About the Goldberg Lab
Ethan M. Goldberg
Associate Professor
Awards: Burroughs Wellcome Fund Career Award for Medical Scientists, American Society of Clinical Investigation Young Physician-Scientist Award, March of Dimes Basil O’Connor Research Award, American Epilepsy Society Fritz E. Dreifuss Award, American Neurological Association Derek Denny Brown Neurological Scholar Award (2025)
Complete List of Published Work in My Bibliography (@ nih.gov)
The Lab uses electrophysiology, optogenetics, and two-photon calcium imaging in vivo and in vitro to study normal and epileptic cerebral cortical circuits. We are interested in achieving a greater understanding of mechanisms of epilepsy, using primarily experimental model systems.
Google Scholars Page: https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=3ldwpbIAAAAJ&hl=en
Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/ethangoldberg.bsky.social
Our Team
Ethan Goldberg, MD, PhD
Associate Professor
Scientific Interests: Epilepsy, neurogenetics, pediatric neurology, ion channels,
cellular neurophysiology, synaptic transmission, imaging
Likes: Fantasy baseball, chess, coffee, sweater vests
Kierra Perry, BS
Resource Coordinator
Scientific Interests: Neuroethology, Evolutionary biology
Likes: mango smoothie, stand-up comedy, eels
Contact: perryk2@chop.edu
Education:
B.S., Christopher Newport University
Xiaohong Zhang, PhD
Senior Research Technician
Education:
B.S., Nankai University, China
Ph.D., Tianjin Medical University, China
Zach Rosenthal, MD, PhD
Resident
Scientific Interests: Neuromodulation, in vivo optical neuroimaging, electroconvulsive therapy, circuit excitability
Likes: Cooking, gardening, hiking, cat photography
Contact: zachary.rosenthal@pennmedicine.upenn.edu
Sophie Liebergall
M.D./Ph.D. Student, Neuroscience Graduate Group at The University of Pennsylvania
Scientific Interests: Regulation of network excitability, Epilepsy, in vivo imaging of neural activity
Likes: Writing, ambient music, tiny things, BioRender, all the controversial foods
Contact: sophie.liebergall@pennmedicine.upenn.edu
Education:
B.S., University of Virginia
M.D., Ph.D., University of Pennsylvania (Current student)
Sophie Hill, PhD
Postdoctoral Fellow
Julie Merchant
PhD Student, Neuroscience Graduate Group at the University of Pennsylvania
Scientific Interests: Epilepsy, Neurodevelopmental disorders, Patient-derived iPS cell model systems
Likes: The Red Sox, secondhand shopping, sour cream, the occasional tuna sandwich
Contact: jpmerch@pennmedicine.upenn.edu
Education:
B.A., Middlebury College
Ph.D., University of Pennsylvania (Current Student)
Elena Grajales, B.S.
Research Technician
Scientific Interests: Traumatic Brain Injury, Neurodegeneration/Neuroprotection, Epilepsy
Likes: Music, Long walks, Movies, Art
Contact: grajalese@chop.edu
Education: B.S. University of Pennsylvania,
Jérôme Clatot , PhD
Research Scientist I
Scientific Interests: Ion channels
Likes: Scuba diving, nature, biology
Contact: jerome.clatot@gmail.com
Theo Tsetsenis, PhD
Research Scientist I
Scientific Interests: Autism, learning & memory, behavioral and systems neuroscience
Likes: spending time with my family, tech gadgets, coffee, cheese danish, NFL
Contact: tsetsenist@chop.edu
Education:
Biomedical Engineering B.S., M.S., University of Patras
Ph.D., University of Heidelberg (jointly with EMBL)
Ala Somarowthu, PhD
Postdoctoral fellow
Awards: 2020 Dravet Syndrome Foundation Postdoctoral Research Award
Education:
B.S., Avinashilingham University
M.S., Ph.D., Northeastern University
Laura McGarry
Pediatric Neurology Resident
Scientific Interests: Interneuron diversity, cellular and circuit mechanisms of epilepsy and autism
Likes: Hiking with my husband and dog, biking, gardening
Contact: mcgarrylm@chop.edu
Gayatri Nair
Research Technician
Scientific Interests: Figuring out [may be Neuroscience]Likes: Doing nothing, Nature (greenery), Spicy foodContact email: nairg2@chop.edu
Mia Sherer
Neuroscience Graduate Group Student
Scientific Interests: Neurodevelopment, psychiatric disorders, interneuronsLikes: Hiking, traveling, the Eagles, coffeeContact email: mia.sherer@pennmedicine.upenn.edu
Education: University of Pennsylvania
Kelly Markwalter
Pediatric Neurology Resident
Scientific Interests: Neural control of movement, neural circuitry, cerebellum, imaging
Likes: Hiking, piano, time with family
Contact: markwaltek@chop.edu
Cole Malloy
Research Associate I
Scientific interests: ion channels, synaptic plasticity, neural circuits, neurophysiology, autism, epilepsy
Likes: Tennis, Soccer, Suffering through Minnesota sports seasons, Worldle, Travel
Contact: malloyc1@chop.edu
Clara Wang
Research Technician II
Lab Alumni
Pat Lawlor
Current position: Assistant Professor, Department of Pediatrics, Division of Neurology, The University of Michigan School of Medicine
Ania Dabrowski
Current position: Assistant Professor of Pediatrics – Neurology – University of Iowa
Caren Armstrong
Current position: Neurologist, Assistant Professor – UC Davis
Eric Wengert
Current position: Assistant Professor of Neuroscience in the Department of Medical Education at the Geisinger Commonwealth School of Medicine
Patrick Lawlor
Current position: Epilepsy Rotation
Emily Hoddeson
Current position: Nursing student, Drexel
Kevin Goff
Current position: Resident, Radiation Oncology at Duke
Guojie Qu
Current position: Research Scientist, laboratory of Xiu-Ti Hu at The University of Chicago
Jade Feng
Current position: Center for Devices and Radiological Health branch of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.
Leah DeFlitch
Current position: PhD Student, University of California, San Francisco
Evan Jiang
Current position: MD/PhD student at the University of Pennsylvania
Joanna Mattis
Current position: Assistant Professor, Department of Neurology, University of Michigan
Demetrius Lee
Current position: Clinical Research Coordinator, Department of Neuroradiology, University of Pennsylvania
Keisuke Kaneko
Current position: Assistant Professor, Department of Anesthesiology, Nihon University, Tokyo, Japan
Morgana Favero
Current position: Director, Customer Experience and Applications, Inscopix, Inc.
Conny Tran
Neurologist, Monument Health Neurology, Rapid City, SD
Tariq Zaman
Senior research Associate, Department of Pediatrics and Human Development, Michigan State University – College of Human Medicine