neurology fellow, UCSF.
  2. Mr. Shikhar Shrestha, MS .  IIT undergraduate.  2014-2015 Mechanical Engineering MS.  2015- Mechanical Engineering PhD program at Stanford.
  3. Mr. Allan Raventos, MS​.  Stanford University undergraduate.  2015-2016 REU summer student and undergraduate, NPTL.  2016-2017 EE MS graduate student, NPTL
  4. Ms. Iliana Bray, BS.  Stanford University undergraduate.  2016-2017 REU summer student and undergraduate.  2017-2018 PhD student.  2018- PhD student with Professor Paul Nuyujukian, Stanford University
  5. Mr. Avery Krieger, BS.  University of Pennsylvania undergraduate.  2017-2019 PhD student.  2019- PhD student with Professor Tom Clandinin, Stanford University
  6. Mr. Tucker Fisher, BS.  UC Davis undergraduate.  2017-2019 PhD student.  2019- PhD student with Professor Lisa Giocomo, Stanford University
  7. Mr. Naryan Murthy, MS Brown University undergraduate
    2019-2021 EE graduate student, joint with Prof. Jaimie Henderson, NPTL.
    2021- Medtronic, Santa Rosa, CA.
  8. Mr. Elias Stein, MS 2019-2021 EE graduate student, joint with Prof. Jaimie Henderson, NPTL. 2021- Special Projects Group, Apple, Cupertino, CA.

