Principal Investigator 

Dominique Duncan, Ph.D.

Dr. Dominique Duncan is an assistant professor of Neurology at the USC Stevens Neuroimaging and Informatics Institute in the Laboratory of Neuro Imaging (LONI) with joint appointments in Neuroscience and Biomedical Engineering. Dr. Duncan’s background spans mathematics, engineering, and neuroscience. She double majored in Mathematics and Polish Literature as an undergraduate at the University of Chicago and minored in Computational Neuroscience. She earned her Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering at Yale University. In her Ph.D. thesis, she analyzed intracranial EEG data using nonlinear factor analysis to identify preseizure states of epilepsy patients. After receiving her Ph.D., she was a professor of Mathematics at Sichuan University in Chengdu, China, for a summer program for undergraduate students. She then took a postdoctoral position in Neurology at the Stanford University School of Medicine, followed by a postdoctoral position in Mathematics at UC Davis, where she developed an algorithm based on diffusion maps to classify Alzheimer’s patients using MRI. She has built international, multidisciplinary collaborations and developed novel analytic tools to analyze multimodal data, including imaging and electrophysiology. Her interests lie at the intersection of data analysis, signal processing, and machine learning, particularly in the areas of traumatic brain injury, epilepsy, and, more recently, COVID-19. By creating large-scale data repositories and linking them with visualization and analytic tools for both neuroimaging and electrophysiology data, as well as multimodal data of COVID-19 patients, she aims to encourage collaboration across multiple fields. Dr. Duncan also uses virtual reality to optimize the process of analyzing neuroimaging data and to improve neuroscience education among K-12 students.

Postdoctoral Scholars 

Kseniia Kriukova, MD

Kseniia Kriukova is a medical doctor and neurologist who graduated in 2018 from Sechenov University (summa cum laude); she finished her neurology residency in 2020 in a hospital where years ago used to practice the famous neuroscientist Dr. Luria. As a medical doctor, she started working with COVID-19 patients after the pandemic began. In 2021, she started working as an attending neurologist at the Sechenov University Cardiosurgical Hospital and, shortly after, worked as an attending neurologist at the Burdenko Neurosurgery Institute. As an attending neurologist at the Burdenko Neurosurgery Institute, Dr. Kriukova mainly focused on managing patients with severe traumatic brain injuries and their complications. Since she first entered medical school, Dr. Kriukova has been intensely involved in multiple scientific projects. From 2014 to 2016, she worked with glioma cell cultures under Dr. Chumakov. In 2015, she started her research focused on patients with severe traumatic brain injuries under Dr. Alexandrova’s supervision. In 2016, Dr. Kriukova received a scholarship to attend UCLA as a visiting graduate researcher. She spent a year working on epileptogenesis research under Dr. Engel’s and Dr. Bragin’s supervision. In 2022, Kseniia received another scholarship to go to UCLA and spent five months working on epileptogenesis research under Dr. Engel’s and Dr. Bragin’s supervision. Kseniia is expecting her Ph.D. on post-traumatic epilepsy to be finalized In 2023.

Ph.D. Students

Samantha Cohen, BS 

Sam joined the ICON Lab in 2021 as a Ph.D. student in Biomedical Engineering. Before coming to USC, she received a B.S. in Biomedical Engineering from Cornell University and researched modeling techniques for non-invasive brain stimulation at The City College of New York. Her current work focuses on understanding the relationship between brain morphometry and electrophysiology in Parkinson’s Disease. This work utilizes data and functionality with DABI and is in collaboration with U.T. Southwestern. Outside of the lab, Sam likes to cook, take photos, explore the outdoors, and refine her beach volleyball skills.

Akul Sharma, MS

Akul is a first-year Ph.D. student in the ICON Lab in the Neuroscience Graduate Program. His research interests are at the intersection of neuroimaging and informatics to quantify neurocircuitry in neurological disorders and facilitate the development of novel diagnostic models. He received a B.A. in Neuroscience from Earlham College and MSc in Neuroimaging and Informatics from USC. After graduation, he worked as a neuroimaging data analyst and MRI operator on two multimodal neuroimaging projects at UC Irvine, studying the effects of childhood maltreatment on depression and risk-taking behaviors in adolescents. After that, he joined Dr. Dominique Duncan’s lab at the Laboratory of Neuro Imaging as a data management coordinator on the EpiBioS4Rx project, developing large-scale analysis and machine learning pipelines. Transitioning as a Ph.D. student in the lab, he is leveraging machine learning tools with multimodal neuroimaging to predict seizure outcomes in TBI patients. Outside of research and school, he likes to cook, camp, ski, and compete in powerlifting.

