Alexander Rotenberg, MD, PhD
Principal Investigator
Dr. Rotenberg is a board-certified neurologist and epileptologist at Boston Children’s Hospital.
He is also a Professor of Neurology,
Director of the Epilepsy Monitoring Unit, and Director of the Neuromodulation Program within the department of Neurology at Boston Chidren's Hospital.
Dr. Rotenberg and his team have developed novel methods for transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) and transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS).
In parallel to Dr. Rotenberg’s basic science experiments, the lab is enrolling participants into ongoing clinical trials aimed to further develop novel neurophysiologic techniques.
Henry Hing Cheong Lee, PhD
Senior Staff Scientist
Henry's projects in the Rotenberg lab focus on two pre-clinical research areas: (1) Developing enzyme replacement therapy (ERT) and gene therapy for succinic semialdehyde dehydrogenase deficiency (SSADHD). Using a newly constructed inducible mouse model of SSADHD (aldh5a1lox-rtTA-STOP) which allows ‘on-demand’ SSADH expression in a controllable and cell-specific fashion, Henry aims to determine the optimal parameters of safe SSADH restoration, to de-risk ERT and gene therapy for SSADHD patients. (2) Henry also studies the cellular mechanisms underlying post-traumatic epileptogenesis (PTE). He combines rodent models of traumatic brain injury (TBI) and immunohistochemistry to understand the cellular deficits and their trajectories upon TBI, identifying novel pharmacotherapy targets for PTE prophylaxis and symptom reversal.
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Lna Ali
Clinical Research Specialist I
Lna is a researcher specializing in EEG analyses to explore the neural mechanisms underlying cognitive processes. Her work bridges cognitive neuroscience and clinical research, focusing on how EEG can reveal insights into brain activity during both typical and atypical cognitive functioning. Lna's research aims to contribute to the understanding of neurological conditions through advanced EEG techniques, with a particular interest in clinical applications for diagnosis and treatment.
In addition to EEG analysis, Lna helps operate the Experimental Neurophysiology Core (ENC) facility, which provides rodent EEG recording and analysis services to academic and industry partners for drug testing and target engagement in early drug discovery.
Hobbies: rock climbing, photography, hiking, and camping.
Elena Gori
Research Assistant
Elena is a Clinical Research Assistant in Neurology specializing in clinical trials focused on rare forms of epilepsy. Her work involves coordinating and supporting research studies aimed at advancing treatment options and improving outcomes for patients with complex neurological conditions. In addition to her research role, she performs transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) for pre-surgical mapping, helping to identify critical motor and language regions of the cortex to guide neurosurgical planning.
Outside of the hospital, she also is a certified yoga instructor. Elena enjoys bringing mindfulness and movement into her daily life, and values the balance it provides alongside her clinical and research work.
Manasvi Surapuraju
Research Assistant
Mana is a Research Assistant and a 2025 graduate of the University of Massachusetts Amherst with a B.S. in Biochemistry. She is applying molecular biology techniques to advance novel AAV-based gene therapies, such as activity-dependent suppression of overactive excitatory neurons in epilepsy.
Shirzat Mushajiang
Research Assistant II
Shirzat is a postdoctoral fellow wgose research foicuses on therapies for traumatic brain injury (TBI) and post-traumatic epilepsy (PTE), particularly on modulation of the glutamate transporter-1 (GLT-1/EAAT-2) for purposes of post-traumatic seizure prevention.
Hobbies : Basketball, Jigsaw Puzzles
Jin Zijie
Research Assistant II
Jin (Marc) conducts molecular and histological analyses in gene therapy projects, particularly those aimed to develop gene replacement for rare pediatric syndromes. He performs plasmid preparation (MaxiPrep) and DNA extraction for downstream applications, carries out protein analysis including Western blot to measure gene expression after its replacement.
Min Yuan
Visiting Scholar
Dr. Yuan is a clinical neurologist engaged in both patient care and translational neuroscience research. His work focuses on the pathophysiological mechanisms that follow neurological insult and injury, and on AAV-based gene therapy. Within the Rotenberg Lab, he develops experimental platforms to investigate how viral vector–mediated interventions modulate neural circuits. Drawing on his clinical background, he also contributes to exploring the translational potential of techniques such as TMS and tDCS.
Kamran Salayev
Postdoctoral Fellow
Dr. Kamran Salayev is a neurologist with research interests in neurophysiology, epilepsy, and autism spectrum disorders.
His work in the Rotenberg Lab focuses on three main areas: (1) Identifying EEG biomarkers in patients with epilepsy to improve
diagnostic yield and predict treatment response. (2) Investigating motor cortex mapping using transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) in epilepsy,
with a particular focus on neuroplastic changes associated with the disease. (3) Examining the role of language complexity and lexical features
in TMS-based language mapping.
Dr. Salayev combines clinical expertise with translational neuroscience research aimed at improving the diagnosis and treatment of neurological disorders. Beyond his clinical and scientific work, he enjoys writing novels for children and young adults and pursuing artistic interests.