Postdocs

  1. Adjunct Professor Stephen Ryu, MS, MD​.  Stanford Universty undergrad and masters.  UC San Diego Medical School.  2002-2004 Postdoc.  2004-2006 Completing neurosurgery residency, Stanford University.  2006- Adjunct Professor, Departments of Electrical Engineering and Neurosurgery, Stanford University.  2006-2009 Clinical Assistant Professor in the Department of Neurosurgery, Stanford University.  2009- Department of Neurosurgery, Palo Alto Medical Foundation (PAMF).  2019- Chair of Neurosurgery, PAMF.  2019- Geographical Medical Director for Surgical Specialities (Palo Alto), PAMF.
  2. Professor Aaron Batista, PhD.  ​Caltech graduate school.  2003-2007 Postdoc.  2007-2015 Assistant Professor, Department of Bioengineering, University of Pittsburgh.  2015-2019 Associate Professor.  2019- Professor.
  3. Professor Byron Yu, PhD.  ​​Stanford University graduate school (NPSL).  2007-2009 Postdoc (joint w/ Prof. Maneesh Sahani at The Gatsby Computational Neuroscience Unit, University College London.  2010-2015 Assistant Professor, Departments of Biomedical Engineering and Electrical and Computer Engineering, Carnegie Mellon University.  2015-2019 Associate Professor.  2019- Professor.
  4. Professor John Cunningham, PhD.  ​​Stanford University graduate school (NPSL).  2009 Postdoc.  2009 Accepted Assistant Professorship in the Department of Biomedical Engineering, Washington University, Saint Louis (WUSTL).  2010-2011 Postdoc with Prof. Zoubin Ghahramani, Department of Engineering, Cambridge University.  2011-2013 Assistant Professor, WUSTL.  2013-2017 Assistant Professor, Department of Statistics & Neuroscience, Columbia University.  2017-2022 Associate Professor.  2022- Professor
  5. Associate Professor Mark Churchland, PhD. ​UC San Francisco graduate school.  2001-2007 Postdoc.  2007-2011 Research Associate.  2011-2020 Assistant Professor, Department of Neuroscience, Columbia University.  2020- Associate Professor
  6. Associate Professor Cindy Chestek, PhD.  Stanford University graduate school (NPSL).  2010-2012 Research associate, NPTL, Stanford University.  2012-2018 Assistant Professor, Department of Biomedical Engineering, University of Michigan.  2018- Associate Professor.
  7. Associate Professor Vikash Gilja, PhD.  Stanford University Graduate School (NPSL).  2010-2013 Research associate, NPTL, Stanford University.  2013- Assistant Professor, Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, UCSD.  2017-2018 Neuralink Inc. 2020- Associate Professor, Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, UCSD.
  8. Professor Ilka Diester, PhD.  ​Eberhart-Karls-University, Tubigen, Germany graduate school.  2008-2011 Postdoc.  2011-2014 Assistant Professor, Ernst Strüngmann Institute / Max Planck Institute for Brain Research, Frankfurt, Germany.  2014- Professor, University of Freiburg, Freiburg, Germany
  9. Dr. Paul Kalanithi, MD.  ​Yale University medical school.  2010-2012 Postdoc.  2012-2015 Completed neurosurgery residency at Stanford University.  March 2015, passed away -- In loving memory of our dear friend and group mate.  When Breath Becomes Air by Dr. Paul Kalanithi. Amazon.  Obituary
  10. Assistant Professor Matt Kaufman, PhD.  ​​Stanford University graduate school (NPSL).  2011-2012 Postdoc.  2012-2017 Postdoc with Prof. Anne Churchland at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory.  2017- Assistant Professor, Department of Organismal Biology and Anatomy, University of Chicago.
  11. Adjunct Professor David Sussillo, PhD.  ​Columbia University graduate school.  2010-2014 Postdoc.  2014- Google AI.  2017- Adjunct Professor in the Department of Electrical Engineering, Stanford University.
  12. Assistant Professor Chethan Pandarinath, PhD .  ​Cornell University graduate school.  2011-2016 Postdoc in NPTL.  2016- Assistant Professor, Department of Biomedical Engineering, Emory University & Georgia Institute of Technology.
  13. Assistant Professor Jonathan Kao, PhD.  Stanford University graduate school (NPSL).  2016-2017 Postdoc with NPSL.  2017- Assistant Professor, Department of Electrical Engineering, University of California, Los Angeles.
  14. Assistant Professor Paul Nuyujukian, MD, PhD​.  Stanford University graduate school (NPSL).  2014-2017 Postdoc with NPTL, Stanford University.  2017- Assistant Professor, Department of Bioengineering, Stanford University (Stanford Brain Interface Lab).
  15. Dr. Matthew MacDougall, MD.  ​UC San Diego, neurosurgery residency.  2016-2017 Neurosurgery Fellow with Prof. Jaimie Henderson, Department of Neurosurgery, Stanford University.  2016-2017 Postdoc with NPTL.  2017- Department of Neurosurgery, California Pacific Medical Center (CPMC), San Francisco, CA.  2018- Department of Neurosurgery, California Pacific Medical Center and Neuralink Inc.
  16. Assistant Professor Chand Chandrasekaran, PhD.  Princeton University graduate school.  2011-2018 Postdoc with NPSL, Stanford University.  2019- Assistant Professor, Departments of Anatomy and Neurobiology & Psychology and Brain Sciences, Boston University.
  17. Dr. Jonathan Michaels, PhD.  University of Gottingen and Deutsches Primatenzentrun  GmbH graduate school. 2017-2019 Postdoc with NPSL, Stanford University.  2019- Postdoc with Prof. Andrew Pruzynski, Western University.
  18. Dr. Eric Trautmann, PhD.  Dartmouth University undergraduate.  2011-2018 Stanford University graduate school (NPSL).  2018-2019 Postdoc with NPSL, Stanford University.  2019- Postdoc with Prof. Mark Churchand and Prof. Michael Shadlen, Columbia University.
  19. Dr. Sharlene Flesher, PhD. 2007-2011, Department of Computer Engineering Saint Mary's University, San Antonio, TX undergraduate. 2011-2017 Department of Bioengineering, University of Pittsburgh, graduate school. 2017-2020 Postdoctoral Fellow, joint with Prof. Jaimie Henderson (NPTL), NPTL. 2020- Sensor Calibration and Instrumentation Engineer (input devices), Apple, Cupertino, CA.
  20. Dr. Frank Willett, PhD. 2017-2021 Postdoctoral Fellow, joint with Prof. Jaimie Henderson. 2021- Research Scientist III through HHMI, joint with Prof. Jaimie Henderson.
  21. Assistant Professor Sergey Stavisky, PhD. 2004-2008 Brown University undergraduate. 2008-2010 BrainGate Research Engineer, Brown University. 2010-2016 Neurosciences PhD student with NPSL / Shenoy Group, Stanford. 2016-2021 Postdoc with NPTL, Stanford. 2021- Assistant Professor, Department of Neurosurgery, Univeristy of California at Davis, Lab website: UC Davis Neuroprosthetics Lab.

