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

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

Kierra Perry, BS

Resource Coordinator

Scientific Interests: Neuroethology, Evolutionary biology
Likes: Arts and crafts, stand-up comedy, eels
Contact: perryk2@chop.edu

Education:
B.S., Christopher Newport University

Xiaohong Zhang, PhD

Xiaohong Zhang, PhD

Senior Research Technician

Education:
B.S., Nankai University, China
Ph.D., Tianjin Medical University, China

Zach Rosenthal, MD, PhD

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

Education:
B.S., Haverford College
M.D., Ph.D., Washington University in St Louis

 

Sophie Liebergall

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

Sophie Hill, PhD

Postdoctoral Fellow

Scientific Interests: Neurogenetics, sodium channel biology, translational research
Likes: Reading, knitting, playing the piano
Education: BS, University of Michigan; PhD, University of Michigan
Julie Merchant

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.

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,

 

Emily Hoddeson

Emily Hoddeson

Research Technician

Scientific Interests: Neurological disorders, imaging, machine learning, bioengineering
Likes: Hiking, puzzles, knitting, lobster
Contact: hoddesone@chop.edu

Education:
B.S., Drexel University, Biomedical Engineering

Jérôme Clatot , PhD

Jérôme Clatot , PhD

Research Scientist I

Scientific Interests: Ion channels
Likes: Scuba diving, nature, biology
Contact: jerome.clatot@gmail.com

 

Theo Tsetsenis, PhD

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Gayatri Nair

Research Technician

Scientific Interests: Figuring out [may be Neuroscience]Likes: Doing nothing, Nature (greenery), Spicy foodContact email: nairg2@chop.edu

 

Mia Sherer

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

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