Our Team
Natasha Leporé, PhD
Natasha Leporé is Associate Professor of Research Radiology at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles and University of Southern California with a joint appointment in Biomedical Engineering.
Natasha graduated with a Bsc in physics and mathematics from the University of Montreal and then obtained a masters in applied mathematics from Cambridge University, in general relativity. Her PhD is in theoretical physics (Harvard University), and deals with quantum chaos in quantum billiards living on the plane and the pseudosphere. Afterward, she switched to neuroimaging and became a postdoctoral fellow at the Laboratory of Neuro Imaging, working with Dr Paul Thompson.
Mary Baron Nelson, PhD, RN, CPNP
Mary Baron Nelson, PhD RN CPNP, is a research nurse scientist and PI in the CIBORG Lab. Her research interest is in childhood brain tumor survivor outcomes and in studying the effects of cancer treatment on the child’s developing brain using neuroimaging and neuropsychological and quality of life assessments.
Sovan Mukherjee, PhD
Sovan Mukherjee received his Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering from Oklahoma State University, Stillwater, OK. His research area is purely interdisciplinary and primarily focuses on medical image processing, numerical computation methods (e.g. Finite Element Method, Finite Difference Time Domain) and optimization techniques. He joined CIBORG lab in August 2019 as a Research Associate. At CIBORG, he has been working on MRI image analysis of preterm and term-born children’s brain and developing machine learning model for automated segmentation of cerebellar structures. In his spare time, Sovan enjoys hiking, listening to music and driving around scenic California..
Sharon H. O’Neil, PhD, MHA
Dr. O’Neil is a clinical neuropsychologist and the director of The Saban Research Institute’s Neuropsychology Core. Dr. O’Neil obtained her PhD from USC in 1999 and completed a two-year pediatric neuropsychology fellowship in Hematology Oncology at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles. Her research interests include long term neuropsychological outcomes following early CNS injury.
Niharika Gajawelli, PhD
Niharika graduated with a bachelor’s in Electrical and Computer Engineering from Rutgers University. After college she served as Baseband Engineer at Nokia Japan. She obtained her PhD in Biomedical Engineering from the Viterbi School of Engineering at the University of Southern California, with expertise in medical image analysis.
Vidya Rajagopalan, PhD
Emy Dacalos, Research Coordinator
Kayla Guzman, Research Coordinator
Kayla graduated with a BS in biology from the University of California, Irvine (UCI) in 2019. Previous to this lab, she worked in a lab that studies behavioral interventions through exercise for children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) and Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).
Nathan Menard, Research Assistant
Nathan graduated with a BA in economics from University of California Berkeley and spent several years in the tech industry in San Francisco. He recently completed a post-baccalaureate program at University of Southern California and will begin the MD program at Keck School of Medicine of USC in August 2020.
Miao Wei MD, PhD
My research Interests include the application of structural MRI and diffusion tensor imaging in neurologic diseases and the neural basis of individual differences in development.
