Index:
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Sophia Girgenti
Sophia joined Marsh Lab in June of 2019 as an undergraduate student at Johns Hopkins University. She began her lab work by adding substantial data to the comprehensive stroke database and aiding fellow lab member Claire Chen on her project. She graduated in December 2021 with a BS in Neuroscience and minor in psychology. She is now pursuing a masters degree in Neuroscience at Hopkins, while working as the lab’s research coordinator since June 2021. Sophia ran the Mindfulness study, investigating whether or not Mindfulness therapy is more effective in stroke recovery than a standardized stroke support group through patient performance and MEG imaging. During her gap year, she spent 6 months in Madrid acting as the liaison for Marsh Lab’s multicenter study on Vascular Dementia, learning how to analyze MEG imaging using Brainstorm with the C3N Lab at the Universidad Compultense de Madrid. She is sad to be leaving the Marsh lab after more than 5 years but excited to start medical school at the University of Illinois College of Medicine in Chicago this fall.
Publications
Chen C, Girgenti S, Marsh EB. When less is more: Non-contrast head CT alone to work-up hypertensive intracerebral hemorrhage. J Clinical Neuroscience. 2022 Jun;100:108-112. doi: 10.1016/j.jocn.2022.04.006. Click to read article
Marsh, E.B., Girgenti, S., Llinas, E.J. et al. Outcomes in Patients with Minor Stroke: Diagnosis and Management in the Post-thrombectomy Era. Neurotherapeutics (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13311-023-01349-5 Click to read article
Girgenti, Sophia G. BS; Brunson, Autumn O. BS; Marsh, Elisabeth B. MD. Baseline Function and Rehabilitation Are as Important as Stroke Severity as Long-term Predictors of Cognitive Performance Post-stroke. American Journal of Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation 102(2S):p S43-S50, February 2023. | DOI: 10.1097/PHM.0000000000002125 Click to read article
Soleimani S, Dallasta I, Das P, Kulasingham JP, Girgenti S, Simon JZ, Babadi B, Marsh EB. Altered directional functional connectivity underlies post-stroke cognitive recovery. Brain communications 2023;5(3). Click to read article
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Robert Stowell-Campos
Robert joined the lab in January of 2022. He attends Johns Hopkins University as an undergrad in his third year and plans to graduate in the spring of 2024 with a bachelors and masters degree, as he was recently accepted into the 4-year B.S./M.S. Neuroscience program. Right now he is designing a study to investigate the treatment of post-stroke neuropathic pain through the use of Scrambler Therapy.
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Wura Obasanjo
An undergraduate at Johns Hopkins University, Wura is pursuing a degree in in Neuroscience with a minor in Spanish for the Professions. She plans to graduate in the spring of 2024. Wura began working in the lab this past summer in 2021, and she is currently creating a project to investigate the effects of physical activity on cognitive recovery.
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Martina Gjyzari
Martina joined the lab in June of 2021 and graduated from Johns Hopkins University in December 2022 with a degree in neuroscience and a minor in psychology. She now works full-time at the Med Campus, while working on a project investigating how patients’ perception impacts their recovery.
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Annie Yang
Annie is an undergraduate student at Johns Hopkins University, pursuing a BS in Neuroscience with a minor in psychology. She plans to graduate in 2023. Annie assisted fellow lab member Julie Yi with data collection for her project on Post-Stroke Depression. She is currently working on a project comparing ischemic and hemorrhagic stroke recovery.
Publications
Yi, J., Lu, J., Yang, A. et al. In-hospital predictors of post-stroke depression for targeted initiation of Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors (SSRIs). BMC Psychiatry 22, 722 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12888-022-04378-0 Click to Read Article
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Justin Lu
Justin is studying Neuroscience at Johns Hopkins University with a minor in Psychology on the pre-medical career track. He is a junior planning on graduating in 2023. Justin contributed substantial data collection to fellow lab member Julie Yi’s project on Post-Stroke Depression, and he is currently working on a project analyzing the differences in recovery between ischemic and hemorrhagic strokes of the same size and location.
Publications
Yi, J., Lu, J., Yang, A. et al. In-hospital predictors of post-stroke depression for targeted initiation of Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors (SSRIs). BMC Psychiatry 22, 722 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12888-022-04378-0 Click to Read Article
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Zohra Ahmed
Zohra is currently a senior attending Notre Dame of Maryland University. She became a member of Marsh lab in August of 2022 and is investigating the effects of stroke on lipid levels. She graduated with a bachelors in psychology and minor in biology in May 2023 and has since started Medical School A.T. Still University Osteopathic Medical School in August 2023.
