Provenza Lab Members

Assistant Professor, Neurosurgery, Baylor College of Medicine
Adjunct Professor, Electrical and Computer Engineering, Rice University

Dr. Provenza is an assistant professor of Neurosurgery and McNair Scholar at Baylor College of Medicine. She received her Ph.D. in biomedical engineering from Brown University and completed her postdoctoral fellowship at BCM. Provenza's research focuses on the neurophysiology underlying cognition and emotion and the effects of neuromodulation on neural activity and behavior. Her work integrates neural activity and deep phenotyping approaches to inform neural signatures underlying real-world functional deficits in cognitive and emotional disorders. An improved understanding of the relationship between neural activity and behavior will enable the development of improved neuromodulation strategies that more effectively guide brain activity and behavior toward healthy states.

Lead Data Scientist, Provenza and Sheth Labs

Tomek 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 his Ph.D. work, he 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 his free time, Tomek is an avid climber, skier and sailor.

Software Engineering and Programming Associate, Provenza and Sheth Labs

Yewen earned an M.S. in data science from Columbia University and a B.A. in data science from U.S. Berkeley with a focus on business/industrial analytics. His professional background includes deep learning, machine learning, software engineering and data science related projects. Currently, he collaborates with lab members on projects involving video synchronization, TRBD dashboard setup and data archiving.

Research Technician

Sai is a recent graduate of Brown University with a B.S. in biomedical engineering. While there, she was interested in understanding the neural underpinnings of consciousness and conducted research investigating the role of distractors in temporal attention processing. With this lab, she hopes to continue her research training and further contribute to the development of neuromodulation therapies aimed at improving mental health experiences. She is also tangentially intrigued by public health, design/innovation and advocacy and hopes to bridge these interests in pursuing medical school in a couple years.

Ph.D. Student

Thomas is an electrical and computer engineering Ph.D. student at Rice University and a recipient of the National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship. He received a B.S. in bioengineering at Rice University with a Distinction in Research and Creative Works for his work in neural engineering and assistive decives. For his Ph.D. research, he hopes to improve the treatment of psychiatric disorders and therefore, the lives of patients.

Medical Student

Sameer is a medical student at U.T. Southwestern. He previously worked under Dr. Provenza in Dr. Sheth's lab, where he studied neural correlates of behavior and treatment response in patients with treatment-resistant OCD receiving deep brain stimulation. Now, he is continuing an analysis of neural correlates of symptom provocation in these patients. His interests are in anatomic and functional brain connectivity, as well as the mathematical and engineering tools we use to interrogate the brain. He plans to pursue neurosurgery.

Medical Student, Co-advised by Dr. Sheth

Zain is a third-year medical student at Baylor College of Medicine, planning to pursue a career in neurosurgery. This year, under the guidance of Dr. Sheth, he engaged in a research year through the Medical Research Pathway (MRP) program, before he applies for a neurological surgery residency. His research interests are centered on investigated neural biomarkers for psychiatric disorders and advancing neuromodulation techniques. Currently, his work involves collaborating with patients who have deep brain stimulation implants for OCD. He is actively involved in collecting and processing neural data from these patients and identify and characterize potential biomarkers and gain a deeper understanding of the OCD circuitry. This endeavor aims to pave the way for developing adaptive DBS systems tailored to individual needs.

Medical Student, Co-advised by Dr. Sheth

Tommy is a second-year medical student at BCM, interested in applying for neurological surgery residency and currently taking a year off for research in the Medical Research Pathway. He received a B.S.A. from the University of Texas at Austin, majoring in neuroscience. Clinically, he is interested in neuromodulation therapies to treat psychiatric, cognitive and motor disorders. After his research year, he will rejoin the BCM Medical Class of 2027.

