Members

 

Principal Investigator

Bang-Bon Koo, Ph.D. (bbkoo@bu.edu)

Associate Professor, Dept. of Anatomy and Neurobiology, BUSM
Faculty, Graduate Medical Sciences, BUSM

Research Associate

Guan Yi, Ph.D.

Guan Yi obtained her bachelor’s degree from the University of Toronto in Canada, and both her Master of Science and Ph.D. in Anatomy and Neurobiology at BUSM. Her main research interests are neuroimaging techniques and neurodegenerative diseases. She is currently working on a project to build automated machine learning classifiers for Mild Cognitive Impairment and Alzheimer’s Disease using large imaging datasets.

 

Hajar Benmhammed, Ph.D.

She Obtained her Ph.D. in Neuroscience from Ibn Tofail University. Her previous work examined how early-life adversity shapes neurobehavioral outcomes, neuroinflammation, and oxidative stress in rodent models. She is particularly interested in understanding how early-life stress influences brain development and long-term function. Outside the lab, she enjoys running, hiking, and baking.

Research Scientist

Xiao Da, M.S.

Xiao received his M.S. in Biomedical Engineering from Tufts University. Before joining BIL, he worked in both academia and industry, where he developed and managed medical imaging and multimodal data analysis platforms for clinical trials and research in neurology, psychiatry, and oncology. Currently, he is a research scientist, applying advanced medical imaging techniques and data-driven insights to support various neurological studies.

 

Data Analyst

Sonal Khanna, M.S.

Sonal received her B.Sc. in Biotechnology from Savitribai Phule Pune University, M.Sc. in Human Disease Genetics from the University of Mysore, and an M.S. in Bioinformatics at Boston University. She has worked as a bioinformatician and scientific assistant at TMC ACTREC in Mumbai, where she contributed to cancer research projects. Her experience spans both wet lab techniques and advanced computational analyses, including single-cell RNA sequencing, proteomics, epigenetics, and mass spectrometry data analysis. Currently, Sonal is focusing on neurobiology research, analyzing cell-cell interactions in Alzheimer’s disease models and investigating therapeutic effects in rhesus monkey stroke models. She is proficient in various programming languages and bioinformatics tools, applying her skills to derive insights from large-scale genomic data in the context of neurological disorders.

 

Research Assistant

Andrew Best, M.A.

Andrew earned his master’s degree in Clinical Mental Health Counseling & Behavioral Medicine from Boston University and has a background in cognitive neuroscience research across both clinical and preclinical models. He is currently a researcher working with teams at Boston University and Northeastern University, focusing on Gulf War Illness, neuroinflammation, brain imaging, and cognitive aging. Andrew is especially interested in how stress, injury, and neurotoxic exposures impact memory, attention, and cognitive flexibility—and how behavioral tasks, biomarkers, and neuroimaging can be used together to better understand these effects. He hopes to pursue a PhD in Psychology, Cognitive Neuroscience, or Neurobiology with a long-term goal of contributing to translational brain health research. In his free time, he enjoys rowing, playing guitar, and collecting too many Warhammer minis.

 

Preclinical Research Advisor

Lindsay Michalovicz-Gill, Ph.D.

Lindsay holds a B.A. in Biochemistry from Washington & Jefferson College and a Ph.D. in Neuroscience from West Virginia University School of Medicine.  She previously spent a decade with the CDC’s National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health in Morgantown, WV as a neurotoxicologist conducting and directing preclinical/translational research related to neurotoxicant exposure, traumatic brain injury, neuroinflammation and exposure-related neurological diseases.  A large body of her work has focused on understanding interactions between high levels of stress, nerve agents, pesticides, and brain injury in Gulf War Illness and evaluating potential therapeutics.  She has extensive experience in developing and evaluating animal models of disease, cellular and molecular biological assays, histology, study design, and scientific writing.

Ph.D. Students

Chia Hsin (Jasmine) Cheng, B.A.

Jasmine obtained her bachelor’s degree in Neuroscience from Boston University. She is now pursuing her Ph.D. in Anatomy and Neurobiology at BUSM, working on multiple projects using novel multimodal MRI measures to study the etiologies behind chronic neuroinflammation and aging.

Graduate Research Assistants

Catalina Fader, B.A.