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Julie Yi
Julie earned her undergraduate degree at Duke University, where she graduated in 2016 with a BS in Chemistry. Julie began working in Marsh Lab in the fall of 2021 and is currently a forth year medical student at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine. She is on track to graduate with her MD in May 2022. Julie recently finished a project titled, “Inpatient Predictive Factors for Post-Stroke Depression for Targeting Initiation of SSRIs”. This spring, she presented her findings at the International Stroke Conference (ISC) and the American Academy of Neurology (AAN).
Publications
Yi, J., Lu, J., Yang, A. et al. In-hospital predictors of post-stroke depression for targeted initiation of Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors (SSRIs). BMC Psychiatry 22, 722 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12888-022-04378-0 Click to Read Article
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Teddy Llinas
Teddy began working in the Marsh lab in the summer of 2018. He has worked on several projects including studying the timing of symptomatic hemorrhage after treatment with IV tPA, the utility of 24 hour CT scans, and the role of transcranial direct-current stimulation (tDCS) on stroke recovery. Teddy graduated with distinction in biology from Duke University in May of 2022; he will begin medical school in the fall of 2023.
Publication
Chang A, Llinas EJ, Chen K, Llinas RH, Marsh EB. Shorter intensive care unit stays?: The majority of post-intravenous tPA (tissue-type plasminogen activator) symptomatic hemorrhages occur within 12 hours of treatment. Stroke 2018;49(6):1521-1524. Click to read article
Marsh, E.B., Girgenti, S., Llinas, E.J. et al. Outcomes in Patients with Minor Stroke: Diagnosis and Management in the Post-thrombectomy Era. Neurotherapeutics (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13311-023-01349-5 Click to read article
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Sheena Khan, M.S.
Sheena graduated from SMU in 2018 with a Bachelor of Science in Health & Society and a Bachelor of Arts in Spanish. She investigated if the need for intensive monitoring after tPA treatment is necessary for all patients and is currently evaluating the use of telemedicine in clinical care. In 2020, she completed her Master of Science in Biotechnology as part of the Health Science Intensive program at Johns Hopkins University. Sheena worked as the lab’s research coordinator through May 2021 before starting medical school at the UAB School of Medicine.
Publications
Khan S, Soto A, Marsh EB. Resource Allocation: Stable Patients Remain Stable 12-24 h Post-tPA. Neurocrit Care. 2020 Oct;33(2):582-586. doi: 10.1007/s12028-019-00889-z. PMID: 31820292. Click to read article
Gweh D, Khan S, Pelletier L, Tariq N, Llinas RH, Caplan J, Marsh EB. The Post-Pipeline Headache: New Headaches Following Flow Diversion for Intracranial Aneurysm. J Vasc Interv Neurol. 2020 Jan;11(1):34-39. PMID: 32071670; PMCID: PMC6998808. Click to read article
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Nemah Saeed
Nemah worked as a student volunteer during the 2021-2022 school year and helped with quality improvement data collection. She attended Notre Dame of Maryland University, where she studied psychology on the pre-med track.
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Elma Chowdhury, B.S.
Elma worked with the Marsh Lab as an undergraduate student at Johns Hopkins University majoring in Neuroscience with a focus in Cognitive Neuroscience. She evaluated the differences in in-patient and out-patient outcomes for individuals post-stroke who are placed on single versus dual antiplatelet therapy. She began her work with the lab in September of 2019 and graduated as part of the class of 2021. Elma recently presented her work at the 2022 American Academy of Neurology Conference in Seattle, WA.
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Claire Chen, B.S.
Claire graduated from Johns Hopkins University with a BS in Neuroscience, as well as a BS in Molecular and Cellular Biology. She joined the Marsh lab in 2019 and began her work by contributing to the comprehensive stroke database on ischemic and hemorrhagic strokes. Later, she investigated the predictability of non-contrast head CTs in determining hypertensive hemorrhages. Claire attending Medical School at Tuffs University.
Publication
Chen C, Girgenti S, Marsh EB. When less is more: Non-contrast head CT alone to work-up hypertensive intracerebral hemorrhage. J Clinical Neuroscience. 2022 Jun;100:108-112. doi: 10.1016/j.jocn.2022.04.006. Click to read article
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Rebecca Lin, B.A.
Rebecca completed her undergraduate studies at Johns Hopkins University double majoring in “Cognitive Science” and “Medicine, Science, and the Humanities” and minoring in “Spanish for the Professions.” In the Marsh Lab, she investigated prosody through singing and evaluating whether it would be an effective method to detect right hemisphere stroke. She began working at the Marsh lab in August 2018, graduated from Johns Hopkins in December 2019, and is currently in medical school at the Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis.
Publication
Lin RZ and Marsh EB. Abnormal singing can identify patients with right hemisphere cortical strokes at risk for impaired prosody. Medicine. 2021;100(23):e26280. Click to read article
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Dania Mallick, M.B.B.S., M.S.P.H.
