People

Postdoctoral Researchers

Merve Kaptan, PhD
Dr. Merve Kaptan is a researcher with a background in psychology and neuroscience. Her research focuses on corticospinal and spinal fMRI, focusing on methodological innovation and quantitative MRI to improve imaging of the cervical spinal cord for neurological and chronic pain disorders.
 

Joel Fundaun, DPT, PhD
Dr. Joel Fundaun is a researcher and physical therapist specializing in neuropathic pain and neural injury. His work integrates clinical phenotyping, neuroimaging, and human biosamples to ultimately improve the diagnosis and treatment of chronic pain.
 

Eddo Wesselink, PT, MSc, PhD
Dr. Eddo Wesselink's research focuses on muscle health in individuals with musculoskeletal disorders and diseases. By integrating advanced medical imaging with computational and machine-learning approaches, he aims to develop quantitative markers of muscle health and function to improve clinical decision-making and outcomes.
 

Dario Pfyffer, PhD
Dr. Dario Pfyffer's research applies multimodal imaging techniques, including simultaneous spinal cord-brain functional MRI, and psychophysical tasks in the scanner to investigate aberrant sensory and motor processing along the neuroaxis in various chronic pain conditions, such as fibromyalgia, and neurologic disorders. His research goals also include development of structural and functional neuroimaging biomarkers for improved spinal cord injury diagnosis and prognosis of clinical outcomes, including neuropathic pain.
 

Yiyu Wang, PhD
Dr. Yiyu Wang's research combines computational models and neuroimaging techniques to characterize the neural architecture underlying the complex human experiences in emotion and pain. Dr. Wang currently focuses on using deep learning and foundation models to improve chronic pain clinical assessment in an interpretable way to enhance our understanding of pain.
 

Dean Dennis, DC
Dr. Dean Dennis is a chiropractic resident at the Palo Alto Veterans Affairs Health Care System focused on non-pharmaceutical pain management and musculoskeletal care, with an emphasis on evidence-based treatments and interdisciplinary collaboration. He is dedicated to advancing chiropractic care, contributing to research, and improving patient outcomes through patient-centered care.
 

Denna Dashti, DC, MSc
Dr. Denna Dashti is a chiropractor with academic foundations in neuroscience and exercise science and research interests in brain and musculoskeletal health. Her main goal is bridging clinical care with innovation research and enhancing personalized therapeutic interventions.
 

Staff

Nazrawit Berhe
Nazrawit is a Clinical Research Coordinator Associate and planning to attend medical school. Nazrawit aims to bridge gaps in healthcare access and make a meaningful impact on those who cannot afford essential medical services.

Teresa Indriolo
Teresa is a Clinical Research Coordinator Associate and has a strong interest in pain psychology and its intersection with substance use and social disparities. She is working towards attending graduate school to deepen her understanding of pain mechanisms in the hopes of improving treatments for those struggling with chronic pain.

Students

Sandrine Bédard, MSc
Sandrine is a biomedical engineering PhD student at Polytechnique Montréal training with Dr. Julien Cohen-Adad at NeuroPoly. Sandrine's research includes spinal cord image processing, developing new methods for the Spinal Cord Toolbox, and improving spinal cord functional MRI.
 

Sidharth Sreedar
Sidharth is a chiropractic student at Life West Chiropractic College learning clinical knowledge to address disparities in health situations. Sidharth volunteers at his nonprofit, researches human health, and is passionate about manual therapy.
 

Lindsay Lee
Lindsay is an undergraduate student at Stanford, majoring in human biology with a concentration in chronic disease and preventive care. Passionate in quality of care and community intervention, Lindsay hopes to bridge the gap between scholarship, health, and wellbeing.
 

Kerem Ozkan
Kerem is a high school student at Redondo Union High School passionate about human biology and biomedical engineering. Through research, he aims to enhance the body's regenerative processes and improve medical technology, with the goal of making healthcare more accessible to all.
 

Alumni

Valeria Oliva, PhD
Valeria is a Principal Investigator at the Center for Behavioral Sciences and Mental Health in the Istituto Superiore di Sanità. Her research focuses on investigating the neural mechanisms underlying non-pharmacological pain modulation, including techniques such as distraction, mindfulness, and exercise, using brain and spinal cord fMRI.