Sherif M. Elbasiouny

My research interest is in the fields of neuroengineering and rehabilitation neuroscience. My work relies on combining computer modeling and electrophysiological recording techniques for studying the role of spinal neurons in integrating the sensorimotor signals at the cellular and system levels for movement control during health and in neurological disorders (e.g., after spinal cord injury, SCI, and in the neurodegenerative disease amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, ALS). In particular, I investigate the cellular mechanisms regulating the neuronal excitability (e.g., cell morphology, membrane electrical properties, voltage-dependent ion channels, synaptic inputs) and their contribution to the motor system output in the healthy state, and study the changes in these mechanisms after neurological injury or disease. Computational methods are employed to develop realistic three-dimensional anatomically-based electrical models of healthy and diseased neurons. These models are composed of thousands of compartments represented through complex arrangements of resistor-capacitor (RC) networks that possess multimodal time-varying and voltage-dependent behaviors to reproduce the intricate electrical events seen during experimental recordings. These electrical models are also used to design electrical stimulation paradigms that modulate the aberrant neuronal excitability in neurological disorders. In-vitro experiments, on the other hand, are employed to test and validate the results of computer simulations. With this knowledge, my research work aims in the long term to develop electrical stimulation-based biodevices, called smart implantable neural prostheses (SIN prostheses), for alleviating motor disabilities and restoring motor function after SCI and ALS.