Dania graduated from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health with a master of science in public health degree in the spring of 2019. She has previously graduated from medical school from the Aga Khan University. She began working at the Marsh lab in September 2018 and began her residency in neurology at Michigan State University in June of 2020.
Publications
Merbach D, Lawrence E, Mallick D, Marsh EB. A Therapeutic International Normalized Ratio Results in Smaller Infarcts and Better Outcomes for Patients with Ischemic Stroke. J Stroke Cerebrovasc Dis. 2019 Oct;28(10):104278. doi: 10.1016/j.jstrokecerebrovasdis.2019.06.036. Epub 2019 Jul 17. PMID: 31326271.
Marsh EB, Brodbeck C, Llinas RH, Mallick D, Kulasingham JP, Simon JZ, Llinás RR. Poststroke acute dysexecutive syndrome, a disorder resulting from minor stroke due to disruption of network dynamics. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2020 Dec 29;117(52):33578-33585. doi: 10.1073/pnas.2013231117. Epub 2020 Dec 14. PMID: 33318200; PMCID: PMC7776947.
Sharma R, Mallick D, Llinas RH, Marsh EB. Early Post-stroke Cognition: In-hospital Predictors and the Association With Functional Outcome. Front Neurol. 2020 Dec 23;11:613607. doi: 10.3389/fneur.2020.613607. PMID: 33424761; PMCID: PMC7787003.
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Alexandria Soto, B.S., B.A.
Alex conducted research with the Marsh Lab while completing her undergraduate degrees in Neuroscience and Medical Humanities at Johns Hopkins. During this time, she investigated the relationship between changes on nailbed capillaroscopy and degree of white matter disease on MRI in patients with cerebrovascular disease. Additionally, she evaluated the necessity of 24-hour recourse-intensive monitoring in patients receiving IV-tPA. After graduation, Alex spent two years working as a postgraduate research associate with Yale’s Division of Neurocritical Care and Emergency Neurology. She now attends Duke University School of Medicine where she is set to graduate in 2025.
Publication
Khan S, Soto A, Marsh EB. Resource Allocation: Stable Patients Remain Stable 12-24 h Post-tPA. Neurocrit Care. 2020 Oct;33(2):582-586. doi: 10.1007/s12028-019-00889-z. PMID: 31820292. Click to read article
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Adam Chang, B.S.
Adam began doing research with the Marsh lab in the summer of 2017 as a student at Johns Hopkins University. His first project examined the need for ICU monitoring after treatment with intravenous tissue plasminogen activator (IV tPA). Treatment with IV tPA may result in symptomatic intracranial hemorrhage, a life-threatening complication. The current standard of care places these patients under 24 hours of ICU monitoring post-treatment, which is resource-intensive. Results of the study showed that the majority of sICH occurred within the first few hours of treatment, and that 24 hours of ICU monitoring may not be required for most patients. His second project studied the effects of IV tPA on the conversion of proximal large-vessel occlusions, and the effects that this has on intra-arterial thrombectomy, a catheter clot removal procedure, as well as overall clinical outcomes.
Adam graduated from Johns Hopkins University in 2019 and is currently attending medical school at UVA School of Medicine.
Publications
Chang A, Llinas EJ, Chen K, Llinas RH, Marsh EB. Shorter intensive care unit stays?: The majority of post-intravenous tPA (tissue-type plasminogen activator) symptomatic hemorrhages occur within 12 hours of treatment. Stroke 2018;49(6):1521-1524. Click to read article
Chang A, Beheshtian E, Llinas EJ, Idowu OR, Marsh EB. Intravenous Tissue Plasminogen Activator in Combination With Mechanical Thrombectomy: Clot Migration, Intracranial Bleeding, and the Impact of "Drip and Ship" on Effectiveness and Outcomes. Front Neurol. 2020 Dec 9;11:585929. doi: 10.3389/fneur.2020.585929. PMID: 33424741; PMCID: PMC7794010.
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Karen Chen, B.A.
Karen started out doing research in the Marsh lab as an undergraduate for two summers in 2014 and 2016. She graduated from Case Western Reserve University with her Bachelors of Arts in Biology and Psychology in 2017, and is now attending medical school at Penn State College of Medicine.
Her first project examined the added utility of CTA in assessing dizzy patients for posterior circulation ischemia. Results showed that the presence of calcium on CTA does not significantly increase the ability to predict stroke; a vascular risk assessment and neurological exam should remain the standard evaluation for risk-stratifying ischemia in dizzy patients. Her second study investigated the factors associated with post-stroke fatigue and how they evolve from the early to chronic phases of recovery.