Project Specialists

Alexis Bennett, MS

Alexis received her Bachelor of Science in Computational Neuroscience and her Master of Science in Biomedical Engineering from USC. She started in the ICON Lab while at USC as a student research assistant and now continues her work as a Project Specialist. Her interests lie in utilizing machine learning methods for biomedical applications. She is currently applying these methods to multimodal data to contribute to the findings of potential biomarkers of epileptogenesis after traumatic brain injury and to detect COVID-19 from imaging data. Outside of the lab, you’ll find her at the beach, watching the sunset, drinking overpriced matcha, or curating the perfect Spotify playlist (preferably all at the same time).

Misque Boswell, MS

Misque’s background lies in physical anthropology, evolutionary medicine, and behavioral sciences; more recently, she received a Master’s degree from USC Keck School of Medicine in Neuroimaging and Informatics. Misque joined Dr. Duncan’s team as a Project Specialist and is working on DABI and BRAIN^2 projects, focusing on neuroelectrophysiology and MR imaging, utilizing her previous medical experience to produce analysis tools more pertinent in clinical applications. She is also interested in precision medicine and finding viable solutions that include the use of imaging and electrophysiology data in the diagnostic process to personalize treatment protocols in neuropsychiatric disorders.

Project Assistants

Celina Alba, MS

Celina received her BA in Behavioral Neuroscience from the University of San Diego and her MS in Neuroimaging and Informatics from USC Keck School of Medicine. Celina joined the ICON Lab as a Research Assistant on the EpiBioS4Rx project and started full-time as a Project Assistant after graduating from the NIIN program. In order to contribute to the identification of biomarkers for post-traumatic epileptogenesis, Celina works on MR imaging analysis and focuses on quality control of multi-modal imaging and data organization. She is particularly interested in studying traumatic brain injury and hopes to continue to research this topic in the future in a Ph.D. program.

Tuba Asifriyaz, MS

Research Assistants

Aubrey Martinez, BS

Aubrey recently graduated from USC with both university and departmental honors for her Bachelor of Science in Neuroscience. Since joining the lab in 2019, she has worked on the EpiBioS4Rx and COVID-ARC projects. For EpiBioS4Rx, Aubrey works on the analysis of human and rodent neuroimaging data using manual and automated segmentation methods to identify potential biomarkers of post-traumatic epileptogenesis. The development of an automated cortical thickness estimation pipeline optimized for TBI rodents earned her an honorable mention at the 2021 USC SCymposium in the Life Sciences category and led her to receive the Discovery Scholar Distinction with a nomination as a prize finalist. She was also a two-time recipient of the Provost Undergraduate Research Fellowship award for her work. For COVID-ARC, Aubrey has studied post-lockdown trends relating to SARS-CoV-2 transmission and COVID-19 vaccination rates across various socio-demographic vulnerability indices.

Alexander Bruckhaus, BS

Student Fellows

Medical School Research Assistants

Rachael Garner, BA 

Rachael joined the ICON Lab as a volunteer in 2017. After receiving her BA in Cognitive Science the following year, she joined the lab as a staff researcher on EpiBioS4Rx, where she studied multimodal biomarkers of epileptogenesis following traumatic brain injury. Currently, she continues this research as a Project Specialist. She also supports data aggregation and harmonization for DABI and COVID-ARC. When not at her computer, you can find her making homemade bagels, picking up stacks of books from local public libraries, practicing yoga, or tracking down LA’s best donuts.

Sweta Bhagavatula, BS

Sweta has recently graduated with honors distinction from USC with her Bachelor of Science in Human Biology. Since joining the lab in 2019, she has worked primarily on the EpiBioS4Rx project, where she is analyzing manual and automated segmentation methods on rodent neuroimaging data to identify potential biomarkers of epileptogenesis after traumatic brain injury. This work has led her to receive an honorable mention at the 2021 USC SCymposium for Life Sciences. Currently, Sweta is a project assistant, and she continues this research and hopes to support other areas of the EpiBioS4Rx project.

IUSSTF-Viterbi 

Samayan Bhattacharya

Samayan joined the ICON Lab as an IUSSTF-Viterbi intern in 2022. He is currently pursuing his Bachelor of Engineering degree in Computer Science. His research focuses on the use of Machine Learning in healthcare and climate change. At the Duncan lab, he works on the EpiBioS4Rx project, where he is studying the use of Self-supervised ML algorithms on multimodal data for the identification of biomarkers of epileptogenesis following traumatic brain injury. When he is not online, you can find him at some small roadside cafe, well hidden behind a book.

USC-THU Viterbi 

Jiaxin Xiao

Jiaxin is currently a student majoring in Electronic Engineering in her last year at Tsinghua University in China. She is working on her summer research in the ICON Lab. Jiaxin analyzes EEG signals of epileptic rodents using deep learning methods.