Catalina obtained her bachelor’s degree in Neuroscience from Boston University and is now a graduate student hoping to continue into medical school. Her interests are the mechanisms and ways that genetic predispositions, psychological stressors, and physical trauma manifest in physiological brain changes. She enjoys learning about the ways we can use computational brain models to further study these physiological changes. She is hoping to continue her focus on neurosciences throughout medical school. In her free time, she enjoys watching shows and reading while bed rotting.

 

Haozhe Jia, B.S.

Haozhe Jia is a Master’s student in Computer Science at Boston University, focusing on artificial intelligence, machine learning, and computational neuroimaging. His interests include applying reinforcement learning and data-driven methods to brain imaging analysis and neurological disease research. He hopes to contribute to medical AI through continued research in these areas.

 

Shreya Das, B.S.

Shreya received her BSc in Neuroscience and Cellular & Molecular Biology with a minor in Immunology from the University of Toronto, and is currently pursuing her MSc in Bioinformatics at Boston University. At the BIL Lab, she builds tree-based ensemble models and deep neural networks to predict Alzheimer’s disease burden from harmonized multi-modal datasets, integrating neuroimaging data with clinical biomarkers. Her expertise spans computational pipeline development for genomics data, including RNA-seq and ChIP-seq analysis, as well as wet lab techniques such as cell culture, PCR, and immunohistochemistry. Currently, Shreya is focused on integrating computational neuroimaging with machine learning frameworks to analyze neurodegenerative disease progression. She is proficient in Python, R, and various bioinformatics tools, applying statistical modeling and high-dimensional data analysis to extract biological insights from complex datasets in neuroscience and cancer research contexts.

Undergraduate Research Assistants

Sriman Narain

Sriman Narain is an undergraduate in Boston University’s Seven-Year Liberal Arts/Medical Education Program. He is interested in neuroscience and Alzheimer’s Disease. He hopes to pursue neuroradiology in medical school and is currently minoring in Psychology. In his free time, he enjoys reading, practicing archery, playing games, and traveling.

 

Sabrina Nini

Sabrina Nini is an undergraduate studying Biology with a specialization in Neurobiology and a Psychology minor. She is interested in learning bioimaging techniques to study brain aging. In the future, she wishes to pursue a career in medicine or research. In her free time, she enjoys going on walks and spending time with her friends and family.

 

Aditya Venkatesh

Aditya Venkatesh is an undergraduate student in Boston University’s neuroscience program. He is interested in computational brain mapping to study the aging brain and the intersection of imaging and transcriptomics. Aditya has been accepted into Boston University’s Modular Medical Integrated Curriculum (MMEDIC) program, an early assurance pathway to BU School of Medicine. The program enables selected undergraduates to begin integrating medical school coursework into their studies while continuing their undergraduate education. Aditya will matriculate to BU School of Medicine following his graduation in 2027. Aditya was named a recipient of the Provost’s Scholars Award at Boston University, an honor given to undergraduates who have demonstrated exceptional intellectual curiosity and a commitment to academic and research excellence during their first two years of college. Selected through UROP, this competitive award supports continued exploration through funding for research-related expenses. Recipients are recognized for their willingness to take intellectual risks, engage deeply both within and beyond their primary fields of study, and exemplify the spirit of scholarly pursuit at a research university. In his free time, he plays board games, listens to music, and enjoys cubing.

 

Eitan Rapalino

Eitan Rapalino is an undergraduate studying Biomedical Engineering at Boston University. He is interested in Neuroimaging techniques particularly for their integration of aspects of physics, engineering and biology. After college he intends to pursue a career in medicine. In his free time, he enjoys playing piano, reading comic books, and watching basketball.

 

Hannah Ruan

Hannah Ruan is an underclassman studying Mechanical Engineering at Boston University. She is interested in how neuroimaging and data science are applied to study brain aging. In her free time, she enjoys traveling, being outdoors, and spending time with friends and family.

