People in the Lab

Principal Investigator

Steven A. Prescott

Phone: 416-813-7654 x309094
Fax: 416-813-7717
E-mail: steve.prescott(at)sickkids.ca

Research and Postdoctoral Associates

	Stéphanie Ratté, Senior Research Associate Stéphanie investigates the impact of intrinsic cell properties on information processing by single neurons. She also studies the network architecture of the superficial dorsal horn and its role in processing somatosensory input. Her expertise includes optical methods and in vitro electrophysiology, especially dynamic clamp. E-mail: stephanie.ratte(at)sickkids.ca
	Yu-Feng Xie, Research Associate Yu-Feng is a seasoned electrophysiologist. He applies his experience and knowledge to help with a variety of our lab projects. E-mail: yufeng.xie(at)sickkids.ca
	Milad Lankarany, Postdoctoral Researcher Milad investigates encoding and decoding of information by single neurons and populations of neurons. Based on his background in engineering, Milad is the local Matlab expert. He uses various signal processing techniques and computer simulations to rigorously analyze and model how cell properties affect population coding in the brain. He is particularly interested in the biophysical basis for multiplexing. E-mail: milad.lankarany(at)sickkids.ca Website: https://sites.google.com/site/miladlankarani/
	Steve Lesperance, Postdoctoral Researcher Steve investigates the basic mechanisms underlying the effects of high-frequency spinal cord stimulation (SCS) on neurons. E-mail: steve.lesperance(at)sickkids.ca
	Boriss Sagalajev, Postdoctoral Researcher Boriss investigates the effects of spinal cord stimulation (SCS) on the activity of spinal dorsal horn circuits. He uses both in vivo recording and imaging techniques. E-mail: boriss.sagalajev(at)sickkids.ca

Students

	Petri Takkala, PhD Student Petri investigates the encoding of somatosensory information by different primary sensory neurons. He uses multiphoton calcium imaging in cultured DRG neurons and intact (ex vivo) DRG to study how primary sensory neurons, individually and as a population, encode somatosensory stimuli. He also uses these optical methods to study primary afferent depolarization (PAD)-induced spiking. E-mail: petri.takkala(at)sickkids.ca
	Dhekra Al-Basha, PhD Student Dhekra studies axonal excitability using optogenetics, specifically by photoactivating channelrhodopsin-expressing neurons. She combines cutting-edge optogenetics methods with multielectrode in vivo recordings to study how the cutaneous endings of primary sensory neurons generate action potentials, and how this affects coding. She also uses cultured DRG neurons to measure ChR2 expression levels, activation properties, and modulation. E-mail: dhekra.al.basha(at)mail.utoronto.ca
	Amin Kamaleddin, PhD Student Amin is using electrophysiological recordings in spinal cord slices to decipher how different cell types interact to control circuit function. In particular, he is studying how different cell types are affected by disinhibition and how those effects manifest in terms of circuit-level function. E-mail: amin.kamaleddin(at)mail.utoronto.ca
	Jane Yang, MSc Student Jane is using electrophysiology and modeling to investigate how homeostatic plasticity affects neuronal excitability. E-mail: janes.yang(at)sickkids.ca
	Arjun Balachandar, Medical Student Arjun is modeling the diversity of spiking patterns in different types of spinal dorsal horn neurons. Based on those models, he is developing algorithms to help explain spike pattern heterogeneity on the basis of distributions of ion channel densities. E-mail: arjun.balachandar(at)mail.utoronto.ca
	Rose de Kort, Visiting Graduate Student Rose is visiting our lab from Maastricht University, for a 6-month research internship. She is developing the use of viral vectors to express ChR2 in rodent primary afferents. E-mail: r.dekort(at)student.maastrichtuniversity.nl

Technical Support

Russell Smith, Research Technologist

Russell manages our transgenic mice colony and provides and maintains cell cultures in the lab. His molecular expertise and technical skills support just about everyone's project in one way or another.

E-mail: russell.smith(at)sickkids.ca

Past members

Dongyan Lin Summer intern (2017) -	Emerson Grabke Undergrad (2016-17) -	Jessica Zung Undergrad (2015-16) - Now PhD student at Princeton	Husain Shakil MSc Student (2015-16) - Now medical student at McMaster	Kwan Lee Res Associate (2012-16) - Now Scientist at Nevro
Shima Shakory Summer Intern (2013-15) - Now medical student at UofT	Daniel Sigal Summer Intern (2014)	Bohan Xing Summer Intern (2015)	Yi Zhu Postdoc (2012-14) - Now Faculty at Soochow University	Ayah Khubieh Visiting MSc (2012-13) - Now a PhD student at EPFL
Christina Lubinsky Summer Intern (2014)	Chris Elder Summer intern (2014) - Now Mobile App Developer at 3BC Inc.	Young-Ah Rho Postdoc (2011-12) - Now Postdoc at Mindbrickand KAIST	Nadine S.-Weidenmaier Lab Manager (2012-14)	Sheliza Halani Summer Intern (2013)
Adam Patterson Summer Intern (2013)	Sergei Karnup Res Associate (2011-12) - Now Res Associate at U of Pittsburgh	Liz Brough Lab Manager (2009-11)	Gabriel Ocker Rotating Student (2010) - Now a Scientist at the Allen Institute	Kerry Lazarus Undergrad (2009-10)