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Name: Jordan Grafman, Ph.D.

Title: Director, Brain Injury ÐÇ¿Õ´«Ã½ÊÓƵ; Chief, Cognitive Neuroscience Lab

ÐÇ¿Õ´«Ã½ÊÓƵ Interests:

Jordan Grafman, PhD, is director of Brain Injury ÐÇ¿Õ´«Ã½ÊÓƵ and Chief of the Cognitive Neuroscience Laboratory at the Shirley Ryan ÐÇ¿Õ´«Ã½ÊÓƵ (SRALab) and Professor in the Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation. Before joining the SRALab, Dr. Grafman was Chief of the Cognitive Neuroscience Laboratory at the National Institute Neurological Disorders and Stroke for several decades.  His investigation of brain function and behavior has contributed to advances in medicine, rehabilitation, and psychology, and informs ethics, law, philosophy, and health policy.  His study of the human prefrontal cortex and cognitive neuroplasticity incorporates neuroimaging and genetics, an approach that is expanding our knowledge of the impact of traumatic brain injury (TBI), as well as other diseases that impair brain function, such as stroke and neurodegenerative diseases (e.g., frontotemporal degeneration). Dr. Grafman has authored more than 600 research publications, was co-editor of the journal Cortex, .  He is the Editor-in-Chief of the second edition of the Encyclopedia of the Human Brain. His research impact factor of 148 is among the highest at Northwestern University. As noted above, while at the National Institutes of Health, he served as chief of the Cognitive Neuroscience Section at the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke.  While in the US Air Force, he served at Walter Reed Army Medical Center as neuropsychology chief of the Vietnam Head Injury Study (VHIS), a long-term study of more than 500 soldiers with TBI suffered in combat. Dr. Grafman assumed leadership of the study since 1990. He is the world¡¯s leading expert on the long-term effects of penetrating brain injuries in military personnel. His expertise includes the scope of challenges faced during recovery, including behavioral changes like aggression, late sequelae such as seizures, the impact of TBI on the onset of late-life neurodegenerative disorders, and the impact on TBI on family life and employment, and legal implications.  He is an elected fellow of the American Psychological Association and the New York Academy of Sciences. Dr. Grafman is the recipient of many prestigious awards including the Department of Defense Meritorious Service Award, the National Institutes of Health Award of Merit, 2010 National Institutes of Health Director¡¯s Award, and the Humboldt ÐÇ¿Õ´«Ã½ÊÓƵ Award from Germany. His expert opinion is often sought by national media on issues related to brain function and behavior, traumatic brain injury, cognitive rehabilitation, and policy and legal issues related to brain-behavior research.  

ÐÇ¿Õ´«Ã½ÊÓƵ Topics: 

• Understanding the brain bases of belief including religious belief and the relationship of beliefs to other aspects of behavior like social cognition in order to determine whether such beliefs can also facilitate brain functioning in older adults.
• Identifying the brain networks supporting reward and reinforcement in order to develop interventions to facilitate recovery of function.

 PubMed link: 

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Name:  Arianna Vecchio, Ph.D.

Title: Postdoctoral fellow at Cognitive Neuroscience Laboratory, Think + Speak Lab, Shirley Ryan ÐÇ¿Õ´«Ã½ÊÓƵ

ÐÇ¿Õ´«Ã½ÊÓƵ Interests:

Dr. Vecchio is a Post-Doctoral Fellow in cognitive neuroscience with a neuropsychological background. Dr. Vecchio's current research, using EEG, focuses on enhancing our understanding of the brain bases of altruistic behavior and the relationship of altruism to reward and reinforcement.  In addition, using lesion mapping methods, she is examining which brain areas are crucial for the successful self-monitoring of behavior.

Google Scholar link:

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Name: Adriano da Silva Costa, Ph.D. 

Title: Postdoctoral ÐÇ¿Õ´«Ã½ÊÓƵer

ÐÇ¿Õ´«Ã½ÊÓƵ Interests:

• The Brain Bases of Miracles and Supernatural Beliefs
• Religious and Miracles Belief 

PubMed publications: 

Sugano, V. T., da Silva Costa, A., Rizzo, M. B., & Junior, C. E. B. (2025). Laughter as a Subject and a Tool for Interdisciplinary Investigations in Philosophy and Neuroscience. European Journal of Neuroscience, 62(4), e70242.

da Silva Costa A, Gaspar R. Two Sizes May Fit All: Promoting Healthier Choices Through Regulatory Fit in Risk Communications. Recent Pat Food Nutr Agric. 2018;9(2):97-103. doi: 10.2174/2212798410666180702101954. PMID: 29962354.

