Trainees
Lucas Arcamone
Postdoctoral AssociateBiography: Lucas is a postdoctoral researcher under the supervision of Dr. Ali Khan and Dr. Corey Baron. A biomedical engineer by training, he obtained a PhD in neurosciences at NeuroSpin (Paris, France). During his PhD, Lucas focused on the study of prenatal brain development using 11.7T preclinical MRI as part of a project called “Premature-Human Connectome Patterns.” Today, Lucas is interested in the links between microscopy and MRI signals in order to turn MRI into a robust tool for measuring the composition and microstructure of brain tissue, with a view to improving knowledge and understanding of neurodegenerative diseases.
Dryden Arseneau
MSc StudentBiography: Dryden is a Master's student currently working under the supervision of Dr. Siobhan Schabrun and Dr. David Seminowicz. He holds a BA (Hons.) in Psychology from Ontario Tech University. His current project focuses on peak alpha frequency (PAF) modulation using pain conditions and EEG analysis.
Judy Ashmawy
MSc StudentBiography: Judy Ashmawy is a master’s student in Biomedical Engineering under the supervision of Dr. Ali Khan. She graduated in July 2026 from the Systems and Biomedical Engineering program at Cairo University. During her undergraduate studies, her research focused on computer vision and deep learning, with a particular interest in shortcut learning in medical imaging. In her current work, she is exploring text-promptable segmentation techniques for 3D images.
Sydney Beatty
MSc StudentBiography: Sydney is a Master's student currently working under the supervision of Dr. Ravi Menon. She holds a BSc (Hons.) in Physics from Trent University. She is analyzing the worlds longest and largest longitudinal MS study at 7T, with a focus on cognition, rs-fMRI, DTI, and anatomical imaging. She brings a strong foundation in physics, along with curiosity, dedication, and perseverance, to the field of advanced neuroimaging.
Samuel Booth
Postdoctoral AssociateBiography: Sam is a postdoctoral research associate in Dr. Ravi Menon’s lab. He completed his PhD at the University of Manitoba under the supervision of Dr. Ji Hyun Ko, where he used brain imaging to investigate the neural mechanisms underlying brain dysfunction in Parkinson’s disease. He subsequently completed postdoctoral research at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill under the supervision of Dr. Yen-Yu Ian Shih, developing novel MRI techniques for functional imaging. His current research combines electrophysiology and functional MRI (fMRI) to investigate the relationship between neuronal activity and fMRI signals at the laminar level.
Delia Cana
MSc StudentBiography: Delia is a Master's student in Medical Biophysics under the supervision of Dr. David Seminowicz and Dr. Ravi Menon. She completed her undergraduate degree in Mathematical Physics at the University of Waterloo. Her current project is focused on learning more about brain oscillations and pain using EEG-fMRI.
Angdi Chu
BSc Honours Thesis StudentBiography: Angdi (“An-dee”, she/her) is an undergraduate student doing her independent study and future honors thesis in Dr. David Seminowicz’s lab. She is doing her second degree in psychology. Before returning to school, she has earned a B.Eng degree in bioinformatics and have been working as a software developer for ten years. Her goal is to keep pursuing a research career through a PhD program in clinical health psychology. Currently, she is investigating the attention’s role in how pain affect visual working memory. Her research interests are bio-psycho-social model of somatic concerns (e.g. pain and sexual dysfunctions), somatization of mental health concerns, the effectiveness of psychosocial interventions.
Samantha Connell
MSc StudentBiography: Samantha is a Master’s student in Medical Biophysics currently working under the supervision of Dr. Corey Baron. She completed her BSc at the University of Windsor in Honours Physics in the Medical Physics stream, with a minor in Mathematics. Her current research uses MRI to investigate changes in brain microstructure across the lifespan in mice.
Amie Demmans
MSc StudentBiography: Amie is a Masters student in Medical Biophysics under the supervision of Dr. Robert Bartha. She completed her undergraduate degree in Biological and Medical Physics Co-op from McMaster University. Her current project is using CEST MRI on the 15.2T to image organoids
Dilyar Deniz
MD/PhD CandidateBiography: I am an MD/PhD student in biomedical engineering, supervised by Dr. Lau and Dr. Khan. My research focuses on mapping the limbic connectome using diffusion MRI, improving imaging reliability for studying neurological disorders. I hold a BMSc from Western University with an interest in biomedical imaging.
