Principal Investigator
Dr. Beth Costine-Bartell, PhD
Assistant Professor
Department of Neurosurgery, Harvard Medical School
Assistant in Neuroscience
Department of Neurosurgery, MassGeneral Brigham
Co-Chair, Subcommittee on Animal Resources
Executive Committee on Research, Massachusetts General Hospital
After my postdoctoral fellowship in basic neuroscience studying the effect of steroids on GABAergic signaling in the hypothalamus (Dr. Leslie P Henderson, PhD, Dartmouth Medical School), I had the unique experience of spending several years training with a pediatric neurosurgeon specializing in abusive head trauma (Dr. Ann-Christine Duhaime, MD), a pediatric anesthesiologist (Dr. Carter Dodge, MD), a pediatrician specializing in child abuse (Dr. Alice Newton, MD), a pediatric neurologist (Dr. Kevin Staley, MD), and a forensic pediatric neuropathologist (Dr. Declan McGuone, MD) learning hands on skills in anesthesia and surgery, participating in neurosurgery trauma conferences, enrolling patients in TRACK-TBI, and performing autopsies, including infant homicide cases from abusive head injury, at the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner, New York City. I have spent 30 years in large animal models with the last 16 years in large animal models of traumatic brain injury. I seek to create large animal models to ask big questions and to train the next generation of traumatic brain injury scientists.
Staff
Dr. Nelson Marquez, DVM, Research Technologist
- Surgeon, anesthesia
- Manager of “Changes in the Ionic Basis of GABAergic Inhibition that Contribute to Post-Traumatic Epilepsy” Surgical Core
- Instructor of anesthesia, surgery, and animal procedures
Dr. Alexandra Hochstetler, PhD, Postdoctoral Fellow
- Co-mentored with Maria Lehtinen, Boston Children’s Hospital
- F32 Awardee, “Role of Choroid Plexus Autotaxin Secretion in Hemorrhage-Induced White Matter Injury“
- Surgeon, anesthesia
- Manager of “Gene Therapy of Intraventricular Hemorrhage-Induced Hydrocephalus”
- Project director, Acute cation-chloride co-transporter disruption following severe TBI in the developing gyrencephalic brain, “Identifying potential therapeutic targets for abusive head trauma“
Marco Pretell, MS, Data Engineer
- Project director- EEG analysis, “A Biofidelic Model of Post-Traumatic Epilepsy“.
- Project director machine learning to identify epileptic behaviors, “A Biofidelic Model of Post-Traumatic Epilepsy“.
- Modernizing lab data flow & code.
Alejandro Escobosa, BS, Research Technician
- Manager of “Identifying potential therapeutic targets for abusive head trauma” Surgeries and intensive care unit
- Manager, convulsion screening for “Changes in the Ionic Basis of GABAergic Inhibition that Contribute to Post-Traumatic Epilepsy” Surgical Core
- Project director of measuring areas of subarachnoid hemorrhage and subdural hemorrhage, “Identifying potential therapeutic targets for abusive head trauma”
- Machine learning to identify epileptic behaviors, “A Biofidelic Model of Post-Traumatic Epilepsy“.
- EEG analysis for, “A Biofidelic Model of Post-Traumatic Epilepsy“.
- Veterinary technician for “Changes in the Ionic Basis of GABAergic Inhibition that Contribute to Post-Traumatic Epilepsy” Surgical Core
- ICU Team lead, surgeon, anesthesia
Veronica Rodrigues Sendao, MS, Research Technican
- “Long-term histopathological changes after Traumatic Brain Injury in swine that did or did not develop post-traumatic epilepsy” for a Biofidelic Model of Post-Traumatic Epilepsy.
- Veterinary technician for “Changes in the Ionic Basis of GABAergic Inhibition that Contribute to Post-Traumatic Epilepsy” Surgical Core
- Veterinary technician for “Identifying potential therapeutic targets for abusive head trauma”
- ICU Team lead, surgeon, anesthesia
Graduate Students
Tawny Stinson, Medical Student, Harvard Medical School
- ICU Team Lead, on call veterinary technician, surgeon, anesthesia
- Investigating the potential harmful effect of anti-seizure medications in the context of seizure and severe TBI.
- Tissue damage analysis “Identifying potential therapeutic targets for abusive head trauma”
- Biomarkers of cardiac injury, “Identifying potential therapeutic targets for abusive head trauma”
Caitlyn Smith, Medical Student, University of Missouri School of Medicine
- Neurosurgery Research Education Foundation Medical Student, 2025 Research Fellowship Grant
- “Identifying potential therapeutic targets for abusive head trauma”
Georgios Zampetakis, Master’s Student, Maastricht University, Netherlands. Research Master Cognitive and Clinical Neuroscience (Specialization in Neuropsychology)
- Machine learning to identify epileptic behaviors, “A Biofidelic Model of Post-Traumatic Epilepsy“.