Research Scientists

  1. Dr. Beata Jarosiewicz, PhD  2010-2013 Investigator at BrainGate, Department of Neuroscience, Brown University; 2013-2016 Assistant Professor (Research), Department of Neuroscience, Brown University and Investigator at BrainGate; 2016-2018 Senior Research Scientist, Department of Neurosurgery and Electrical Engineeering, Stanford University and at NPTL; 2018-2020 Senior Clinical Research Scientist at NeuroPace, Inc.; 2020- Neuroengineer at Neuralink, Corp.

Laboratory Staff

  1. Missy Howard, RVT, RLATG 2002-2005 Laboratory staff. 2006-2010 IACUC Inspection Manager in Office of Vice Provost and Dean of Research, Research Compliance, Stanford University. 2010- Private practice, Montana.
  2. Evie Kalmar, BS 2007 Laboratory assistant, part time. 2007- Medical school at UCSF, and public policy at UC Berkeley.
  3. Heather Graham, BS 2007-2008 Laboratory assistant, part time. 2008-2012 Veterinary school, Virginia Tech.
  4. Willie Phan, BS 2008-2009 Laboratory assistant, part time. 2009-2013 Veterinary school, UC Davis.
  5. Stacey Kang, BS 2009-2010 Laboratory assistant, part time. 2010-2014 Veterinary school, UC Davis. 2014-2016 Veterinary resident, Department of Comparative Medicine, Stanford University.
  6. Drew Haven, BS 2006-2010 Computer and network systems analysist, joint with faculty in the Department of Neurobiology. 2008-2012 Part time masters studented in the Department of Computer Science at Stanford University. 2012- Industry positions, then Google.
  7. Wendy Kalkus, BS 2010-2011 Laboratory assistant, part time. 2011-2012 Marine sciences intern. 2012-2016 Veterinary school, UC Davis.
  8. Erica Morgan, BS 2011-2012 Laboratory staff, part time. 2013-2017 Veterinary school, UC Davis.
  9. Sandra Eisensee 2001-2013 Financial analyst and administrative associate. 2013- Retired.
  10. John Aguayo, MS 2010-2013 Laboratory staff, joint with Prof. Karl Deisseroth. 2013- System software developer with Prof. Kwabena Boahen, Stanford University.
  11. Clare Sherman, BS 2011-2013 Laboratory staff, part time. 2013-2017 Veterinary school, Cornell University.
  12. Boris Osktotsky, PhD 2010-2014 Computer and network systems analysist, joint with faculty in the Department of Neurobiology. 2014-2015 Stanford University School of Medicine. 2015- UCSF.
  13. Armand Smith, BS 2014-2015 Computer and network systems analyist, joint with Neurobiology faculty.
  14. Evelyn Castaneda, MBA 2010-2015 DARPA REPAIR program manager. 2015- Department of Chemistry, SLAC / Stanford University.
  15. Rosie Steinbach, BS 2014-2016 Laboratory staff, part time. 2016- Oregon Primate Center.
  16. Shannon Smith, BS 2014-2016 Laboratory staff, part time. 2015-2016 MS program, Stanford University. 2016- Veterinary school, UC Davis.
  17. Christine Blabe, MS 2010-2017 NPTL clinical technician. 2017- research coordinator, Dept. of Neurology, Stanford University.
  18. Noel Aliyyah, BS 2016-2017. Laboratory staff, part time.
  19. Lucas Cofer, BS 2016-2017 Laboratory staff during gap year. Harvard University undergraduate . 2017- NYU medical school.
  20. Liana Yates, BS 2013-2016 Laboratory staff, part time. 2016-2017 Laboratory staff (full time). 2017- UC Davis veterinary school.
  21. Andrea Craig, BS 2016-2018 Laboratory staff, 2018-2019 Laboratory staff, Harousch Lab, Dept. of Neurobiology, Stanford University; animal care taker Veternary Service Center, Stanford University.
  22. Paymon Rezaii, BS 2017-2018 NPTL Clinical technician. 2018-2020 research coordinator, Dept. of Neurosurgery, Stanford University; 2020- Tulane University Medical School
  23. Robyn Reeder, BS 2017-2019 Laboratory staff, 2019- refuge technician, Conboy National Wildlife Refuge (Washington State)
  24. Michelle Wechsler, BS 2014-2019 Laboratory staff, 2019- Assist. Prof. Paul Nuyujukian's Lab
  25. Mackenzie Risch, BS 2005-2019 Head, Laboratory staff, 2019- Assist. Prof. Paul Nuyujukian's Lab
  26. Benjamin Antin, MS 2019-2020 Software engineer & data scientist, joint with Prof. Scott Linderman, 2020- Neurosciences graduate student, Columbia University