Audrey Dureux
Postdoctoral AssociateBiography: Audrey is a Postdoctoral Associate at professor Stefan Everling’s lab. She completed her PhD in France at the Lyon neuroscience research center where she studied the social dimension of the region of space near the body, termed peripersonal space. She used a multiscale approach to investigate how emotional faces in peripersonal space affects perceptual abilities using behavioral measures, physiological state using measures of pupil diameter and heart rate, and brain activity using fMRI. Being particularly interested on the comparative approach between species, she used similar experimental procedures in both humans and macaques to compare cerebral activity with fMRI. Her current project is to study social interactions in marmosets by investigating neural network of the emotional processing of facial expressions in marmosets using fMRI, associated with their impact on physiological responses.
Mackenzie Enns
MSc StudentBiography: Mackenzie completed an undergraduate degree in chemical and biomedical engineering at McMaster University and is now working with Dr. Stefan Everling as an MSc candidate. Her research seeks to elucidate functional connectivity in the marmoset brain via calcium imaging and electrophysiology techniques. She has broad interests in neuroscience, artificial intelligence, and biomedical engineering.
Pierre Estienne
Postdoctoral AssociateBiography: Pierre is a Postdoctoral Associate at professor Stefan Everling’s lab. He completed his PhD in France at the Paris Saclay Institute of Neuroscience where he trained as a comparative neuroanatomist and studied the evolution of tool-using brains in teleost fish and parrots. His PhD work identified a particular brain region in teleost fish, the inferior lobe, which is massively enlarged in tool-using species. Using manganese-enhanced fMRI and MR-guided high intensity focused ultrasound lesioning, he showed that the inferior lobe is crucial for skilled manipulation in fish. Additionally, he developed the green-cheeked conure (Pyrrhura molinae) as a parrot model for studying the evolution of higher-order cognition in parrots using fMRI. His current project using fMRI focuses on the neural circuits involved in sequential vocalizations and skilled manipulations in marmosets, and how they might overlap.
Farhad Fallah
MSc StudentBiography: I received my Bachelor's degree in Electrical Engineering from Sharif University of Technology. I started my Master's degree in January 2025 in Biomedical Engineering under the supervision of Dr. Khan in the Khan Computational Imaging Lab. My research interests lie in medical image analysis and processing, as well as deploying deep learning models for medical applications
Rebekah Gilliland
PhD CandidateBiography: Rebekah is a PhD candidate in Neuroscience under the supervision of Dr. Stefan Everling. She completed her BSc in Neuroscience at Western University. Her research focuses on the role of area 32 in vocal communication in marmosets. She uses ultra-high density electrodes to record the activity of area 32 neurons in awake marmosets while they engage in various components of vocal communication (i.e. listening, speaking, and conversing).
Mia Green
MSc StudentBiography: Mia Green is an MSc student in Medical Biophysics under the supervision of Dr. Corey Baron. She completed her undergraduate degree in Honours Physics at the University of Windsor. During her undergraduate studies, she developed a strong interest in medical physics, particularly in radiobiology and medical imaging. Her research involves advanced diffusion MRI techniques, with potential applications in neurological disorders.
Jake Hamilton
PhD CandidateBiography: Jake is a PhD candidate in Medical Biophysics under the supervision of Dr. Corey Baron. He completed his BSc at Queen's University, receiving a major in Life Sciences and a minor in Physics. His current work involves studying the link between repeated traumatic brain injury and dementia using advanced diffusion MRI techniques
Maye Hussein
MESc StudentBiography: Maye is a master’s student in Biomedical Engineering, co-supervised by Dr. Jonathan Lau and Dr. Ali Khan. She holds a bachelor’s degree in BME from Cairo University. Her research uses diffusion MRI to map white matter connections between contacts across stereo-EEG (SEEG) electrodes, with a focus on multiscale visualization of these connectomes in patients with epilepsy.
