John Rolston, MD, PhD

Dr. John Rolston is a neurosurgeon and neuroscientist at Brigham & Women’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School. Clinically, he specializes in epilepsy surgery—including laser ablation, deep brain stimulation (DBS), and responsive neurostimualtion—and movement disorders, including DBS and focused ultrasound. Dr. Rolston received his Bachelor’s degree in computer science from Columbia University, before studying brain-computer interfaces for epilepsy during his PhD at the Georgia Institute of Technology and Emory University. He received an MD from Emory University before completing his residency training in neurosurgery at the University of California, San Francisco.

More info: 

• CV

• PubMed

Aaron Warren, Ph.D.

Aaron Warren completed a PhD in epilepsy neuroimaging at the University of Melbourne, Australia, using functional brain mapping to localize seizure networks in pediatric epilepsy, with a particular focus on Lennox-Gastaut syndrome. In his postdoc, Aaron is using MRI and electrophysiologic methods to optimize neurosurgical treatments including deep brain and responsive neurostimulation.

Hargunbir Singh, M.B.B.S.

Hargun Singh is investigating improved techniques and pedagogical plans for functional neurosurgery.

Rohan Jha, S.B.

Rohan Jha is an MD student at Harvard Medical School. He received an S.B. in Bioengineering from Harvard University. He is interested in investigating improvements in sEEG analysis to improve outcomes in patients with epilepsy.

Aryan Wadhwa, B.A.

Aryan Wadhwa is an MD student at Boston University School of Medicine. He received a B.A. in Medical Sciences from Boston University’s Seven-Year Liberal Arts/Medical Education program. Under Dr. Rolston, he is investigating the effects of deep brain stimulation on non-motor symptoms, as well as exploring possible mechanisms of pediatric epileptic lesion development.

Niels Pacheco-Barrios, MD, MSc, MMSc(c)

Niels Pacheco is a physician from Peru currently pursuing a master's degree in Biostatistics at Harvard Medical School. Under the mentorship of Dr. Rolston, he is exploring the interaction between circadian rhythms and the clinical outcomes of various neuromodulation therapies, including Deep Brain Stimulation and Responsive Neurostimulation. Alongside his research, Niels is deepening his expertise in computational neuroscience and dynamical systems, with a focus on their applications in clinical neuroscience.

Michaela Stamm, M.S.

Michaela Stamm is the research assistant for the MEND lab. They received a B.A. in Neuroscience from Smith College, and an M.S. in Cell and Molecular Biology from Tulane University. With Dr. Rolston, they are focused on developing comprehensive and accessible ways to better obtain, organize, and store clinical data, along with navigating regulatory processes.

Rose Caston

Rose Caston is an MD-PhD student at the University of Utah School of Medicine. She received a B.A. in biomedical engineering from Dartmouth College and a B.E. from the Thayer School of Engineering. At Dartmouth, her research with the Electron Paramagnetic Resonance Center involved developing implantable oxygen probes for brain tumor sites to improve the efficacy of cancer treatment. Rose is currently pursuing a Ph.D. in Dr. John Rolston's lab in Neural Engineering at the University of Utah. She aims to study the functional architecture of the brain in patients with epilepsy to improve treatment with closed-loop neuromodulatory devices.

Bornali Kundu, MD, PhD

Bornali Kundu received her B.S.E. in Biomedical Engineering from Case Western Reserve University. She then completed her M.D. and Ph.D. in Neuroscience through the Medical Scientist Training Program at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. She is in her final year of residency at the University of Utah and completing an enfolded fellowship in Stereotactic and Functional Neurosurgery with Dr. Rolston as well as research in his lab. Her research entails understanding the network connectivity supporting normal cognitive functions, such as working memory, and how single pulse electrical stimulation can help characterize brain connectivity in normal and disease states.