Lab Members

While studying at the University of Colorado Denver, I had the opportunity to work on a wide range of projects including studying the effect of smoking on tuberculosis diagnosis, executive function in Parkinson Disease and the neuroanatomy of volitional action.  After graduating with my Bachelor's of Science in Psychology, I spent time in industry using mycelial fermentation to develop sustainable food products.  This variety of experiences allowed me to confidently decide to study the human brain as a doctoral student at Yale.  My research interests include the neural correlates of consciousness, cross-brain coherence between dyads, and decision making.  I am a passionate advocate for diversity in higher education. I believe in promoting science-based political policy reform and am dedicated to leveraging science as a vehicle for social justice.

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.

Fabrizio Darby is a Medical Student at the Yale School of Medicine from Portmore, Jamaica. He graduated Summa Cum Laude from the University of Miami with a double major in Biology (departmental honors) and Health Science and minors in Chemistry and Creative Writing.

Dr. de Havenon is an Associate Professor of Neurology. After receiving his B.A. from Yale University in 2001, he received his medical degree from Brown School of Medicine in 2009 and completed internship and neurology residency at the University of Utah in 2013. He finished a vascular neurology fellowship at University of Washington in 2014 and was a faculty member at the University of Utah from 2014-2021. In late 2021, Dr. de Havenon returned to Yale. His clinical practice includes evaluating and treating acute strokes in the hospital and emergency department and providing outpatient consultation in the stroke clinic. He has a particular clinical interest in intracranial atherosclerosis, vascular cognitive impairment, and optimizing secondary stroke prevention. Dr. de Havenon has published over 150 peer-reviewed articles and his research into secondary stroke prevention and advanced neuroimaging has received funding from the National Institutes of Health, American Academy of Neurology, and American Heart Association.

I am a trained clinical neurologist and have always been interested in combining clinical practice with a better understanding of disease concepts and pathomechanisms from basic research. In my education and training, I have taken a multidisciplinary approach that allows me to explore topics such as the application of real-time processing of brain biosignals to the analysis of epileptiform phenomena that may result in transient impairment of behavior and cognition. A second focus is to study the development of epilepsy and resistance to therapy with seizure suppressing drugs from the perspective of genetics.

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.