Our Team
Principal Investigator
Dr Bahman Nasseroleslami
Group Leader, NeuroMotor Group / Principal Investigator / Assistant Professor
Dr. Nasseroleslami received the B.Sc. degree in mechanical engineering from Iran University of Science and Technology, Tehran, Iran, in 2003, and the M.Sc. degree in biomechanical engineering from Sharif University of Technology, Tehran, Iran, in 2006. He received his Ph.D. degree in biomedical engineering from University of Strathclyde, Glasgow, Scotland, UK, in 2013. He was with the Department of Biology, Northeastern University, Boston, MA, USA, as a Research Associate (2012) and a Postdoctoral Research Associate (2013-2014). He joined Academic Unit of Neurology in Trinity College Dublin, the University of Dublin, Dublin, Ireland as a Research Fellow in 2014, and then worked a Senior Research Fellow. He is currently the Fr Tony Coote Assistant Professor in Neuroelectric Signal Analysis in MND, a Principal Investigator, and the Research Strand Leader of the NeuroMotor research group at Trinity College Dublin.
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His research area includes neural control of human movement, EEG/EMG and electrophysiological correlates of neuro-motor activity, diagnostic and prognostic biomarkers in Motor Neuron Disease (MND), and neural engineering. He has received more than 1,000,000 competitive research funding as Principal Investigator from Irish Research Council (IRC), Health Research Board (HRB) and Research Motor Neurone (RMN) of Ireland; Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis Association (ALSA), and more than 1,600,000 as co-investigator or collaborator. He is the author of 23 articles (5 as the first author, 13 as the last author) in international peer-reviewed journals. Dr Nasseroleslami is a member of IEEE, IEEE EMBS, Society for Neuroscience (SfN), International Society of Electrophysiology & Kinesiology (ISEK), Organisation for Human Brain Mapping (OHBM), Federation of European Neuroscience Societies (FENS) and Neuroscience Ireland. He was a recipient of a 3-year Ph.D. scholarship award from Scottish Funding Council (SFC) in 2008 and Government of Ireland 2-year Postdoctoral Research Fellowship from IRC in 2015. His research paper in Journal of Biomechanical Engineering was selected as an editors’ choice paper in 2014. He was awarded the Research Ally Prize by IRC in 2021 for his contributions as a mentor.
Postdoctoral Fellows and Researchers
Dr Gabriel Costa
NeuroInsight Postdoctoral Research Fellow
Gabriel graduated in Biology from the University of Coimbra in 2006 and completed a PhD degree in Biology from the same University in 2012.
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After concluding his PhD degree, he dedicated his postdoctoral scientific research to the study of Neurosciences, particularly in neurophysiology and cognition. He was a postdoctoral fellow at the Institute for Biomedical Imaging and Life Sciences (IBILI, Coimbra) and at the Neuropsychiatry Unit at Champalimaud Foundation (Lisbon). He is currently a postdoctoral fellow at Trinity Biomedical Sciences Institute studying why certain neuronal populations and brain areas are more susceptible to damage in Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS). Using the information from neuroelectric recordings he will identify brain areas where neuronal activity is initially impaired in ALS and correlate these with detailed maps of brain organization. He expect to identify the intrinsic factors that define vulnerable neuronal populations in ALS.
Dr Marjorie Metzger
ALS Association’s Milton Safenowitz Postdoctoral Research Fellow
Marjorie’s research focuses on the quantification of cognitive network dysfunction in Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) using high-density EEG measures.
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ALS is a severe neurodegenerative disease that has traditionally been associated with motor and respiratory pathways, but cognitive and behavioural symptoms impact more than half of the patients. Therefore, Marjorie’s work aims to provide quantitative and reliable measures of these cognitive and behavioural changes. These measures are crucial not only for enhancing our understanding of the neural mechanisms underlying ALS but also for evaluating the effects of potential treatments.
Marjorie joined the NeuroMotor research team in September 2019 as a PhD student under the joint supervision of Asst. Prof. Bahman Nasseroleslami and Prof. Orla Hardiman in the Academic Unit of Neurology, Trinity College Dublin (TCD). Her research interests lie primarily at the intersection between cognitive neuroscience and computer science, applied to neurodegeneration. Marjorie completed her Master’s degree in Life Sciences and Technology, with a specialization in Neurosciences and Neuroengineering, and a minor in Computational Neurosciences, from the Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL) in 2018. Prior to that, she earned her Bachelor of Science (BSc) in Life Sciences and Technology from EPFL.
