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
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.
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)
Caren Armstrong
Postdoctoral Fellow/Pediatric Epileptologist
Scientific Interests: Interneuronal microcircuits, epilepsy, intracranial EEG, neurogenetics
Likes: Music, board games, cats, bubble tea
Contact: armstronc2@chop.edu
Education:
B.S., Cornell University
M.D., Ph.D., University of California, Irvine
Residency in Child Neurology, Johns Hopkins Hospital
Eric Wengert, PhD
Postdoctoral Fellow
Scientific Interests: Ion channels, Neurophysiology, Epilepsy
Likes: Science outreach, philosophy, politics, sipping bourbon by a fire
Contact: ericrwengert@gmail.com
Education:
B.S., Bucknell University
Ph.D., University of Virginia
Patrick Lawlor
Postdoctoral Fellow, Child Neurology Fellow
Scientific Interests: Epilepsy, neurogenetics, computational neuroscience, machine learning, complex systems, casual inference
Likes: Reading, hiking, cooking, traveling
Contact: lawlorp1@chop.edu
Ala Somarowthu, PhD
Postdoctoral fellow
Awards: 2020 Dravet Syndrome Foundation Postdoctoral Research Award
Education:
B.S., Avinashilingham University
M.S., Ph.D., Northeastern University
Evan Rosenberg
Postdoctoral Fellow/Neurology Resident
Scientific Interests: Synaptic plasticity, neurophysiology, novel therapeutics for epilepsy
Likes: Hiking, music, and exploring Philadelphia
Contact: evan.rosenberg@pennmedicine.upenn.edu
Awards: NIH NINDS F30 Fellowship (2016-2020)
Education:
B.S., Brandeis University
M.D., Ph.D., NYU School of Medicine
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
Sarah Pham
Undergraduate Research Intern
Scientific Interests: Neural circuit mechanisms, optogenetics, neuromorphology
Likes: Victorian literature, bánh xèo, mangos, jazz and lo-fi music
Contact: phasara@sas.upenn.edu
Melody Cheng
Undergraduate Research Intern
Scientific Interests: electrophysiology, connectomes, bioprinting, pharmacogenomicsLikes: tennis, art history, Star Trek, cryptanalysis, Häagen-DazsContact email: mcheng25@sas.upenn.edu
Awards:
Ernest M. Brown, Jr. College Alumni Society Undergraduate Research Grant
Frances Velay Women and Science Research Fellowship
Education: University of Pennsylvania
Yerahm Hong
Undergraduate Research Intern
Scientific Interests: Action potentials, interneurons, Dravet Syndrome, Python, bioengineering, interdisciplinary scientific communication & dialogueLikes: Violin, a good latte, music, languages, gym, mangoes/watermelon/pineappleContact email: yerahmh@seas.upenn.edu
Awards:
Penn Undergraduate Research Mentorship Award (PURM)
Education: University of Pennsylvania
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
Lab Alumni
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: Neuroscientist and Field Scientific Consultant, Inscopix, Inc.
Connie Tran
Neurology Resident, U.T. Southwestern
Tariq Zaman
Senior research Associate, Department of Pediatrics and Human Development, Michigan State University – College of Human Medicine