Kruti Joshi
PhD CandidateBiography: Kruti is a PhD student in Dr. Ravi Menon's lab at Western University. She completed her MSc in Neuroscience at Western University, where she studied how awake and anesthetized rs-fMRI affect brain connectivity and sustained attention in mice. Her PhD research builds on this work, examining how sex, age, and imaging conditions influence brain connectivity and performance on the Continuous Performance Task (CPT). She also uses manganese-enhanced MRI (MEMRI) to examine differences in brain regions between mice trained on the CPT and those without CPT training. Her research will further explore how brain–behaviour relationships associated with sustained attention compare between mice and humans.
Victor Lau
PhD CandidateBiography: Victor is a PhD student co-supervised by Drs. Ali Khan and Shawn Whitehead. His project aims to provide a proof-of-concept diagnostics development of iron-rich microglia for neurodegenerative diseases, starting with cognitive impairment occurring via Alzheimer's disease and/or cerebrovascular disease. He will also be building some evidence via in-vitro and staining approaches.
Sam Laxer
PhD CandidateBiography: Sam is a PhD candidate in the Medical Biophysics program working in Dr. Menon's lab. He previously completed a BSc in Life Physics from the University of Waterloo. His current work involves investigating neurochemical dynamics in the mouse brain and how they give rise to the functional magnetic resonance imaging signal.
Filipe Ledo
PhD CandidateBiography: In June 2023, Filipe earned an Honours Bachelor's degree in Specialized Biophysics from York University. During his undergraduate studies, he developed a deep passion for medical imaging, particularly MRI, and cultivated a strong interest in experimental research. In September 2023, he began his PhD. in the CAMPEP Medical Biophysics Program at Western University, co-supervised by Dr. Ravi Menon and Dr. Corey Baron. His research focuses on using spiral acquisitions and novel reconstruction methods to achieve ultra-high-resolution functional MRI.
Zheng Lian
MSc StudentBiography: Zheng is a MSc Neuroscience student in Dr. Seminowicz’s lab. She obtained her Bachelor’s degree in neuroscience and economics at University of Toronto. She focuses on using fMRI techniques to investigate the cognitive and structural alterations in the brain caused by chronic pain.
Victoria Little
PhD CandidateBiography: Victoria is a PhD Candidate in Medical Biophysics under the supervision of Dr. Robert Bartha and Dr. Neil Duggal. She completed her undergraduate degree in Honours Life Physics - Medical Physics specialization at the University of Waterloo. Her current work is focused on using CEST MRI to measure tissue pH of the cervical spinal cord.
Hailey Mitsubata
MSc StudentBiography: Hailey is a Neuroscience Master's student researching under the supervision of Dr. Ravi Menon. She completed her undergraduate degree in Kinesiology at Western, where she began researching in vivo mechanisms of neurodegenerative pathology.
Farah Mushtaha
MSc StudentBiography: Farah is a MSc student co-supervised by Dr. Corey Baron and Dr. Ali Khan. I completed my undergrad at Western in Medical Biophysics. I am work on investigating diffusion MRI with spiral trajectories.
Thomas Orset
Postdoctoral AssociateBiography: Thomas is a Postdoctoral Associate in the laboratory of Stefan Everling. He completed his PhD in France at the Paris Brain Institute under the supervision of Pierre Pouget. His doctoral research focused on the relationship between Superior Longitudinal Fasciculus disconnection and spatial neglect in squirrel monkeys, as well as the mechanisms underlying behavioral recovery. This work involved the use of diffusion MRI, ultrasound imaging, and behavioral assessments. His current research aims to develop a model of synucleinopathy in marmosets, using a multimodal approach that includes functional MRI, behavioral testing, immunohistochemistry, and light-sheet microscopy.
Arshya Pooladi-Darvish
MSc StudentBiography: Arshya is an MSc student in Medical Biophysics supervised by Dr. Ali Khan. He completed his undergraduate education at Western University obtaining a Bachelor of Medical Sciences with an Honours Specialization in Medical Biophysics, where his research focussed on identifying patterns of neurodegeneration using MRI across various disease states. His current research investigates how disease activity in Alzheimer’s disease evolves over time and space, using lightsheet microscopy and MRI in mouse models.
Milad Rahimpour
PhD CandidateBiography: Milad previously completed a master's program in Medical Physiology at TUMS. His current research, as a PhD candidate in the field of Neuroscience, working with Professor Stefan Everling, explores the neural dynamics of social communication. He focuses on how specific areas of the brain integrate auditory perception and vocal production during vocal interactions in marmosets using innovative techniques such as high-density neural recordings.