PhD Students
Eileen Rose Giglia
PhD Student
Eileen’s work focuses on EEG biomarkers of cognitive impairment in multiple sclerosis. She is also interested in the patterns of functional disruption present in cognitive networks across neurodegenerative conditions.
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Eileen completed her M.Sc. in Neuroscience at Trinity College Dublin in 2018. Prior to that, she completed a B.S. in Neuroscience and Behavior and Irish Language and Literature at the University of Notre Dame. She joined the group in May 2019 as an EEG research assistant and began a Ph.D. in the NeuroMotor research team under the joint supervision of Asst. Prof. Bahman Nasseroleslami and Prof. Orla Hardiman in March 2020.
Prabhav Mehra
PhD Student
Prabhav is a final year PhD candidate in the NeuroMotor research team, with a master’s degree in Biomedical Sciences and a bachelor’s degree in Electrical and Electronics.
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His project focuses on investigating brain-body connections. His research interests include Neuromuscular Engineering, Signal Processing, Biomedical System Design, Model-based Biomarker, and Neurophysiology.
Matthew Mitchell
PhD Student
Matthew began studying psychology to explore his interest in movement and coordination and how the mind is an integral part of the performance of the sensorimotor system.
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His undergraduate projects in bimanual coordination, extracurricular sport, an RA post in BCI for ADHD, and work in clinical psychology led him to the Academic Unit of Neurology (AUoN), and the NeuroMotor research team in the EXG group. Here he found an exciting opportunity to examine the function of the sensorimotor system in ageing and disease. He joined the AUoN as a research assistant and shortly before finishing that post he proposed his research project to examine proprioceptive function in ageing adults, young adults, and its degradation in Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS).
With support from Research Motor Neurone and the Irish Research Council he has been able to set up new experiments in Trinity College Dublin and employ novel experimental designs. This paradigm allows him to answer important questions about neuromodulation in spinal motor neuron excitability, and to quantify perceptual/attentional states in cortical networks that process kinaesthetic information. The ultimate aim of his research is to use neuroelectrophysiology to accelerate the search for biomarkers for improving clinical decision making in the treatment for ALS.
Serena Plaitano
PhD Student
Serena is currently working on a project that combines electrophysiological measurements of cognitive functions with neuropsychological measurements of the same functions in both people with ALS and healthy controls.
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Her main interest is to better understand what changes occur in the brain that underlies cognitive impairment in ALS and to find biomarkers that may be useful for earlier diagnosis and more specific treatment. Serena completed her BSc. and MSc. in Cognitive Psychology and Neurophysiology in Italy and moved to Dublin in 2021 to join the NeuroMotor research team as a Research Assistant.
Zahra Eshagh Nimvari
PhD Student
Zahra is currently a PhD student in the NeuroMotor research team working on dynamic and non-linear connectivity analysis in healthy controls and people with ALS, investigating the alterations in the motor neural networks.
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Before joining the team, she was a research assistant at the neuroscience section of the National Research Council of Italy, investigating motor learning procedures in healthy subjects through electroencephalography signals and kinematic analysis. She graduated from Politecnico di Milano with a complete GPA in Biomedical Engineering in 2021, her master’s thesis investigated the effective connectivity in stroke cases and its alterations during the rehabilitation process. She got her bachelor’s in electronics engineering from Iran University of Science and Technology with honours.
Her research interests are: Neural Engineering, Computational Neuroscience, Motor Network Analysis, EEG, and Brain Connectivity.
Research Assistants
Open Positions in Near Future!
Affiliated Members
Pratheek Kishore
PhD Student (2024-2028)
Pratheek works with Dr Kirk Soodhalter in the School of Mathematics in Trinity College Dublin.
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He works on new EEG source localisation methods.
Alumni
Dr Saroj Bista
Postdoctoral Researcher (sbista@tcd.ie)
Saroj’s research is focused on designing biomarkers of network disruptions in Motor Neurone Diseases using brain waves (EEG) and muscle signals (EMG).
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Saroj has a Master’s Degree in Electronics and Communication Engineering from the Institute of Engineering, Tribhuvan University, Nepal.
Helene Arnold
Research Assistant
Helene completed her undergraduate degree in Biological and Biomedical Sciences with a specialisation in Neuroscience from Trinity College Dublin in 2023.