Other Publications:

de Oliveira Maraldi, E., Costa, A., Cunha, A., Flores, D., Hamazaki, E., de Queiroz, G. P., ... & Reichow, J. (2021). Cultural presentations of dissociation: The case of possession trance experiences. Journal of Trauma & Dissociation, 22(1), 11-16.

de Oliveira Maraldi, E., Costa, A., Cunha, A. et al. Social Support, Help-Seeking Behaviors, and Positive/Negative Affect Among Individuals Reporting Mediumship Experiences. Int J Lat Am Relig 7, 1¨C16 (2023). 

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Name: Meenakshi Rozenstrauch (Das Lala), M.S.

Title: Lab Manager, ÐÇ¿Õ´«Ã½ÊÓƵ Associate

ÐÇ¿Õ´«Ã½ÊÓƵ Interests:

•  mTBI with a focus on reward and reinforcement.
• Diffusion tensor imaging and neurocognitive testing.
• Supporting the ethical and responsible conduct of research by guiding studies through IRB, regulatory, and compliance processes. Focus on helping investigators meet institutional and federal standards while fostering a smooth and transparent research experience.

PubMed publications: 

1. Akyuz N, Kekatpure MV, Liu J, Sheinkopf SJ, Quinn BT, Lala MD, Kennedy D, Makris N, Lester BM, Kosofsky BE. Structural brain imaging in children and adolescents following prenatal cocaine exposure: preliminary longitudinal findings. Dev Neurosci. 2014;36(3-4):316-28. doi: 10.1159/000362685. Epub 2014 Jul 1. PMID: 24994509; PMCID: PMC4125447.
    
2. Kim, J., Srinivasan, A., Seoane, T., Di Franco, A., Peskin, C. S., McQueen, D. M., Paul, T. K., Feher, A., Geevarghese, A., Rozenstrauch, M., Devereux, R. B., & Weinsaft, J. W. (2016). Echocardiographic Linear Dimensions for Assessment of Right Ventricular Chamber Volume as Demonstrated by Cardiac Magnetic Resonance. Journal of the American Society of Echocardiography : official publication of the American Society of Echocardiography, 29(9), 861¨C870.
    
3. Kim, J., Di Franco, A., Seoane, T., Srinivasan, A., Kampaktsis, P. N., Geevarghese, A., Goldburg, S. R., Khan, S. A., Szulc, M., Ratcliffe, M. B., Levine, R. A., Morgan, A. E., Maddula, P., Rozenstrauch, M., Shah, T., Devereux, R. B., & Weinsaft, J. W. (2016). Right Ventricular Dysfunction Impairs Effort Tolerance Independent of Left Ventricular Function Among Patients Undergoing Exercise Stress Myocardial Perfusion Imaging. Circulation. Cardiovascular imaging, 9(11), e005115.
    
4. Nimali Jayasinghe, Martha A. Sparks, Kaori Kato, Katarzyna Wyka, Kaitlyn Wilbur, Gabrielle Chiaramonte, Philip S. Barie, Mark S. Lachs, Michael O'Dell, Arthur Evans, Martha L. Bruce, JoAnn Difede, Posttraumatic stress symptoms in older adults hospitalized for fall injury, General Hospital Psychiatry, Volume 36, Issue 6,2014,Pages 669-673,ISSN 0163-8343,

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Name: Shira Cohen-Zimerman, Ph.D.

Title: ÐÇ¿Õ´«Ã½ÊÓƵ Scientist and ÐÇ¿Õ´«Ã½ÊÓƵ Assistant Professor of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation

ÐÇ¿Õ´«Ã½ÊÓƵ Interests:

I study the neural mechanisms that shape cognition and behavior, with a particular focus on how these systems are disrupted after brain injury. My goal is to translate this knowledge into targeted interventions that enhance recovery and long-term cognitive outcomes.

