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Functional and Cognitive Neurophysiology Laboratory
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  1. Baylor College of Medicine
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Functional and Cognitive Neurophysiology Lab Members

Congress of Neurological Surgeons (CNS) conference 2024 - Houston, TX Congress of Neurological Surgeons (CNS) conference 2024 - Houston, TX American Society for Stereotactic and Functional Neurosurgery (ASSFN) conference 2024 - Nashville, TN Lab Softball 2024 - Houston, TX

Current Members

Dr. Sameer Sheth, Department of Neurosurgery

Sameer Anil Sheth, M.D., Ph.D.

Director, Functional and Cognitive Neurophysiology Lab
Epilepsy Surgery, Movement Disorders, Psychiatric Neurosurgery

man in a blue suit smiling lightly

Vinayak Belavadi

Research Technician II

I graduated from the University of Texas this May with a B.S. in Neuroscience. I’m excited to explore the functional side of neuroscience and particularly the underlying mechanisms behind neurodegeneration and neuropsychiatric disorders.

man with brown hair in a blue plaid button down, smiling

Eric Cole, Ph.D.

Postdoctoral Associate

I completed my Ph.D. in biomedical engineering and M.S. in electrical and computer engineering at Emory University and Georgia Tech, and undergraduate in engineering at Cornell University. My research interests include building algorithms and closed-loop systems for precision control of brain activity to aid treatment in neuropsychiatry, Parkinson's disease, and epilepsy, and improve causal understanding of cognitive neural systems. I also enjoy playing piano and writing original music.

man in a blue sweater smiling

Tomasz Fraczek, Ph.D.

Data Scientist

I completed an undergraduate degree in Physics at the University of California Santa Barbara, and then a Ph.D. in Neuroscience at the University of Washington. During my Ph.D. work, I studied deep brain stimulation for motor disorders, with a particular focus on longitudinal monitoring and the remote chronic monitoring and data management systems this sort of data collection requires. In my free time, I am an avid climber, skier and sailor.

photo of a woman smiling in front of a blue background

Nisha Giridharan, M.D.

Clinical Fellow

I am fortunate to serve as the Baylor Functional Neurosurgery Fellow for the academic year of 2025-2026. My clinical interests include surgical and neuromodulatory treatments for psychiatric disorders, epilepsy, movement disorders and pain. My research pursuits have primarily focused on neurophysiology, psychiatric neurosurgery, epilepsy and movement disorders and I plan to continue researching these topics in my career as an academic functional neurosurgeon. Functional neurosurgery has a powerful capacity to meaningfully improve the quality of life of patients with a variety of neuropsychiatric disorders and is closely intertwined with technology both from an imaging and implanted device perspective. As such, there is a lot of potential room for exciting growth in better understanding the structural and functional underpinnings of neuropsychiatric disorders and optimizing or developing methods to treat them. The team here at Baylor is doing world-class, pioneer work in many realms, most notably in psychiatric neurosurgery and cognitive disorders, and I am grateful to work with and learn from the physicians and researchers in this wonderful group!

Victoria Gates Pirtle

Victoria Gates

Senior Research Coordinator

I am a Senior Research Coordinator for the Sheth Lab at Baylor College of Medicine. I received my B.S. in psychology from the University of Houston am currently earning my Master of Science in Clinical Mental Health Counseling at the University of St. Thomas. I provide both administrative and practical support for Sheth Lab’s research projects and goals by helping manage IRBs, ensuring adherence to regulatory bodies, assisting in data gathering and maintenance, and handling patient communication and retention.

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Robynn Ivory

Business Operations Coordinator

I have a strong interest in clerical processes and organizational efficiency. I am currently pursuing my Bachelor of Science in Health Care Administration at Capella University, furthering my passion for streamlined systems and effective support roles. Outside of work and studies, I enjoy jogging, traveling, and experimenting with new cooking recipes.

Kat Kabotyanski

Kat Kabotyanski

M.D. / Ph.D. Student

I received my B.S. in neuroscience from Duke University in 2014, then worked as a Research Assistant on the Healthy Brain Network at the Child Mind Institute and Research Manager for the Human Connectome Project at Harvard University before starting my M.D.-Ph.D at BCM in 2020.

