The Knowles Lab Research Team

Juliet Knowles, MD, PhD

Juliet Knowles is Assistant Professor in Neurology at Stanford. Dr. Knowles is a physician-scientist who provides clinical care for children with epilepsy and leads a lab team conducting basic, translational and clinical research on pediatric epilepsy. She completed her M.D. and Ph.D. in Neurosciences at Stanford University, followed by residency training in Pediatrics and Child Neurology at Stanford, where she also served as Chief Resident. Following clinical fellowship training in Pediatric Epilepsy, Dr. Knowles completed post-doctoral research related to myelin plasticity in epilepsy, under the mentorship of Drs. Michelle Monje and John Huguenard. Dr. Knowles is passionate about providing thorough, compassionate and innovative care for her patients, and her overarching goal is to use research as a tool to discover improved therapies for children with epilepsy. She is committed to mentoring the next generation of scientists and clinicians, from undergraduates interested in learning about lab research to medical students, residents and post-doctoral scholars. When she is not in the clinic or the lab, Dr. Knowles loves to spend time with her husband, Josh, and their two children. She also enjoys reading, training and running in marathons, and spending time in the great outdoors of California.

Maria-Belen Perez-Ramirez PhD
Basic Life Research Scientist

Belen is interested in understanding how the brain changes through neurological disorders and how to mitigate these changes. She got her PhD in Biomedical Sciences from the Institute of Cell Physiology at the Autonomous National University of Mexico (UNAM). While studying for her PhD, she also managed clinical human trials combatting an ophthalmologic pathology using neurostimulation, which lead her to move into an R&D role after graduating. Later, she returned to academia to perform postdoctoral studies at Stanford, where she showed that a single episode of neocortical focal status epilepticus leads to chronic morphological and functional changes in mice in the local cortical network and interconnected areas such as the thalamus. Currently, she is interested in identifying mechanisms of epilepsy progression that can be tackled to mitigate the progression in models of generalized epilepsy. Outside the lab, she enjoys dancing, DIY/arts/plant projects, cooking with her daughter, and travelling with her family.

Azin Ebrahim Amini, PhD

Azin earned her PhD in Biomedical Engineering, specializing in Neural Systems, after obtaining her Honours BSc from the University of Toronto. During her doctoral studies, she investigated the role of glial gap junctional coupling, glial membrane potential and ATP in regulating the potassium concentration in the neocortex, mainly during spreading depolarization and in epilepsy animal models. While carrying her projects she has been teaching and mentoring at Universities. In the Knowles lab, she is exploring the neuron-glial interactions that contribute to maladaptive myelination in pediatric epilepsy cases. Azin enjoys spending time with her family, cooking, painting and going into nature.

Kala Nair, PhD

Kala earned an MPhil, and Ph.D. in Neurophysiology from the National Institute of Mental Health and Neurosciences (NIMHANS), India in 2022 after completing a Master's degree in Neuroscience at Madras University. Her doctoral research focused on understanding behavioral and cellular changes in epilepsy with a specific focus on trkB inhibitor and an enriched environment, as treatment strategies to alleviate seizures and associated epilepsy-induced deficits. She is currently exploring how myelin plasticity contributes to seizure progression in Lennox-Gastaut syndrome in the Knowles lab. Outside of the lab, she enjoys hiking and sketching.

Lei Peng, PhD

Lei believes that nature has the answers to most of life's questions. She studied systemic factors in blood for brain rejuvenation and earned her MS in Physiology & Pharmacology from Chang Gung University, Taiwan. Her Neuroscience PhD from University of Southern California focused on preventative and rejuvenant interventions against hippocampal neural stem cell aging. Taken that oligodendrogenesis and myelination have wide windows for plasticity that regulates and can be regulated by brain functions and interventions, Lei is currently investigating the cellular and molecular differences between adaptive and maladaptive myelination to gain deeper insight including for generalized epilepsy. Together, these research directions open avenues to engineer brain health through multiple layers of endogenous brain plasticity. Outside of the lab, Lei enjoys art, movies, dancing, camping, and hiking.

Pierce Popson

Pierce graduated from the University of Houston in 2022 with a B.S. in Biochemical and Biophysical Sciences with minors in Chemistry and Psychology. His previous research experience ranges from the impact of hypoxia on circadian rhythm and the corresponding physiological changes to how cardiovascular exercise is protective of the effects of binge alcohol use on the brain. Inside the lab, Pierce's research is focused on understanding the transcriptomic changes that occur within models of epilepsy in hopes to find new therapeutic targets for the disorder. Outside of the lab, he enjoys hiking, road trips, weightlifting, photography, and bike rides.

Nour Omar

Nour is a Neuroscience PhD student interested in exploring the development of autism and cognitive deficits in pediatric epilepsy. Her research utilizes a diverse array of imaging, molecular, and behavioral techniques in SynGAP mice and patients to better understand developmental time points and the impact that seizures have on them. Nour's ultimate goal is to contribute to the development of therapeutic treatments. She completed her undergraduate studies in Cognitive and Behavioral Neuroscience and Psychology at Virginia Tech, where she investigated the molecular and epigenetic mechanisms underlying fear memory formation in various behavioral paradigms related to PTSD using CRISPR technology. In her free time, she enjoys swimming, volunteering, painting, and traveling with friends and family. 