Post-Baccalaureate Students
Mariana I. Gonzalez Rodriguez, Boston University School of Medicine
ICU Team Lead for “Identifying potential therapeutic targets for abusive head trauma“
Waizo Chen
- Convulsion screening for “Changes in the Ionic Basis of GABAergic Inhibition that Contribute to Post-Traumatic Epilepsy” Surgical Core
- Veterinary technician assistant “Changes in the Ionic Basis of GABAergic Inhibition that Contribute to Post-Traumatic Epilepsy” Surgical Core
- Intensive care assistant for “Identifying potential therapeutic targets for abusive head trauma“
Gayathri Vijayaraghavan
- Tissue damage analysis “Identifying potential therapeutic targets for abusive head trauma”
- Veterinary technician assistant “Changes in the Ionic Basis of GABAergic Inhibition that Contribute to Post-Traumatic Epilepsy” Surgical Core
- Intensive care assistant for “Identifying potential therapeutic targets for abusive head trauma“
Undergraduate Interns
Aarush Patnala, Tufts University
- ICU Team Lead for Identifying potential therapeutic targets for abusive head trauma”
- Project director of EEG and spreading depolarization analysis “Identifying potential therapeutic targets for abusive head trauma” and “A Biofidelic Model of Post-Traumatic Epilepsy“.
- Machine learning to identify epileptic behaviors, “A Biofidelic Model of Post-Traumatic Epilepsy“.
- EEG analysis for “A Biofidelic Model of Post-Traumatic Epilepsy“.
- Biomarkers of cardiac injury for Identifying potential therapeutic targets for abusive head trauma”
Trevor Kim, Tufts University
- ICU Team Lead for Identifying potential therapeutic targets for abusive head trauma”
- Project director for tissue damage analysis “Identifying potential therapeutic targets for abusive head trauma”
- convulsion screening for “Changes in the Ionic Basis of GABAergic Inhibition that Contribute to Post-Traumatic Epilepsy” Surgical Core
- Intern manager
Andrew Schwalb, Tufts University
- Measuring areas of subarachnoid hemorrhage and subdural hemorrhage for Identifying potential therapeutic targets for abusive head trauma”
- Convulsion screening”Changes in the Ionic Basis of GABAergic Inhibition that Contribute to Post-Traumatic Epilepsy” Surgical Core
- machine learning to identify epileptic behaviors for “A Biofidelic Model of Post-Traumatic Epilepsy“.
- Intensive care assistant for Identifying potential therapeutic targets for abusive head trauma“
Gabrielle Delinsky, Tufts University
- ICU team lead for Identifying potential therapeutic targets for abusive head trauma“
- EEG analysis for Identifying potential therapeutic targets for abusive head trauma”
Arihant Patel, Boston University
- Tissue damage analysis “Identifying potential therapeutic targets for abusive head trauma”
- Intensive care assistant for Identifying potential therapeutic targets for abusive head trauma”
Hannah Merritt, Tufts University
- Assistant manager- Tissue damage analysis “Identifying potential therapeutic targets for abusive head trauma”
- Intensive care assistant for “Identifying potential therapeutic targets for abusive head trauma“
Rayen Ghandi , Boston University
- Convulsion screening”Changes in the Ionic Basis of GABAergic Inhibition that Contribute to Post-Traumatic Epilepsy” Surgical Core
- Intensive care assistant for “Identifying potential therapeutic targets for abusive head trauma“
Justinne Domini Viktoria Nobleza Quinanola, Framingham State University
- Convulsion screening”Changes in the Ionic Basis of GABAergic Inhibition that Contribute to Post-Traumatic Epilepsy” Surgical Core
- Intensive care assistant for “Identifying potential therapeutic targets for abusive head trauma“
Camila Saporta, Tufts University
- Tissue damage analysis “Identifying potential therapeutic targets for abusive head trauma”
- Intensive care assistant for “Identifying potential therapeutic targets for abusive head trauma“
Chloe’-Masseny Bakayoko, Brandeis University
- Recipient of The Hiatt Career Center’s World of Work (WOW) Fellowship
- Intensive care assistant for “Identifying potential therapeutic targets for abusive head trauma“
- Tissue damage analysis “Identifying potential therapeutic targets for abusive head trauma”
The MGH Brain Trauma Lab
MGH Neurosciences
Department of Neurosurgery, Massachusetts General Hospital
Department of Neurosurgery, Harvard Medical School