Alumni

Graduate programs:

Khlifa Alnaim (Master’s program, King Abdullah University of Science and Technology)

Christian Arthur (B.S. in Biomedical Engineering, Boston University; Ph.D. candidate in Biomedical Engineering, University of North Carolina Chapel Hill)

Weifan Chen (M.S. in Artificial Intelligence, Boston University; Ph.D. candidate in Computer Science, Boston University)

Wendy Guo (B.A. in Neuroscience, Boston University; College of Medicine, University of Florida)

Luis Iberico (Ph.D. in Statistics, Boston University)

Maria Lazou (B.S. in Biomedical Engineering, Boston University; Ph.D. candidate in Biomedical Engineering, Boston University)

Yongjun Lu (B.S. in Biomedical Engineering, Boston University; Master of Biomedical Sciences, Duke University)

Zhaoze Wang (B.S. in Computer Engineering, Boston University; Master of Science in Engineering in Computer and Information Sciences, University of Pennsylvania; Ph.D. candidate in Electrical and System Engineering, University of Pennsylvania)

 

Other professional development:

Desmond Gao (B.S. student in Biomedical Engineering, Case Western University)

Karishma Sivakumar (B.A. student in Neuroscience, Boston University)

Jaya Kohol (B.A. in Neuroscience, Boston University)

Laila Yusuf (B.A. in Neuroscience, Boston University)

Mehreen Mansoor (B.A. in Neuroscience, Boston University)

Esther Choi (B.A. in Computer Science, Boston University)

Cosmin Ciausu (Medical Image Computing Lead Engineer, Brigham and Women’s Hospital)

Yashvardhan Das (Data scientist, Staples Inc., Boston)

Shuyi Fan (M.S. in Electrical & Computer Engineering, Boston University)

Chengyang (Henry) He (M.S. in Computer Science, Boston University)

Jason Hong (Software engineer, Walmart HQ)

Beau Horenberger (Software engineer, Motorola Solutions, Boston. MA)

Xushan Hu (M.S. in Electrical & Computer Engineering, Boston University)

Ruei-Yang Huang (M.S. in Electrical & Computer Engineering, Boston University)

Yunjie Huang (M.S. in Electrical & Computer Engineering, Boston University)

Luis Ivey (M.S. candidate in Electrical and Computer Engineering, Boston University)

Varuna Jasodanand (Ph.D. student in Neuroscience, Boston University)

Jennifer (Jena) Jordahl (M.S. in Artificial Intelligence, Boston University)

Prinjali Kalyan (Biomedical Engineering, Boston University)

Woosik Kim (Military Service, ROKMC)

Sophia Koo (B.S in Neuroscience, Boston University)

Evgeniia Kozlova (B.S. in Biomedical Engineering, Boston University)

Seungsoo(Ryan) Lee (Pure Mathematics, Boston University)

Tiffany Leung (B.A. in Hospitality Administration, Boston University)

Yu Lu (B.A. in Human Physiology, Boston University)

Tiam Moradi (B.S in Computer Science, Boston University; Data Scientist at a Lose It!, Greater Chicago area)

Junny Myung (B.S. in Biomedical Engineering, Boston University)

Meenakshi Pavithran (M.S. candidate in  Computer Engineering, Boston University)

Bowen Qin (M.S. in Electrical & Computer Engineering, Boston University; Software engineer, Microsoft, Redmond, Washington)

Minseok Sakong (B.S. in Computer Engineering, Boston University)

Kathakoli Sengupta (M.S. in Artificial Intelligence, Boston University)

Leonardo Seoane (M.S. in Artificial Intelligence, Boston University)

Zihao Shen (M.S. candidate in Electrical & Computer Engineering, Boston University)

Tian Tan (M.S. in Electrical & Computer Engineering, Boston University)

Kevin Vogt-Lowell (M.S. candidate in Computer Engineering, Boston University)

Lia Weil (B.S. in Biology, Boston University)

Kassandra Wu (B.A. in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Boston University)

Kangxian Xie (M.S. in Computer Science, Boston University)

Qingyang (Stephanie) Xu (M.S. in Computer Science, Boston University)

Sichao Yu (M.S. in Artificial Intelligence, Boston University)

Yingqi Zhang (M.S. in Electrical and Computer Engineering, Boston University)

Yiwen Zhang (B.S. in Biomedical Engineering, Boston University)

Zhaowen Zhou (M.S. in Electrical & Computer Engineering, Boston University)

Visiting Scholars and External Collaborators

Samantha Calderazzo (Boston University School of Medicine M.D./Ph.D. candidate)

Dean Zeldich (Neurology Residency Program, Thomas Jefferson University)

Clara Zundel (Boston GWIC)