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Neural Engineering at Brigham & Women’s Hospital, Harvard Medical School

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Neural Engineering at Brigham & Women’s Hospital, Harvard Medical School

The Mapping & Engineering Neural Dynamics (MEND) Lab, led by Dr. John Rolston, studies how information is processed in the brain, and how these computations go awry in diseases like epilepsy and tremor. We also investigate how electrical stimulation rewires the brain in neurological and psychiatric diseases.

 
 
 
 
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Lab Members


Lab Members


 
John Rolston

John Rolston, MD, PhD

Dr. John Rolston is a neurosurgeon and neuroscientist at Brigham & Women’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School. Clinically, he specializes in epilepsy surgery—including laser ablation, deep brain stimulation (DBS), and responsive neurostimualtion—and movement disorders, including DBS and focused ultrasound. Dr. Rolston received his Bachelor’s degree in computer science from Columbia University, before studying brain-computer interfaces for epilepsy during his PhD at the Georgia Institute of Technology and Emory University. He received an MD from Emory University before completing his residency training in neurosurgery at the University of California, San Francisco.

More info: 

Aaron Warren, Ph.D.

Aaron Warren completed a PhD in epilepsy neuroimaging at the University of Melbourne, Australia, using functional brain mapping to localize seizure networks in pediatric epilepsy, with a particular focus on Lennox-Gastaut syndrome. In his postdoc, Aaron is using MRI and electrophysiologic methods to optimize neurosurgical treatments including deep brain and responsive neurostimulation.

 

Zoé Dary, Ph.D.

Zoé Dary completed her PhD in Cognitive Neuroscience at the University of Aix-Marseille, France, where she investigated the neural and multisensory basis of bodily self-consciousness. As a postdoctoral researcher, she is using electrophysiological techniques to study Lennox-Gastaut syndrome and explore key aspects of self-perception.

 
 
 

Aryan Wadhwa, B.A.

Aryan Wadhwa is an MD student at Boston University School of Medicine. He received a B.A. in Medical Sciences from Boston University’s Seven-Year Liberal Arts/Medical Education program. Under Dr. Rolston, he is investigating the effects of deep brain stimulation on non-motor symptoms, as well as exploring possible mechanisms of pediatric epileptic lesion development.

 

Niels Pacheco-Barrios, MD, MSc, MMSc(c)

Niels Pacheco is a physician from Peru currently pursuing a master's degree in Biostatistics at Harvard Medical School. Under the mentorship of Dr. Rolston, he is exploring the interaction between circadian rhythms and the clinical outcomes of various neuromodulation therapies, including Deep Brain Stimulation and Responsive Neurostimulation. Alongside his research, Niels is deepening his expertise in computational neuroscience and dynamical systems, with a focus on their applications in clinical neuroscience.

Michaela Stamm, M.S.

Michaela Stamm is a research assistant for the MEND lab. They received a B.A. in Neuroscience from Smith College, and an M.S. in Cellular and Molecular Biology from Tulane University. With Dr. Rolston, they are focused on developing comprehensive and accessible ways to better obtain, organize, and store clinical data, along with navigating regulatory processes.

Former Members

  • Daria Anderson, PhD: now a professor at the University of Sydney

  • Bornali Kundu, MD, PhD: now a professor and neurosurgeon at the University of Missouri

  • Elliot Smith, PhD: now a professor at the University of Utah

  • Tyler Davis, MD, PhD: research faculty at the University of Utah

  • Justin Campbell: pursuing an MD/PhD at the University of Utah

  • Brian Philip: pursuing a PhD at the University of Utah

  • Bornali Kundu, MD, PhD: a neurosurgeon and Affiliate Faculty member at the University of Missouri School of Medicine

  • Rose Caston, MD, PhD: a neurosurgery resident at the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health

  • Rohan Jha, MD: a neurosurgery resident at Mass General Brigham

  • Hargunbir Singh, M.B.B.S.

Available Positions

If you’re interested in joining the lab, please send a CV and statement of interest to jrolston@bwh.harvard.edu.

 
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Publications


Publications


Journal Articles

All articles for the MEND Lab can be viewed on PubMed and Google Scholar.