Current projects:

Using tVNS to enhance cognitive recovery after TBI
In this study, we investigate whether transcutaneous vagus nerve stimulation (tVNS) can strengthen cognitive processes affected by traumatic brain injury. We combine stimulation with behavioral assessments to evaluate its potential as a scalable rehabilitation tool.

Measuring patient engagement in rehabilitation
This project focuses on developing and validating measures of patient engagement to better understand how motivation, effort, and emotional factors influence rehabilitation outcomes. By capturing engagement more accurately, we aim to improve both clinical decision-making and treatment effectiveness.

Treating brain fog in individuals with Long COVID
This project tests targeted interventions designed to improve attention, memory, and everyday functioning for individuals experiencing Long COVID¨Crelated brain fog.

PubMed link: 

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Name: Ekaterina Delikishkina, Ph.D.

Title: Postdoctoral Fellow

ÐÇ¿Õ´«Ã½ÊÓƵ Interests: At the CNL lab, Dr. Delikishkina contributes to several interdisciplinary projects, exploring the relationship between brain function, genetics and behavior. Her recent works include a study of the interaction between prefrontal cortex lesions and OXTR genotype in shaping altruistic behavior and an NIH-supported clinical trial of acute intermittent hypoxia as a potential treatment for chronic traumatic brain injury. She is currently heading two fMRI projects, exploring the neural bases of attachment to God and belief in miracles.

PubMed Link: Cristofori, I., Cohen-Zimerman, S., Krueger, F., Jabbarinejad, R., Delikishkina, E., Gordon, B., Beuriat, P.-A., & Grafman, J. (2024). Studying the social mind: An updated summary of findings from the Vietnam Head Injury Study. Cortex, 174, 164¨C188.&²Ô²ú²õ±è;.

Delikishkina, E., Cohen-Zimerman, S., Kachian, Z. R., Krueger, F., Gordon, B., & Grafman, J. (2023). Understanding altruistic behavior: The joint role of prefrontal damage and OXTR genotype. Neuropsychologia, 190, 108686. .

Delikishkina, E., Lingnau, A., & Miceli, G. (2020). Neural correlates of object and action naming practice. Cortex, 131, 87¨C102.&²Ô²ú²õ±è;.

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Name: Suvarna Badhe, M.B.B.S

Title: ÐÇ¿Õ´«Ã½ÊÓƵ Associate

ÐÇ¿Õ´«Ã½ÊÓƵ Interests:

• Functional MRI and Resting state fMRI in religious vs non-religious people
• Applications of deep-learning and radiomics in radiodiagnosis.

PubMed publications: 

1. Badhe S, Nivins S, Kulkarni P, Jose A, Manek D, Badhe S, Sane H, Gokulchandran N, Badhe P, Sharma A. ¡°Abnormal Development of the Corpus Callosum in Autism Spectrum Disorder: An MRI Study.¡± Topics in Magnetic Resonance Imaging. 2024 Jun 4;33(3):e0312.  
    
2. Wu Y, Iorga M, Badhe S, Zhang J, Cantrell DR, Tanhehco EJ, Szrama N, Naidech AM, Drakopoulos M, Hasan ST, Patel KM, Hijaz TA, Russell EJ, Lalvani S, Adate A, Parrish TB, Katsaggelos AK, Hill VB. ¡°Precise Image-level Localization of Intracranial Hemorrhage on Head CT Scans with Deep Learning Models Trained on Study-level Labels.¡± Radiol Artif Intell. 2024 Nov;6(6):e230296.
    
3. Kumar A, Jha AK, Agarwal JP, Yadav M, Badhe S, Sahay A, Epari S, Sahu A, Bhattacharya K, Chatterjee A, Ganeshan B, Rangarajan V, Moyiadi A, Gupta T, Goda JS. ¡°Machine-Learning-Based Radiomics for Classifying Glioma Grade from Magnetic Resonance Images of the Brain.¡± J Pers Med. 2023 May 30;13(6):920
    
4. Nathan W. Kong, William R. Gibb, Suvarna Badhe, Benjamin P. Liu, Matthew C. Tate, ¡°Plasticity of the Primary Motor Cortex in Patients with Primary Brain Tumors¡± Neural Plasticity, Volume 2020.