Research Experience for Undergrads (REU) Program, EE

  1. Johnson Huang, BS (2001-2002) Next: MIT EECS graduate school
  2. Justin Blanco, BS (2002-2003) Next: U Penn, BioE gradate school
  3. R. Carter Dunn, BS (2004 summer) Next: MIT MBA, Current: Boston Consulting Group
  4. Erem Boto, BS (2005 summer, Biology REU) Next: NeuroPace, Inc., Next: founder CloudMed, Next: co-founder eGraphs (acquired by Linked In), Current: Linked In.
  5. Neil Achtman, BS (2005 summer) Next: Intel 
  6. Alex Chan, BS (2007 summer) Next: MIT EECS graduate student
  7. Joya Deri, BS (2008 summer) Next: Stanford, EE co-term student, Currently: CMU, EE graduate student
  8. Ogi Zivojnovic, BS (2008 summer) Next: Stanford, EE co-term, Next: Qualcomm
  9. Vivek Athalye, BS (2010 summer) Next: UC Berkeley, EE graduate student
  10. Chip Schulman, BS (2010 summer) Next: Stanford, EE co-term student
  11. Gil Shotan, BS (2010, 2011 summers) Next: Stanford, EE co-term student
  12. Aaron Zarraga, BS (2010 summer) Next: Stanford, EE co-term student
  13. Chia-Jung (Dana) Chang, BS (2011 summer), from National Taiwan University (joint with Prof. Teresa Meng) Next: NTU undergraduate, Next: JHU, Bioengineering graduate student, Currently: MIT EECS graduate student
  14. Jai Sajnani (2013 summer, NPTL) Next: Stanford, EE undergraduate (continuing)
  15. Steven Lin (2014 summer, winter) Next: Stanford, EE undergraduate
  16. Axel Sly (2015 summer) Next: Stanford, EE undergraduate
  17. Alexander Sosa (2015 summer) Next: Stanford, EE undergraduate
  18. Chayakorn (Tun) Pongsiri (2015 summer, daily advisor: Dr. Jonathan Kao) Next: Stanford, EE undergraduate
  19. Iliana Bray (2016 summer, daily advisor: Dr. Chand Chandrasekaran) Next: Stanford, EE undergraduate
  20. Sabar Dasgupta (2016 summer, daily advisor: Dr. Paul Nuyujukian) Next: Stanford, EE undergraduate
  21. Pavan Mehrotra (2016 summer, daily advisor: Dr. Paul Nuyujukian) Next: Stanford, EE undergraduate
  22. Allan Raventos (2016 summer, daily advisor: Dr. Sergey Stavisky) Next: Stanford, EE co-term masters student
  23. Blue Sheffer (2016 summer, daily advisor: Dr. Sergey Stavisky) Next: Stanford, EE undergraduate
  24. Nick Sovich (2016 summer, daily advisor: Eric Trautmann) Next: Stanford, EE undergraduate
  25. Gabriel Vega (2016 summer, daily advisor: Dr. Sergey Stavisky) Next: Stanford, EE undergraduate. Next: Stanford, EE co-term masters student
  26. Darren Mei (2017 summer, daily advisor: Dr. Dan O'Shea) Next: Stanford, CS co-term masters student. Next: 2019- Machine Learning Engineer, Hive.
  27. James Pillot IV  (2017 summer, daily advisor: Dr. Dan O'Shea) Next: 2016-2020 Stanford EE undergraduate student. Next: 2020-2022 Stanford EE co-term masters student.
  28. Hannah Leou (2017 summer, daily advisor: Dr. Dan O'Shea) Next: 2016-2020 Stanford CS undergraduate student. Next: 2019-2020 Stanford CS co-term masters student.
  29. Mr. Neal Patel, MS (2021 summer Med Scholars student; joint with Prof. Jaimie Henderson, NPTL, and Prof. Shaul Druckmann). Next: continuing MD student.