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During her degree, she conducted research investigating cortical dynamics associated with increased motor function, to progress self-induction and external modulation of corticomotor activity for the purpose of stroke rehabilitation. She focused on an innovative measure of brain activity: the evoked potentials produced by Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS), to understand the neural dynamics associated with various motor abilities. Helene concluded her bachelor’s thesis Neural Mechanisms Underlying Self-regulation of Corticospinal Excitability; a TMS – Evoked Potential (TEP) Pilot Study in the Translational Brain Health Lab under the supervision of Dr. Kathy Ruddy. She has now started as a research assistant in our lab elaborating on how brain, spinal and muscle signals differ in healthy and neurologically motor-impaired individuals.
Yasmine Tadjine
Research Assistant (2020-2023)
Yasmine Tadjine was a research assistant within the NeuroMotor research team in the Academic Unit of Neurology, at Trinity College Dublin.
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She began working in the lab in 2018 when she received a HRB scholarship to carry out clinical research as an undergraduate. Yasmine holds a degree in science from Trinity College Dublin, and she is currently pursuing a degree in medicine at UCD and is due to graduate in 2024. Yasmine works closely with Dr Roisin McMackin, focusing on using transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) to investigate changes in neural networks within the ALS patient cohort. She has presented her work nationally and internationally and is currently funded by the Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis Association (ALSA).
Vladyslav Sirenko
Research Assistant (2019-2022)
Vlad graduated with a BA in Theoretical Physics from Trinity College Dubin in 2018. His interest in applying mathematical methods to real-world problems led him to join the Academic Unit of Neurology from 2019 to 2022 as a research assistant.
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His role on the team was mostly in data science, applying machine learning techniques to EEG data. Research projects included data-driven subphenotyping of ALS patients, exploring techniques for improved prognosis/diagnosis, and investigating novel approaches to break up brain signals into their underlying components.
Dr Kieran Mohr
Research Assistant (2014-2015)
Kieran graduated with a BA in Psychology and Mathematics from Trinity College Dublin in 2014. He joined the Academic Unit of Neurology in June 2014, working as a research assistant until August 2015. In 2016, he completed an MSc in Computational Neuroscience and Cognitive Robotics at the University of Birmingham.
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He began a PhD in Cognitive Neuroscience at University College Dublin in 2016, studying visual cognition using EEG, which he completed in 2020. In 2020, he was a postdoctoral research fellow in the Behavioural Research Unit at the Economic and Social Research Institute, where he studied psychological factors related to household waste management, hot water usage, and the Covid-19 pandemic. In 2022, he was a postdoctoral research fellow at the Cognitive Neural Systems lab at University College Dublin, where he studied visual cognition and decision-making.
Collaborators
Prof. Orla Hardiman
Head, Academic Unit of Neurology/ Principal Investigator
Prof. Hardiman is a science and medical graduate from UCD, and trained in Neurology in Boston. In 2011, she established the Academic Unit of Neurology at Trinity College Dublin.
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She was appointed as a Consultant Neurologist at Beaumont Hospital in 1996, and became a Fellow of Royal College of Physicians in Ireland in 2001. She was appointed the first Professor of Neurology in the country in 2013. In 2015 she was elected as a Fellow of Trinity College Dublin, and a Member of the Royal Irish Academy. She is the recipient of a number of international honours and awards, including the first American Academy of Neurology Palatucci Award for Advocacy in Neurology (2003), the ALSA /American Academy of Neurology Sheila Essay Award in ALS (2009) and the International ALS Alliance Forbes Norris Award (2011). She is an advocate for multidisciplinary care, and the involvement of the voluntary sector in the delivery of services. She established the first Irish specialist multi-disciplinary services for Migraine, Motor Neuron Disease and Multiple Sclerosis providing “one-stop shops” for patients requiring medical, nursing and clinical professional interventions, in addition to access to specialist care coordinators.
Dr Lara McManus
Principal Investigator
Dr. McManus’s current research, funded by the Royal Society, SFI, and the Motor Neurone Disease Association, uses high-density electrode grids to examine the neuroelectric signaling between the brain and motor neurons in ALS.
Prof. Dr.-Ing. Muthuraman Muthuraman
Cahir, Group Leader and Principal Investigator
Prof. Dr.-Ing. Muthuraman is Chair of the Informatics for Medical Technology (University of Augsburg) and Chair of the Neural Engineering with Signal Analytics and Artificial Intelligence (NESA-AI) (University of Würzburg) in Germany.
Dr Kirk Soodhalter
Principal Investigator
Prof. Kirk Soodhalter is an assistant professor of mathematics at Trinity College Dublin in Ireland. He is the former Vice President of the SIAM UK and Ireland Section.