Clinically, I am interested in neurosurgery and am particularly excited about the career’s unique opportunity to simultaneously treat and better understand the human brain. Scientifically, I am interested in uncovering the physiological mechanisms that underlie mood, cognition, and behavior in order to identify neural signatures of pathological vs healthy states. As a Ph.D candidate in the Quantitative and Computational Biosciences program, I hope to use novel methods for decoding, interpreting, and representing neural signals. Ultimately, I hope this work will enable more effective, individualized treatments.

I am extremely grateful to work with this fun, talented, and diverse team, as well as the many collaborators that make this important research possible.

Raissa Mathura

Raissa Mathura

Research Coordinator III

My work involves creating visualizations of the intracranial electrodes that are implanted in our research patients as well as running research tasks at the EMU. I also help with establishing the outward facing presence of the lab, through PR and social media for Dr. Sheth. I graduated from Rice University in 2019 with a bachelor’s degree in Cognitive Science. I am interested in learning more about the nature of complex human cognitive functions and the integration of different academic disciplines through research.

Photo of Layth Mattar

Layth Mattar

Research Technician II

In 2021 I received my B.S. in Biology from Emory University and have since worked as an AmeriCorps VISTA service member in a free clinic and as a medical scribe in rural and urban safety-net clinics. Those two experiences exposed me to many different types of psychiatric and neurological disorders and conditions, and the great impact these conditions can have on patient’s lives, especially if they are treatment resistant. I joined Dr. Sheth’s lab to contribute to the discovery and investigation of new treatments aimed at helping and improving the quality of life these patients experience.

John Myers

John Myers

Postdoctoral Associate

We use high density electrocorticography (ECoG) to capture neural oscillations, and we use microelectrodes to measure action potentials while people play games designed to test certain mental skills. A key goal is to understand how our brain cells seem to almost effortlessly work together to rapidly convert abstract mental representations into actions. We combine conventional neuroscience techniques with machine learning to answer these questions. I am also working on a project involving deep brain stimulation (DBS) for treatment of major depression. We are seeking to learn more about the brain activity that underlies depression, while developing patient-specific stimulation protocols.

woman with long dark hair smiling

Grace Nitcheu

Research Technician II

I graduated from Vanderbilt University this May with a B.S. in Cognitive Studies and Medicine, Health & Society. As an undergraduate, I conducted research in the Eugenia Gurevich Lab, where I studied Parkinson’s disease and the long-term effects of L-DOPA on GPCR sequences using mouse models. I’m excited to explore the functional side of neuroscience and particularly the underlying mechanisms behind neurodegeneration and neuropsychiatric disorders. Outside of work, I love sewing and baking… and I tolerate running!

man in a suit smiling

Zachary Perry

Medical Student

I am a third-year medical student at Baylor College of Medicine interested in pursuing neurosurgery, and I am currently in the Medical Research Pathway. I obtained my undergraduate degree in biology from the University of Oklahoma. My research interests include leveraging deep brain stimulation techniques in the treatment of psychiatric disorders, with the goal of understanding their mechanistic underpinnings to ultimately improve treatment for patients with these conditions. Outside of research and clinical interests, I enjoy looking for the best espresso in Houston! Upon completion of this year, I will complete my medical degree with the Class of 2028.

man with dark, circle glasses smiling

Paul Steffan

M.D. / Ph.D. Student

I am a graduate student co-mentored between Dr. Sameer Sheth (BCM) and Dr. Andreas Tolias (Stanford). A member of the BCM MSTP, I am an aspiring neurologist with a particular interest in epilepsy, and the neural correlates of neurological disease more generally. After completing my undergraduate studies at Yale in 2016, I worked for Dr. David McCormick for 4 years, helping to manage his lab's transition from Yale School of Medicine to the University of Oregon Institute of Neuroscience. I also served as a visiting scholar at Oregon and Health and Science University in Portland where I contributed to the research of Dr. Lia Ernst. In mice, I have contributed to work on the state-dependence of visual evoked responses, auditory foraging as well as the state-dependence of vagus nerve stimulation. In humans, I have investigated the neural correlates of vagus nerve stimulation, as recorded by the Responsive Neurostimulation System. The focus of my doctoral work is building data-driven models of neural responses to complex stimulation in a rodent model of epilepsy. Outside of lab, I am a classically trained tenor who made my Spotify debut in 2024 with the Houston Chamber Choir. The rest of my time is spent either cooking or enjoying the company of close friends and loved ones.

man in a red tie and black graduation gown smiling

Kyle Tsai

Research Technician II

I graduated from Princeton University with a B.S.E. in Operations Research and Financial Engineering with certificates in computer science and clarinet performance. As an undergraduate, my research focuses were in bioinformatics and computational biology, specifically on designing and improving algorithms used to solve biological problems. I’m excited to join the Sheth lab and further my interests in how data can be leveraged to better understand neuroanatomy and physiology. Furthermore, I look forward to working on patient-facing studies to better understand the applications of technologies like DBS and sEEG in the clinical field. In my free time, I enjoy video editing and am an avid Beli user.