Recent publications:

  1. Jha, R., Chua, M. M. J., Liu, D. D., Cosgrove, G. R., Tobochnik, S., & Rolston, J. D. (2024). Characterization of anti-seizure medication reduction and discontinuation rates following epilepsy surgery. Epilepsy & behavior : E&B, 158, 109944. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.yebeh.2024.109944

  2. Chen, J. A., Warren, A. E. L., & Rolston, J. D. (2024). Robot-assisted deep brain stimulation of the centromedian nucleus of the thalamus for generalized epilepsy: targeting and operative video. Neurosurgical focus: Video, 11(1), V18. https://doi.org/10.3171/2024.4.FOCVID245

  3. Kwon, C. S., Chua, M. M. J., Jetté, N., & Rolston, J. D. (2024). A knowledge synthesis of health research reporting standards relevant to epilepsy surgery. Epilepsia, 10.1111/epi.18047. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1111/epi.18047

  4. Jha, R., Chua, M. M. J., Sarkis, R., Tobochnik, S., & Rolston, J. D. (2024). Predictors of SOZ localization, subsequent surgical intervention, and seizure outcomes in iEEG. Annals of clinical and translational neurology, 11(7), 1787–1797. https://doi.org/10.1002/acn3.52084

  5. Yearley, A. G., Smith, E. H., Davis, T. S., Anderson, D., Arain, A. M., & Rolston, J. D. (2024). Interictal discharge traveling waves recorded from stereoelectroencephalography electrodes. Journal of neurosurgery, 1–9. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.3171/2024.3.JNS2441

  6. Warren, A. E. L., Butson, C. R., Hook, M. P., Dalic, L. J., Archer, J. S., Macdonald-Laurs, E., Schaper, F. L. W. V. J., Hart, L. A., Singh, H., Johnson, L., Bullinger, K. L., Gross, R. E., Morrell, M. J., & Rolston, J. D. (2024). Targeting thalamocortical circuits for closed-loop stimulation in Lennox-Gastaut syndrome. Brain communications, 6(3), fcae161. https://doi.org/10.1093/braincomms/fcae161

  7. Charlebois, C. M., Anderson, D. N., Smith, E. H., Davis, T. S., Newman, B. J., Peters, A. Y., Arain, A. M., Dorval, A. D., Rolston, J. D., & Butson, C. R. (2024). Circadian changes in aperiodic activity are correlated with seizure reduction in patients with mesial temporal lobe epilepsy treated with responsive neurostimulation. Epilepsia, 65(5), 1360–1373. https://doi.org/10.1111/epi.17938

  8. Jha, R., Liu, D. D., Gerstl, J. V. E., Renauld, S., Kilgallon, J. L., Blitz, S. E., Medeiros, L., Nawabi, N. L. A., Singh, H., Chua, M. M. J., Tobochnik, S., Cosgrove, G. R., & Rolston, J. D. (2024). Comparative effectiveness of stereotactic, subdural, or hybrid intracranial EEG monitoring in epilepsy surgery. Journal of neurosurgery, 141(2), 372–380. https://doi.org/10.3171/2024.1.JNS232560

  9. Anderson, D. N., Charlebois, C. M., Smith, E. H., Davis, T. S., Peters, A. Y., Newman, B. J., Arain, A. M., Wilcox, K. S., Butson, C. R., & Rolston, J. D. (2024). Closed-loop stimulation in periods with less epileptiform activity drives improved epilepsy outcomes. Brain : a journal of neurology, 147(2), 521–531. https://doi.org/10.1093/brain/awad343

  10. Chua, M. M. J., Blitz, S. E., Ng, P. R., Segar, D. J., McDannold, N. J., White, P. J., Christie, S., Hayes, M. T., Rolston, J. D., & Cosgrove, G. R. (2023). Focused Ultrasound Thalamotomy for Tremor in Parkinson's Disease: Outcomes in a Large, Prospective Cohort. Movement disorders : official journal of the Movement Disorder Society, 38(10), 1962–1967. https://doi.org/10.1002/mds.29569