Lab Members

Dr. Blumenfeld's clinical and research work focuses on epilepsy, cognition and brain imaging. He directs Yale's Clinical Neuroscience Imaging Center (CNIC), a new multi-disciplinary core facility for innovative study and treatment of brain disorders. Teaching activities include a textbook titled Neuroanatomy Through Clinical Cases, Sinauer Assoc., Publ. 2002, 2010, 2020.

Samiksha graduated from the University of California, Los Angeles in 2019 with a BS in Neuroscience. Her research avenues thus far have centered on Major Depressive Disorder, Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation, neurodegenerative diseases like Huntington's Disease, and electrophysiology. Future interests include but are not limited to neurodevelopment, epilepsy, substance use disorders, and the circuitry of addiction.

Vivian Doan (she/her) is a member of the Yale College Class of 2026, pursuing a BS in Neuroscience on the pre-med track. In the Blumenfeld Lab, she works with her mentors Jerry Liu, PhD, and Samiksha Chopra. With Dr. Liu, she investigates how inhibitory inputs suppress subcortical arousal during focal limbic seizures in temporal lobe epilepsy. With Samiksha, she studies the mechanisms underlying impaired arousal and altered auditory processing and responsiveness during spike-wave discharges in absence seizures. Outside of the lab, Vivian enjoys painting and running, and she also volunteers at the HAVEN Free Clinic. As a first-generation low-income student, she is committed to expanding access to both education and healthcare. She hopes that her work in the Blumenfeld Lab will support her goals of becoming both an educator and a physician.

I was trained in clinical neurology, electrophysiology, and molecular biology. I have always been interested in combining clinical practice with a better understanding of disease concepts and pathomechanisms from basic research. This multidisciplinary approach allows me to investigate topics such as the application of real-time processing of brain biosignals to the analysis of epileptiform phenomena that can lead to transient impairment of behavior and cognition. My second area of focus is epilepsy genetics and the study of how epilepsy and drug resistance develop. I am currently working part-time as head of an interdisciplinary epilepsy unit of adult and pediatric neurology at the Cantonal Hospital Winterthur in Switzerland (https://www.ksw.ch/team/heinz-krestel/). In my remaining hours of work, I am conducting research at the Yale Comprehensive Epilepsy Center (see "Research"), together with Prof. Hal Blumenfeld, Prof. Lawrence J Hirsch, and Dr. Margaret Gopaul.

Jose Valdovinos Ramos is a second-year medical student at Ponce Health Sciences University with a strong passion for neuroscience, public health, and clinical research. Currently conducting summer research at the Blumenfeld Lab at Yale University, he is exploring impaired consciousness in focal epilepsy and investigating scalp EEG features that may help predict episodes of unconsciousness. Jose is driven by a deep curiosity about the brain and a commitment to using research to improve patient care. With future aspirations of becoming a neurologist and influencing health policy, he is dedicated to bridging clinical practice with systems-level change to advance health equity.

Zheng Zhang is a Postdoctoral Associate in Dr. Blumenfeld's lab at Yale School of Medicine. Zheng investigates human behaviors and brain mechanisms of neurological disorders (e.g., epilepsy, stroke) from the aspects of consciousness, emotion, and cognition. He applies advanced research methodology and techniques in his current research, including machine learning, electrophysiological approaches, and MRI. Zheng received his Ph.D. in Special Education from The University of Texas at Austin. In his previous research, he studied brain imaging and behavior on cognition among diverse population (e.g., typically developing individuals, those with neurological disorders). His first-authored papers appeared in top-ranked journals, including Child Development, Journal of Educational Psychology, Developmental Review, Developmental Science.

Yang Zheng obtained her MD and PhD in China focusing on the drug-resistant epilepsy and the neural circuit mechanisms. She has a deep passion for neurology, with her clinical and research interests in epilepsy, neurophysiology and neuroimmunology. Outside medicine, she enjoys anything outdoors, including hiking, running, and traveling around the world.