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Xinyuan Yan

Postdoctoral Associate

I earned my PhD in cognitive neuroscience from the State Key Lab of Cognitive Neuroscience and Learning at Beijing Normal University in 2022. I was the MnDrive postdoc at the University of Minnesota from 2022-2025. My research interests include human decision-making dilemmas, naturalistic social interaction (applying game theory and conversation analysis), and studying brain activity from single-neuron recordings, LFP, and fMRI combined with computational modeling. My work aims to understand the biological basis of mental illness and develop potential neuromodulation treatments. The secrets of intelligence, affect, and beauty may lie in the spikes.
I try to complete one full marathon every year.

Yue Zhang

Yue Zhang

Instructor, Lab Manager

Over the last seven years, my research efforts have focused on examining brain mechanisms that underlie induced and natural human behaviors. I am especially interested in brain neuroplasticity, neuromodulation, and translational research that can improve day-to-day behaviors. My most recent research focuses on investigating multisensory integration in speech perception such as watching speech videos and short movies, measured by direct (i.e., intracranial electroencephalography/iEEG) and indirect (i.e., BOLD fMRI) neuroimaging techniques. Many everyday tasks require us to integrate information from multiple modalities, such as during conversation when we make use of both the auditory information we hear in spoken speech and the visual information from the facial movements of the talker. This is especially important under conditions in which one modality is degraded, such as in a noisy room, or in hearing loss conditions. iEEG and BOLD fMRI techniques have offered the best combination of spatial and temporal resolution for this purpose. After joining the Sheth lab, I hope to further expand my work to investigate the role of mood and attention in speech perception.

Man smiling in front of grey background

Yewen Zhou

Software Engineering and Programming Associate

I hold an M.S. in Data Science from Columbia University and a B.A. in Data Science from UC Berkeley with a focus on Business/Industrial Analytics. My professional background includes deep learning, machine learning, software engineering, and Data Science related projects. Currently, I collaborate with lab members on projects involving video synchronization, TRBD dashboard setup, and data archiving.

Lab Alumni

Habiba Azab | 2019-2026
Postdoctoral Associate

Thomas Hamre | 2025
Medical Student

Sarah Soubra | 2025
Medical Student

Holden Bentley | 2024-2025
Medical Student

Davin Devara | 2024-2025
Medical Student

Kasra Mansourian | 2024-2025
Medical Student

Danika Paulo | 2024-2025
Fellow, Functional and Stereotactic Neurosurgery

Jung Uk Kang | 2023-2025
Postdoctoral Associate

Shraddha Shah | 2022-2025
Postdoctoral Associate

Tommy Liu | 2024
Medical Student

Zain Naqvi | 2024
Medical Student

Abhinav Vadassery | 2024
Research Assistant

Ajay Gandhi | 2023-2024
Medical Student

Mohammed Hasen | 2023-2024
Fellow, Functional and Stereotactic Neurosurgery

Robert Petrovic | 2023-2024
Master's Student

Nicole Provenza | 2022-2024
Postdoctoral Associate

Jiayang Xiao | 2020-2024
Ph.D. Student

Joshua Adkinson | 2019-2024
Staff Scientist

Anthony Allam | 2023
Medical Student

Garrett Banks | 2023
Fellow, Functional and Stereotactic Neurosurgery

Nabeel Diab | 2023
Research Technician II

Nisha Giridharan | 2023
Neurosurgery Resident 

Samad Hirani | 2023
Research Technician II

Sameer Rajesh | 2023
Research Technician II

Sandy Reddy | 2023
Medical Student

Gabriel Reyes | 2023
Medical Student

Huy Dang | 2022
Medical Student

Ethan Devara | 2022
Medical Student

Ben Shofty | 2020-2022
Fellow, Functional and Stereotactic Neurosurgery

Adrish Anand | 2021
Medical Student

Ricardo Andres Najera | 2021
Medical Student

Ron Gadot | 2021
Medical Student

Claire Huang
Former Trial Coordinator

Megan Filkowski
Former Postdoc 

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