People

Current Students

Rachel P. Allred Graduate Student I study how behavioral experiences influence functional recovery after unilateral stroke-like injuries of the sensorimotor cortex in rats.   I recently discovered that training the "good" forelimb of rats after these injuries worsens function in the impaired limb.  My dissertation is focused on understanding the characteristics and neural basis of this effect.

J. Edward Hsu Graduate Student My dissertation research is focused on understanding the neural mechanisms of motor rehabilitation after stroke, as modeled in rats with unilateral cortical ischemia.  I have recently discovered that rehabilitative reach training drives synaptogenesis and other neuroplastic changes in remaining cortex.  In additional research, I am attempting to determine the necessity of these changes for functional recovery.

Soo Young Kim  Graduate Student I am interested in glia-neuronal interactions in synaptic plasticity and recovery from brain damage.  My current research is focused on age-related differences in the remodeling of neocortical astrocytes and synapses after brain damage.

Monica A. Maldonado  Graduate Student One of my primary interests is how cell proliferation, including neurogenesis, contributes to functional recovery after brain damage in adult animals.  My dissertation research is focused on the potential of motor rehabilitative training to drive neocortical gliagenesis and neurogenesis.

Rebecca Markham  Postdoctoral Fellow  My current research is focused on how behavioral experiences influence the reorganization of movement representations in the primary motor cortex of rats after cortical ischemia.   Prior to joining the Jones' laboratory, I studied the role of sensory experience in brain development.  I hope in the future to combine these lines of research in a new model system of pediatric stroke for investigation of experience-dependent reorganization of developing brains.

Amber O'Bryant  Graduate Student My dissertation research focus is the use of a novel treatment approach, motor cortical stimulation (CS), for stroke-induced functional impairments.  I have recently discovered that combining CS with motor rehabilitative training results in functional improvements that  persist for at least 9-10 months after the end of treatment compared to rats receiving rehabilitative training alone.  My current research is focused on understanding the effective timing of this treatment after stroke-like injuries in rat and its influence on neural activity and plasticity in residual sensorimotor cortex.

Kelly Tennant					Graduate Student I have broad interests in neural plasticity after brain damage, having just joined the laboratory in January, 2007.  My current research is focused on developing a new mouse model suitable for in vivo investigations of neocortical plasticity linked to motor learning and recovery from cortical infarct.

Undergraduates:

• Leor Azoulay
• Colin "Braincandy" Diffie
• Brian Burrahm
• Brian Dena
  
• Stephanie Do
  
• Truk Garcia
  
• Jae Han
  
• Daniel High
• Cole Husbands
• Marissa Kopatic
• Aivy Lam
• Toral Parikh
• Elaine Sedenberg
• Austen Sitko
• Keerthan Somanath
• Jennifer Whiddon