Cordelia Katharine Lindhard Smidth
Medical student

Cordelia is a medical student from Copenhagen, Denmark, spending a year in the Knowles lab to explore the underlying biological mechanisms of genetic childhood epilepsy. Her research focuses on the severe childhood epilepsy Lennox Gastaut-syndrome, and throughout her time in the lab, she aims to uncover potential personalized treatments, through single-cell transcriptomics and drug repurposing. The analysis is based on brain tissue from a genetic mouse-model of Lennox-Gastaut Syndrome, carrying a GABAA-loss of function gene. To better understand the translatability of findings in the lab, they will be related to a review of the same genetic mutation and its phenotype in a cohort of patients, all suffering from childhood epilepsy. She is essentially interested in uncovering new common denominators across genetic developmental epileptic encephalopathies and hopes to become a physician ,who can bring research results to children who currently lack treatment options.

Jun Young Choi, MD, PhD

Jun earned his M.D. at Ajou University School of Medicine. After medical school graduation, he completed a neurology residency at Ajou University Medical Center. After his residency, he entered a full-time Ph.D. course in neuroscience at the same institution. Jun is an associate professor at the Departments of Brain Science and Neurology at Ajou University School of Medicine. He is an adult epileptologist and glial neurobiologist, exceptionally enthusiastic about oligodendrocyte lineage cells. Jun eagerly wants to converge his expertise during his sabbatical. Jun works as a visiting scholar in the Knowles lab to realize the convergence between his two expertise. His project is to elucidate the role of maladaptive myelination in epileptic seizure progression or epileptogenesis by using primary cultured oligodendrocyte lineage cells and animal models. Outside the lab, he loves spending time with his family, reading novels, and riding bikes.

Giuliana Martinez Albuja

Giuliana is a Stanford undergraduate majoring in Human Biology with a concentration in Neurology and Public Health in Marginalized Communities. As a part of the White Matter LGS project, she’s excited to use MRI analysis to better understand the role of maladaptive myelination in epilepsy. Outside of lab, she enjoys playing guitar, going to the beach, dancing, and exploring the Bay.

Leonardo Andrade (Leo)

Leo is an undergraduate student at Stanford University, majoring in Human Biology with a concentration in Bio-Medical Sciences on Neurodegenerative Disorders. His current work investigates neuron and oligodendrocyte progenitor cells (OPC) synapses. He will expand his knowledge of neurological conditions to help treat patients as a Neurosurgeon later in his career. In his spare time, he likes running around the Bay Area, repairing old cameras, and going out with friends. 

Charlotte Hook

Charlotte is an undergraduate at Stanford majoring in Human Biology with a concentration in Regenerative Medicine and Neuroscience. In the lab she will be involved with research on how myelin plasticity contributes to seizure progression in Lenox-Gastaut syndrome. Outside the lab she is a member of the Stanford Women’s Swim Team and enjoys hiking, traveling, listening to music, and spending time with her friends.

Lena Mikacich

Lena Mikacich is an undergraduate at Stanford majoring in Human Biology with a concentration in Biological and Social Influences on Early Human Development. She is using quantitative MRI analysis on Lennox-Gastaut Syndrome patients to better understand the pathology of maladaptive myelination. She is also assisting with an investigation of keto-amino acids as a novel therapeutic for refractory pediatric epilepsy. Outside of the lab she loves exploring the outdoors, traveling, photography, tennis, and spending time with family and friends.

Mary-Tyler Mosley

Mary-Tyler is an undergraduate at Stanford majoring in Human Biology with a concentration in Neurobiology and Neuroscience.  She is excited to participate in transcriptomic research on maladaptive myelination, which aligns with her interest in the molecular mechanisms of neurological disorders.  Outside (and inside) the lab, she enjoys getting caught up in a good story, dancing not so secretly, and singing anything and everything.

Lour Drick Valsote
Former Undergraduate Research Assistant

Veronica Alonso
Student

Current position: Graduate student, University of Nebraska

Madeline McKean
Life Science Research Assistant

Current position: MD-PhD student, Yale University School of Medicine

Tristan Saucedo
Former Undergraduate Research Assistant

Audrey Yingwei Xu
Former Undergraduate Research Assistant

Sofia Restrepo
Former Undergraduate Research Assistant

Marco Guerra Gonzalez
Former Undergraduate Research Assistant

Ankita Batra
Life Science Research Assistant

Current Position: Rush Medical School, Chicago

Haojun (Lucy) Xu
LIfe Science Research Assistant

Current Position: Post-doctoral scholar, Monje lab, Stanford CA

Sydney Talmi
Life Sciences Research Assistant

Current Position: UC Davis School of Medicine

Jayashri Viswanathan

Current Position: Predoctoral student, Huguenard Lab, Stanford CA