Ricardo Rios-Carrillo
Postdoctoral AssociateBiography: Ricardo Rios-Carrillo is a postdoctoral associate in Corey Baron's lab. He received his PhD in biomedical sciences in Mexico, where he also did a bachelor’s degree as a biomedical engineer and a master’s degree in computer science. His current research focuses on the application of advanced diffusion weighted MRI techniques in neurodegeneration and in the development of new contrasts mechanisms that combine diffusion and relaxometry MRI techniques.
Luke Smolders
MSc StudentBiography: Luke is a MSc student in Neuroscience supervised by Dr. Ali Khan & Dr. Taylor Schmitz. He completed his undergraduate education at Western University, obtaining a Bachelor of Medical Sciences with an Honours Specialization in Physiology and Pharmacology. His current area of research involves leveraging light sheet fluorescence microscopy and multimodal MRI to investigate vascular and neural changes in mouse models of Alzheimer’s disease.
Mayuri Sothynathan
PhD CandidateBiography: Mayuri is a PhD Candidate in Biomedical Engineering under the supervision of Dr. Corey Baron. Previously, she received an undergraduate degree in electrical engineering from Western University. Her current work involves developing non-Cartesian acquisitions for diffusion MRI.
Christi Tam
MSc StudentBiography: Christi is a first year MSc student in Neuroscience supervised by Dr. Schabrun, and co-supervised by Dr. Seminowicz. She completed her HBSc with a specialist in Neuroscience at the University of Toronto, Scarborough. Her research interests include investigating chronic pain models through neuroimaging, with a focus on migraine experiences.
Eugene Tannikas
MSc StudentBiography: Eugene is a MSc student in Neuroscience supervised by Dr. Ali Khan and Dr. Emma Duerden. Eugene received his undergraduate degree here at Western University in the BMSc program with Honours Double Major in Physiology and Pathology. During fourth year, Eugene worked on an amygdala subnuclei segmentation project, where he developed an interest in medical imaging studies, specifically ultra-high field MRI. Eugene's research will continue utilizing ultra-high field MRI scans to quantify amygdala subnuclei structures and activity in children with neurodevelopmental disorders.
Mitra Tavakkoli
Postdoctoral AssociateBiography: Mitra is a Postdoctoral Associate in Professor Ravi Menon’s lab. She completed her PhD in Electrical Engineering at McMaster University, where her research focused on accelerating x-nuclei MRI, such as 129Xe lung MRI, through advanced reconstruction techniques including compressed sensing and deep learning. During her doctoral studies, she was a recipient of the ISMRM Research Exchange Grant to conduct research at the Spinoza Centre for Neuroimaging and Amsterdam UMC in the Netherlands. There, she contributed to pioneering free-breathing, high-resolution abdominal MRI at 7T. Her passion for ultra-high-field MRI now drives her postdoctoral research, which focuses on developing ultra-high-resolution functional MRI at 7T using spiral acquisitions and deep-learning–based reconstruction methods.
Raymond Wong
Postdoctoral AssociateBiography: Raymond is a Postdoctoral Associate and a BrainsCAN Scholar in Dr. Stefan Everling’s lab. He completed his BSc in Neuroscience - Neurobiology at Brock University. His research focuses on investigating the frontal eye fields microcircuitry with high-density neural recordings, as well as working memory in the prefrontal cortex of awake behaving marmosets.
Mahmoud Yaser
MESc StudentBiography: Mahmoud is an MESc student in Biomedical Engineering at Western University, supervised by Dr. Ali Khan and Dr. Emma Duerden. He holds a BSc in Biomedical Engineering from Cairo University. His current research focuses on developing automatic hippocampal subfield segmentation for neonatal brain MRI scans.
Alessandro Zanini
Postdoctoral AssociateBiography: I completed my PhD at the Claude Bernard University of Lyon, France, where I studied the behavioural effects and fMRI responses induced by the presentation of multisensory stimuli within the peripersonal space (or space surrounding the body) in human and non-human primates. My current research focuses on the behavioural, cognitive and MRI repercussions of alpha-synuclein propagation in marmosets' brain.