Publications
Chang A, Llinas EJ, Chen K, Llinas RH, Marsh EB. Shorter intensive care unit stays?: The majority of post-intravenous tPA (tissue-type plasminogen activator) symptomatic hemorrhages occur within 12 hours of treatment. Stroke 2018;49(6):1521-1524. Click to read article
Marsh EB, Lawrence E, Hillis AE, Chen K, Gottesman RF, Llinas RH. Pre-stroke employment results in better patient-reported outcomes after minor stroke. Clinical Neurology and Neurosurgery 2018;165:38-42. Click to read article
Chen K, Schneider ALC, Llinas RH, Marsh EB. Keep it simple: vascular risk factors and focal exam findings correctly identify posterior circulation ischemia in “dizzy” patients. BMC Emergency Medicine 2016;16(1):8-16. Click to read article
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Demitre Gweh, B.S.
Demitre began working in the Marsh lab in November 2017 and graduated from Johns Hopkins University with a B.S. in Neuroscience in 2018. In the lab, Demitre assessed the prevalence of headaches in patients following aneurysm procedures.
Publication
Gweh D, Khan S, Pelletier L, Tariq N, Llinas RH, Caplan J, Marsh EB. The Post-Pipeline Headache: New Headaches Following Flow Diversion for Intracranial Aneurysm. J Vasc Interv Neurol. 2020 Jan;11(1):34-39. PMID: 32071670; PMCID: PMC6998808. Click to read article
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Courtney Whilden, B.S.
Courtney worked with the lab as an undergraduate neuroscience student at Johns Hopkins in August of 2017. She worked on a study that addressed the relationship between patient-reported outcomes of recovery and objective measurements of cognitive recovery after stroke. Courtney has also assisted in the implementation of patient surveys in the clinic that assess patient expectations for recovery. Courtney went on to work in the Brown Lab, investigating circuits of the neocortex, and began her Ph.D. in Neuroscience in 2020 at Harvard Medical School.
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Martin Chacon-Portillo, M.D.
Dr. Martin Chacon-Portillo spent nearly a year with the Marsh lab investigating the association between cerebral microbleeds and hemorrhage after IV tPA and showed that the risk for symptomatic hemorrhage was low. He is now a Chief resident internal medicine specialist at the University of Arizona.
Publication
Chacon-Portillo MA, Llinas RH, Marsh EB. Cerebral microbleeds shouldn't dictate treatment of acute stroke: a retrospective cohort study evaluating risk of intracerebral hemorrhage. BMC Neurology 2018;18(1):33.
Click to read article
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Richa Sharma, M.D., M.P.H.
Dr. Richa Sharma was part of the Marsh lab during her Neurology Residency at Johns Hopkins. Her areas of interest included the role of collaterals in predicting outcome and post-stroke cognitive impairment. She completed a fellowship in vascular neurology at the Massachusetts General Hospital and is now a Vascular Neurologist who specializes in the treatment and prevention of strokes at Yale New Haven Hospital.
Publications
Sharma R, Llinas R, Urrutia V, Marsh EB. Collaterals predict outcome regardless of time last known normal. Journal of Stroke and Cerebrovascular Diseases 2018;27(4):971-977. Click to read article
Sharma R, Mallick D, Llinas RH, Marsh EB. Early Post-stroke Cognition: In-hospital Predictors and the Association With Functional Outcome. Front Neurol. 2020 Dec 23;11:613607. doi: 10.3389/fneur.2020.613607. PMID: 33424761; PMCID: PMC7787003.
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Cathy Cao, Pharm.D.
Dr. Cathy Cao collaborated with the lab as a pharmacy resident at Johns Hopkins Bayview, exploring the role of international normalized ratio (INR) in predicting ischemia. Afterward, she began working as an Oncology Pharmacy Specialist at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. As of 2021 Dr. Cao is an Associate Director at Bristol Myers Squibb.
Publication
Cao C, Martinelli A, Spoelhof B, Llinas RH, Marsh EB. In potential stroke patients on warfarin, the international normalized ratio predicts ischemia. Cerebrovascular Diseases EXTRA 2017;7(2):111-119.
Click to read article
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Gabriel Casella, B.A.
As an undergraduate at Johns Hopkins, Gabriel investigated how commonly isolated aphasia was caused by ischemia and found an alternative diagnosis in the majority of cases. After being an IRTA Fellow at the National Institute of Aging, he began an MD/Ph.D. program at The University of Chicago.
Publication
Casella G, Llinas RH, Marsh EB. Isolated aphasia in the emergency department: the likelihood of ischemia is low. Clinical Neurology and Neurosurgery 2017;163:24-26.
Click to read article
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Emma Kaplan, M.D.
Emma worked in the Marsh lab as an undergraduate at Penn, investigating the association between substance abuse and intracranial hemorrhage. She graduated from medical school from the University of Maryland and is currently a resident at Boston University Medical Center.
Publication
Kaplan EH, Gottesman RF, Llinas RH, Marsh, EB. The association between specific substances of abuse and subcortical intracerebral hemorrhage versus ischemic lacunar infarction. Frontiers in Neurology, 2014;5:174.
Click to read article