NSF REU Students

Azrin Khan

Azrin is studying Electrical and Computer Engineering at USC’s Viterbi School of Engineering. She joined the ICON Lab as a high school student in 2019. Azrin analyzes imaging data of patients with traumatic brain injury using interactive software applications to identify biomarkers of epileptogenesis. She has also developed an image segmentation method to quantify COVID-19 lung infection.

Aksh Garg

Aksh is a student at Palos Verdes Peninsula High School and a researcher in the ICON Lab. His research interests include machine learning, optimization, signal processing, and stochastic modeling applied to creating generalizable and scalable computer-aided disease diagnostics, enhancing wireless communication networks, and building brain-machine interfaces. Outside of research, he loves to read, listen to music, and play badminton, tennis, and table tennis.

Karina Yang

Karina is a junior at USC majoring in Computer Science and minoring in Dance. Her research interests encompass meta-learning in computer vision, explainable AI, knowledge-based agents for decision-making, and AI ethics. At the ICON Lab, she is currently working on a one-shot diagnosis for COVID-19 using transfer learning in computer vision on X-ray images. When not coding, she likes baking/cooking, doing thousand+ piece puzzles, and watching Modern Family.

Volunteer Research Assistants

Krish Pai

Krish is a sophomore at Canyon Crest Academy in San Diego, California. As part of the EpiBioS4Rx research group in the ICON Lab, he leads a project utilizing advanced machine learning techniques to diagnose post-traumatic epilepsy in patients using novel high-frequency oscillations as biomarkers. He also works on segmenting high-frequency oscillations as biomarkers for post-traumatic epilepsy in multimodal data analysis. In addition to his research, Krish serves as the president and founder of the TEAMS Engineering Competition in San Diego and is a dedicated member of the Science Olympiad. In his free time, Krish enjoys playing the viola, cooking, and playing badminton and tennis. He also works on the 3D reconstruction of medical image data for virtual reality and the metaverse. In the future, he wants to explore ethical and low-cost healthcare solutions using technology.

Maya Brawer-Cohen

Maya is a third-year undergraduate at the University of Pennsylvania majoring in Neuroscience with minors in Healthcare Management and Chemistry. She joined the ICON Lab in 2020 on the MRI team for EpiBioS4Rx to identify biomarkers of epileptogenesis using machine learning. She is currently working on an educational initiative in Neuroscience at Bravo High School. After college, she plans to pursue an MD in neurology and hopes to spend her life helping others. Outside of academics, Maya loves high-altitude climbing and traveling, having visited over forty different countries. She is also an avid Arsenal and Philadelphia Eagles fan—Go Birds!

Paree Merchant

Paree is a junior at Saint Francis High School in Mountain View, CA. While conducting research at the ICON Lab, she has been working on high-frequency oscillation analysis of EEG data for the EpiBioS4Rx project. She is interested in the medical field and hopes to pursue this area. She also likes to read, dance, and travel.

Patrick Carbone

Patrick is a USC student from Pennsylvania pursuing a bachelor’s degree in neuroscience and minoring in sociology. He is a volunteer research assistant working on manual lesion segmentations and MRI intensity analyses for EpiBioS4Rx. He hopes to attend an M.D.-Ph.D. program and pursue a career in medicine. Outside of school, Pat enjoys boxing, going for walks, and coffee.

Serena Ramde

Serena is a USC senior pursuing a bachelor’s degree in neuroscience with a minor in psychology and law. She is a volunteer research assistant helping with manual HFO detection in EEG and was awarded the Provost Undergraduate Research Fellowship for her work on the EpiBioS4Rx Project. She hopes to attend medical school and specialize in neurology.

Shreya Nagunuri

Shreya is a freshman at UC San Diego studying Math and Computer Science. At the ICON Lab, she has been conducting research for the EpiBioS4Rx project, focusing on high-frequency oscillation analysis of EEG data and lesion segmentations. In the future, she aspires to work in the bioinformatics fields and software development.

Wafiza Julkipli

Joyce Gong

 Joyce is a merit-scholar honors student in her freshman year at USC studying biology. She is an undergraduate research assistant working on the DABI project and is learning human invasive neurophysiology data analysis, including EEG, ECoG, LFP, single-unit activity, and more. Joyce hopes to merge her interests in neuroscience, genetics, and biotechnology to further her understanding of the growing world while helping patients from all walks. When she’s not doing research, you can find her figure skating, traveling around the world, snowboarding, and trying all varieties of fruits.

Katie Nguyen

Katie is a freshman at USC studying Neuroscience with a minor in Computer Science. As a volunteer in the ICON lab, she works on manual lesion segmentation using MRI data and MRI intensity analyses for the EpiBioS4Rx project. She aspires to use her knowledge in neuroscience to one day become a physician and work in the neuropharmacology field. Katie enjoys finding new music, skateboarding, and playing volleyball in her free time!