Principal Investigator

Michael Prerau, Ph.D.

Assistant Professor of Medicine

Harvard Medical School
Associate Neuroscientist and Director of the Neurophysiological Signal Processing Core
Division of Sleep and Circadian Disorders
Department of Medicine
Brigham and Women’s Hospital

Our laboratory focuses on understanding the relationship between brain dynamics during sleep and neurological dysfunction, with a goal of biomarker discovery for diagnosing and treating neurological, psychiatric, and sleep disorders. Our lab also explores neurodiversity, revealing how brain activity patterns are highly specific to individuals, resembling fingerprints, contributing to a deeper understanding of individual differences in brain function. Through cutting-edge quantitative analyses and experiments, we aim to advance our understanding of brain health and disease, striving towards improved diagnostics and treatments.

Lab Members and Mentees

Shuqiang Chen

Ph.D. Candidate

Boston University
Graduate Program in Neuroscience
(co-supervised by Dr. Uri Eden)

Shuqiang is studying the way in which the precise timing of waveform events in the sleeping brain inform the way we understand the neural processes of sleep, memory consolidation, and aging. Through the development of rigorous statistical framework, Shuqiang is working on improving our knowledge of the mechanisms and the way in which different parts of the brain communicate with each other.

Habiba Noamany

Ph.D. Candidate

Harvard University
Program in Neuroscience

Habiba is studying the vast neurodiversity observed within general and clincial populations. Through the application of new signal processing techniques, Habiba is working towards a better understanding of how our brain changes throughout the lifespan through the analysis of sleep EEG.

Mingjian “Alex” He, Ph.D.

Postdoctoral Scholar

Standford University
Anesthesiology, Perioperative and Pain Medicine
Department of Psychology

Alex is working towards a better understanding of aging and neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s disease. Through computational, experimental, and methodological work, he hopes to improve the way we diagnose, track, and treat these disorders.

Sophie Saremsky

Research Assistant/Programmer

Brigham and Women’s Hospital
Division of Sleep and Circadian Disorders

Sophie is working on developing efficient pipelines for large scale data analysis in large cross-sectional cohorts. By applying the techniques developed in our laboratory Sophie hopes to improve the way we understand neurodiversity and brain changes throughout the lifespan.

Recent Alumni Members and Mentees

  • Hyeonjin Kim – International Sleep Research Training Program Fellow
  • Michael Gulledge – Harvard University GPN, (with Dr. Elena Chartoff)
  • Thomas Possidente
  • Patrick Stokes
  • Tanya Dimitrov
  • Preetish Rath
  • Santosh Telang

Collaborators and Mentors