Medical Student, Co-advised by Dr. Sheth

Holden is a third-year medical student, and intends to pursue a career in neurosurgery. He received a B.S. in biomedical engineering at the University of Texas at Austin in 2021. He is currently a student attending McGovern Medical School and is participating in a research year under the guidance of Dr. Nicole Provenza and Dr. Sameer Sheth. He is primarily interested in the application of deep brain stimulation to treatment-resistant psychiatric disorders and developing an understanding of human brain function in such patients. His work currently involves the collection and processing of neuronal data collected from OCD patients with DBS implants. His goal is to improve the application of DBS to these patients, and to discover novel ways to characterize OCD from neural data. Ultimately, this could allow for adaptive DBS (aDBS) systems to be created, which could revolutionize neuropsychiatric care.

Medical Student, Co-advised by Dr. Sheth

Kasra is a Tulane medical student who joins the lab for a dedicated research year. He received his B.S. in biopsychology from UCSB an his M.S. in molecular medicine from Tulane. After graduating, he worked in the Margolis/Waung lab at UCSF where he studied neural circuitry involved in pain and addiction. There, he developed a growing interest in functional neurosurgery as he learned more about the ways in which neurosurgeons are able to monitor and modulate aberrant brain circuits. He looks forward to working ith this skilled and collaborative team to further explore the utility of deep brain stimulation in psychiatric disorders.

Undergraduate Student

Jordan is an undergraduate at Rice University pursuing a B.S. in molecular and cellular neuroscience. His previous research was centered on investigating current techniques used for sizing arterial stents, specifically, intravascular ultrasound and 2D digital subtraction angiography. He has since transitioned to studying psychiatric disorders from a clinical perspective, and he is grateful to be able to work with a unique cohort of patients receiving DBS therapy to treat OCD and other comorbidities.

Undergraduate Student

Ashley is an undergrad pursuing a degree in neuroscience and philosophy, with plans to attend medical school in a few years. She is interested in research on medical disorders and development of their treatments, with a focus on depression and anxiety. 

Undergraduate Student

Matthew is a second-year undergraduate at Rice University, majoring in neuroscience on the pre-med track. He joined Dr. Provenza's lab because of his fascination with the underlying neural circuitry involved in psychiatric disorders. Having a family member with OCD, elucidating the cognitive underpinnings of this disorder through neuroscience is deeply meaningful to me. During his time in the lab, his goal is to make a positive impact on the lives of individuals affected by psychiatric disorders and to utilize novel methods to analyze the neural activity of patients undergoing Deep Brain Stimulation treatment.

Undergraduate Student

Vincent is a second-year computer science student at the University of Texas at Austin. He is primarily interested in the intersection between computer science and neuroscience. Currently, he is focused on developing software to assist researchers in viewing the results of various data analysis tools, as well as creating new software infrastructure to collect and process raw data sources.

Professor, Neurosurgery, Baylor College of Medicine

Vice Chair of Research, Neurosurgery, Baylor College of Medicine

McNair Scholar, Baylor College of Medicine

Cullen Foundation Endowed Chair, Neurosurgery, Baylor College of Medicine

Professor, Neurosurgery Research, Baylor College of Medicine

McNair Scholar, Baylor College of Medicine

Adjunct Professory, Electrical and Computer Engineering and Linguistics, Rice University

Associate Professor, Neurology - PDCMDC, Baylor College of Medicine

Director of Neuromodulation Research, Baylor College of Medicine

Associate Professor, Neurosurgery Research, Baylor College of Medicine

McNair Scholar, Baylor College of Medicine

Assistant Professor, Neurosurgery, Baylor College of Medicine

D.C. & Irene Ellwood Chair in Psychiatry, Menninger Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Baylor College of Medicine

Professor, Menninger Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Baylor College of Medicine

Professor and McIngvale Presidential Endowed Chair, Menninger Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Baylor College of Medicine

Assistant Professor, Neuroscience, Baylor College of Medicine

Assistant Professor, Electrical and Computer Engineering, Rice University

Assistant Professor, Neurological Surgery, University of Washington

Adjunct Assistant Professor, Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Washington

Chair, Electrical and Computer Engineering, Rice University

Ernst Dell Butcher Professor, Electrical and Computer Engineering, Rice University

Professor of Biomedical Engineering and Neurosurgery, Mayo Clinic