Doiron Lab

Brent Doiron, Ph.D.

Brent Doiron, Ph.D.

Principal Investigator

I completed my undergraduate and graduate degrees in Physics at the University of Ottawa, and later a postdoc at NYU. From 2007-2020 I was faculty in the Mathematics Department at the University of Pittsburgh, after which I moved to the University of Chicago where I am currently the Henrich Kluver Professor of Neurobiology and Statistics, and the director of the Grossman Center for Quantitative Biology and Human Behavior. My work focuses on how the complex circuit wiring of the nervous system supports rich, often stochastic dynamics, as well as drives neural computation. I have been fortunate enough to be awarded a Sloan fellowship, a Vannevar Bush Fellowship, and I am a Simons Foundation Investigator.

Current Members

Christoph Miehl, Ph.D.

Christoph Miehl, Ph.D.

Postdoctoral Fellow

Ph.D., Neuroscience

Focus: The main motivation of my research is to gain a mechanistic understanding of cortical computations, using simulations and mathematical tools. My focus lies on studying excitatory-inhibitory circuits with plastic synapses.

Email: cmiehl@uchicago.edu

Personal Website

Google Scholar

Xinruo Yang, Ph.D.

Xinruo Yang, Ph.D.

Postdoctoral Researcher

Ph.D., Mathematics

Focus: Mean field theory of spiking neural networks and modeling of synaptic plasticity.

Email: xiy84@pitt.edu

John Gengshuo Tian

John Gengshuo Tian

Ph.D. Student | Computational and Applied Mathematics

B.S., Mathematics

Focus: Understanding the geometry of neural representation, in particular the aspect of variability, and how it can be instantiated in mechanistic circuit models.

Email: gtian@uchicago.edu

Peijia Yu

Peijia Yu

Ph.D. Student | Computational Neuroscience

B.S., Biology

Focus: Data analysis and spiking network based modeling of the correlated neuronal activity in mouse primary visual cortex.

Email: peijiay@uchicago.edu

Satchal Postlewaite

Satchal Postlewaite

Ph.D. Student | Computational Neuroscience

B.S., Applied Mathematics in Computer Science

Focus: Using computational modeling to explore the neural circuit and synaptic plasticity mechanisms underlying associative learning. I also analyze neural data to study neural sensory processing.

Email: spostlewaite@uchicago.edu

Michelle Miller

Michelle Miller

Ph.D. Student | Computational Neuroscience

M.S., Beam and Accelerator Physics

Focus: I am interested in studying the canonical neural circuit motifs in cortex. In particular, the functional utility of such motifs and the emergent properties from their collective dynamics. I also analyze neural data to study neural sensory processing.

Email: mcmiller1@uchicago.edu

Google Scholar

Shoshana Chipman

Shoshana Chipman

Ph.D. Student | Physics

B.A., Physics

Focus: The impact of noise on spatiotemporal pattern formation and chaos in dynamical systems, and possible implications for information and entropy.

Email: chipmansb@uchicago.edu

Draco (Yunlong) Xu

Draco (Yunlong) Xu

Ph.D. Student | Computational Neuroscience

B.S., Mathematics and Computer Science

Focus: 1) Models of brain functions using neural networks, dynamic systems theory, and machine learning. 2) Data science to study the dynamics and variability of neural circuits involved in perception and cognition.

Email: dracoxu@uchicago.edu

Personal Website: https://dracooxu.github.io/

 

Yichao Guan

Yichao Guan

Ph.D. Student | Biophysics

B.A., Physics

Focus: I am studying the dimensionality of neural activities using various tools from statistical mechanics.

Email: yichaog@uchicago.edu

Postdoctoral and Graduate Alumni

Cheng Ly, Ph.D.

Cheng Ly, Ph.D.

Postdoctoral Fellow

Current Position: Assistant Professor, Statistical Sciences and Operations Research | Virginia Commonwealth University

Faculty Website

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Robert Rosenbaum, Ph.D.

Robert Rosenbaum, Ph.D.

Postdoctoral Fellow

Current Position: Associate Professor, Applied and Computational Mathematics | University of Notre Dame

Faculty Website

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Ashok Litwin-Kumar, Ph.D.

Ashok Litwin-Kumar, Ph.D.

Ph.D. Student | Neuroscience

Current Position: Assistant Professor, Neuroscience | Columbia University

Faculty Website

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Gabriel Koch Ocker, Ph.D.

Gabriel Koch Ocker, Ph.D.

Ph.D. Student | Neuroscience

Current Position: Assistant Professor, Mathematics and Statistics | Boston University

Faculty Website

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Chengchen Huang, Ph.D.

Chengchen Huang, Ph.D.

Postdoctoral Fellow

Current Position: Assistant Professor, Neuroscience | University of Pittsburgh

Faculty Website

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Wen-Hao Zhang, Ph.D

Wen-Hao Zhang, Ph.D

Postdoctoral Fellow

Current Position: Assistant Professor, Bioinformatics | UT Southwestern

Faculty Website

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Hannah Bos, Ph.D.

Hannah Bos, Ph.D.

Postdoctoral Fellow

Current Position: Senior Algorithms and Applications ML Engineer at SynSense

Danielle Rager, Ph.D.

Danielle Rager, Ph.D.

Ph.D. Student | Neural Computation

Current Position: Neuromorphic Algorithms Research Scientist at Intel Labs

Personal Website

Google Scholar

Jeff Dunworth

Jeff Dunworth

Ph.D. Student | Mathematics

Fereshteh Lagzi, Ph.D.

Fereshteh Lagzi, Ph.D.

Postdoctoral Fellow

Magnus Tournoy, Ph.D.

Magnus Tournoy, Ph.D.

Postdoctoral Fellow

Ph.D., Physics

Google Scholar

Matt Getz, Ph.D.

Matt Getz, Ph.D.

Ph.D. Student | Neuroscience

Ph.D., Neuroscience

Current Position: Postdoctoral fellow in the Gjorgjieva lab.

Personal Website

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Gregory Handy, Ph.D.

Gregory Handy, Ph.D.

Postdoctoral Fellow

Current Position: Assistant Professor, Applied Mathematics | University of Minnesota

Personal Website

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Olivia Gozel, Ph.D.

Olivia Gozel, Ph.D.

Postdoctoral Fellow

Ph.D., Neuroscience

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Masters and Undergraduate Alumni

Tevin Rouse, MsC

Pamela Reisma Knapp, MsC

Tatjana Kanashiro, MsC

John Bartels, MsC

Aubrey Thompson, MsC

Michael Leone, MsC

Alex Negrón, SCGB SURF Fellow

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