About Us
Principal Investigator: Salman Qasim, PhD
Dr. Qasim is an Assistant Professor of Neurosurgery at Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School and the Rutgers Brain Health Institute. He earned his PhD in Biomedical Engineering from Columbia University, and completed his postdoctoral training in Computational Psychiatry at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mt. Sinai. His core interest is in unearthing the unique features of human neural computations that enable high-level human cognitive functions, which may ultimately be targeted for therapeutic approaches to treat neurocognitive and psychiatric disorders.
Postdoctoral Fellow: Marco Lai, PhD
Dr. Marco Lai is a postdoctoral fellow in the Department of Neurosurgery at Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School. He completed his PhD in Psychology from New York University. His research centers on speech processing and semantic memory across the human lifespan, with a particular interest in investigating how speech information is represented in the human brain using a multimodal neuroimaging approach.
Postdoctoral Fellow: Carlo Cerquetella, PhD
Dr. Carlo Cerquetella is a postdoctoral fellow in the Department of Neurosurgery at Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School. He obtained his PhD in Neuroscience at the Institut für Physiologie at Universität Bern in Switzerland. His research investigates the neural mechanisms by which the limbic system regulates emotional states during stressful experiences. Dr. Cerquetella is particularly interested in how anxiety and depression are represented in the mammalian brain (rodents and humans). To address these questions, he employs an integrative approach combining behavioral paradigms with optogenetics, electrophysiology, and computational modeling.
Clinical Research Coordinator: Aminah Twyman, BA
As a Clinical Research Coordinator in the Neurosurgery Department of Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, I am devoted to curating a space where medical research is as compassionate as it is innovative. Holding B.A.’s in Psychology and English Literature and a B.S. in Biology, I enjoy exploring the intricate nuances of the human mind, while adding a narrative richness that garners a deep respect for the stories each patient’s journey tells.