People


Principal Investigator

Nicolas C. Pégard, Ph.D.

Assistant professor in Applied Physical Sciences,
Affiliated Faculty,  department of Biomedical Engineering
Primary Faculty, Carolina Stress Initiative, UNC Neuroscience Center
Beckman Young Investigator, Sloan Research Fellow in Neurosciences

2014-2018 Postdoc at U.C. Berkeley
2009-2014 Ph.D. Electrical Engineering from Princeton University
2006-2009 B.S. from Ecole Polytechnique

Key Collaborator

Jose Rodríguez-Romaguera, Ph.D. 

Assistant professor in the Department of Psychiatry,
Affiliated Faculty,  department of Applied Physical Sciences
Primary Faculty, Carolina Stress Initiative, UNC Neuroscience Center, Carolina Institute for Developmental Disorders
Brain & Behavior Research Foundation NARSAD Young Investigator

Postdoc at UNC Chapel Hill
PhD in Psychology (Behavioral Neuroscience) from the University of Puerto Rico in Rio Piedras

Postdoctoral Scholars

Geronimo Velazquez-Hernandez, PhD

Email: leon_velazquez@med.unc.edu

2021-Present Postdoc in Neuroscience at the University of North Carolina, USA

2016-2021 Ph.D. in Biomedical Sciences at the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM), Mexico

Graduate Students

Maria Magdalena Ortiz

Email: mariamag@unc.edu

2020-Present Ph.D. Neuroscience at University of North Carolina, USA

2013-2018 B.S. Biology (physiology concentration), San Francisco State University, USA

Changjia Cai

Email: changjia at live.unc.edu

Website: https://sites.google.com/view/changjia

2020-Present Ph.D. in Biomedical Engineering at UNC Chapel Hill and NC State University, USA

2017-2019 M.S. in Statistics and Operations Research at UNC Chapel Hill, USA

2013-2017 B.S. in Physics at Fudan University, China

Research Technicians

Ellora (Ellie) McTaggart

Email: ellora@live.unc.edu

2019-2023 B.S. in Biomedical and Health Sciences Engineering (Neuroscience minor) at UNC-Chapel Hill and NC State University, USA

Undergraduate Students

Hannah Baker

Email: hmbaker@unc.edu

2020-Present B.S. Biomedical and Health Sciences Engineering at UNC-Chapel Hill and NC State University, USA


Micah Baldonado

Email: micahbaldonado@unc.edu

2020-Present B.S. Biomedical and Health Sciences Engineering at UNC-Chapel Hill and NC State University, USA


Lab Alumni

M. Hossein (Hoss) Eybposh, Ph.D.

Current position: Software engineer at Science, Inc. Alameda, CA.

2018-2023 Ph.D. in Biomedical Engineering at the University of North Carolina, USA
Thesis title: "Deep Learning Methods in Computer Generated Holography"

2015-2018 M.Sc. in Biomedical Engineering at Sharif University of Technology, Iran

2009-2014 B.S. in Biomedical Engineering at the University of Isfahan, Iran

Nicholas (Nick) Caira, Ph.D.

Email: Caira@unc.edu

Postdoctoral Research Associate in Applied Physical Sciences

2014-2019 Ph.D. Electrical & Computer Engineering Duke University

2010-2014 B.S. Physics from Boston College

Jiayi Xu

University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Class of 2022

B.S. Computer Science | B.S. Psychology | Neuroscience Minor


Aram Moossavi

University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Class of 2022

B.A. Mathematics

B.S. Statistics and Analytics

 Computer Science Minor


Mathew Atisa

University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Class of 2023

B.S. Computer Science


Andrew Knudsen

University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Class of 2021

B.S. Biomedical Engineering | B.A. in Mathematics | Spanish for the Health Professions Minor

Ross Rucho

University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Class of 2020

B.S. Biomedical Engineering | B.S. Computer Science

Praneeth Chakravarthula

CS Ph.D. Student
Continued with a Postdoc at Princeton with Prof. Felix Heide


Asha Sata

East Chapel Hill High School, 

Continued with undergraduate studies at UNC Chapel Hill



Join our lab!


Check out our open positions or contact us