I am an Associate Professor in the Department of Neurology at the University of Minnesota. I have significant experience in the field of neuromodulation and neuroscience and have worked in this area for over 10 years since PhD work in Biomedical Engineering. I have extensive background in the field of neuroscience, engineering, and clinical translational work in neuromodulation acquired during my PhD study and postdoctoral training. My research interests fall in the development of novel deep brain stimulation (DBS) techniques for treating Parkinson's disease (PD) and the understanding of the underlying mechanism. DBS has been used for decades and is promising at producing significant motor benefits, however, persistent clinical limitations and side effects related to current spread have been seen. My research is to investigate the efficacy of novel DBS paradigms, such as Coordinated Reset (CR) DBS, as potential alternatives for traditional DBS in the nonhuman primate models of PD as well as PD patients. The preliminary results of my study have shown that CR DBS can induce therapeutic motor improvements that persists days to weeks after stimulation cessation. My research and development of this novel DBS approach will have significant translational impact in the field of DBS for PD, and potentially other movement disorders as well. Moreover, I have also been studying the neurophysiological changes in PD and their alterations with DBS using advanced neural recording technologies, in order to identify potential disease biomarkers to further progress the development of novel DBS techniques. Not only I have extended knowledge, experience and skills in the field of neuromodulation that are demonstrated in the following publications and patent, I also work in a strong and diverse group, neuromodulation research center, where multiple scientists and physician scientists work together supported by an infrastructure that supports junior faculties, postdoctoral fellows and students.
