Cortical Systems Members
Jorge A. Gonzalez-Martínez MD, PhD
Principal Investigator & Neurosurgeon
Jorge A. Gonzalez-Martínez
Principal Investigator & Endowed Professor of Neurological Surgery
Dr. Jorge González-Martínez, MD, PhD, is a board-certified neurosurgeon subspecialized in epilepsy and functional neurosurgery. He is the director of the Cortical Systems Laboratory, and the director of the epilepsy/movement disorders surgery division at UPMC, and the current Stuart Niles Rowe Chair in Neurosurgery at the University of Pittsburgh.
The University of Pittsburgh’s Epilepsy, Movement Disorders and Psychiatry Surgical Program,under the direction of Dr. González-Martínez encompasses the treatment of medically intractable epilepsy, movement disorders and psychiatry disorders. These pathological neurological conditions are similar in that successful neurosurgical treatment requires an expert understanding of the involved brain networks and their potential for modulation by functional neurosurgical procedures, as well as multidisciplinary teams that deliver surgical care to these special groups of patients.
Staff
Jiahao Jay Chen
Clinical Translational Lab Manager
Jiahao Jay Chen serves as the current laboratory manager under the direction of Dr. Gonzalez-Martinez. He is a Neurological Sciences and Chemistry dual-degree graduate from the University of Pittsburgh, and is in pursuit of expanding his knowledge in the fields of neurology and neurological surgery.
With his experiences in clinical settings and neurodiagnostics, Jay joined Cortical Systems in 2024 as the lab manager. Under JGM's mentorship, he has published numerous works with a focus in techniques of neurosurgery, and has even spear-headed research projects that brought changes to neurosurgical policy changes at University of Pittsburgh Medical Center.
Mahmood Abdelkader is the current clinical coordinator for the Cortical Systems Lab. He is a graduate from the University of Pittsburgh with a degree in Neuroscience.
With his experiences in brain development and mental health research, Mahmood joined the lab in 2024. Mahmood is actively developing electrocorticography techniques that can be deployed intraoperatively during resection procedures; and the exploration of post-operational language and memory deficits to deliver better patient outcomes.
Mahmood Abdelkader
Clinical Lab Coordinator
Medical and Research Students
Arianna Damiani
PhD Student
Arianna Damiani is a PhD student of Neural Engineering under the joint mentorship Dr. Gonzalez-Martinez, Dr. Elvira Pirodini, and Dr. Marco Capogrosso. She previously obtained her Master's in Bioengineering in Italy at the Polytechnic University of Turin.
With her experiences and a previous thesis in the development of closed-loop non-invasive BCI to treat pain, she joined the lab in 2022 with the focus on investigating thalami-cortical electrical stimulation in efforts to modulate cortical excitability in the treatment of neurological disorders such as epilepsy and stroke.
Sirisha Nouduri is a current MS3 student at the University of Pittsburgh, School of Medicine and is currently on the PSTP track. She is a Psychology and Mathematics dual-degree graduate from the University of Massachusetts with a focus concentration in Neuroscience and Statistics.
With her previous experiences in neurobiology, neuroimaging, and stroke-related research, she joined the lab in 2023 with the focus of refining subthalamic nuclei-specific DBS and RNS stimulation and to effectively better understand the underlying mechanisms of these therapies.
Adway Gopakumar
MD Student (MS2)
Adway Gopakumar is a current MS2 student at the University of Pittsburgh, School of Medicine. He is a graduate from Emory University with a degree in Neuroscience, and has an avid interest in neurological surgery.
With his previous experiences in the clinical-settings of neurological disorders, Adway joined the lab in 2025 and is currently investigating the efficacy of extending existing orthogonal SEEG trajectories in the medial direction in efforts to maximize both thalamic and cortical sampling while minimizing the total number of needed-trajectories.
Judah Huberman-Shlaes is current MS1 student at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine. He is a graduate from the University of Chicago with a degree in Psychology, and has an keen interest for computational-statistics in the neuroscience field.
With his previous experiences in EEG, Judah joined the lab in 2025, with a focus on delineating language characteristics in SEEG signals, and the characterization of connectivity patterns throughout the brain.
Kamron Soldozy
MD/PhD Student (MSTP-G2)
Kamron Soldozy is a current MD/PhD student at the University of Pittsburgh and is co-mentored by both Dr. Gonzalez-Martinez and Dr. Batista. He is a neuroscience graduate from Princeton University, and is highly invested in neural prosthetics and neurological basis of human emotions/affect in the human brain as it relates to mood disorders. He currently serves as the co-president for Center of Neural Basis of Cognition (CNBC) program, that bridges neuro research across both Pitt and CMU.
With his previous experiences, Kamron joined the lab in 2024, with a primary goal to leverage stereo-EEG for brain-computer interfaces, along with studying intracranial networks through the use of high-resolution Neuropixels.
Sirisha Nouduri
MD Student (MS3/PSTP)
Judah Huberman-Shlaes
MD Student (MS1)
Jess Smith
PhD (Year 1)
Raouf Belkhir is a current MD/PhD student at the University of Pittsburgh conjoined with Carnegie Mellon. His interest is in studying complex neuroanatomical processes of executive speech with an integration of linguistic concepts. He is a graduate from Middlebury College with a neuroscience focus.
With his previous experiences he joined the lab with the novel idea to causally link neural dynamics to human behavior, and bridge cognitive theory to clinical neuroscience in order to inform optimal patient outcomes.
Raouf Belkhir
MD/PhD Student (MSTP-G3)
Jess Smith is a current first-year PhD student in Dr. Brad Mahon's lab in collaboration with Dr. Gonzalez-Martinez. Her interest remains in studying human visual perception, and is a graduate from Carnegie Mellon University with a degree in Psychology.
With her studies, Jess joined the lab in 2023, with her work focusing on using stereo-electroencephalography data to decipher the complex neural pathways for visual stimuli and how it interacts with human perception.
Ajay Pathakamuri is a current MS1 student at the University of Pittsburgh, School of Medicine, and is a previous graduate from the University of Pittsburgh with a degree in Neuroscience. With Ajay's interest in neurological surgery he aims to establish novel neuroanatomical pathways associated to both epilepsy propagation and human emotion.
With his previous experiences in neuroimaging and computational neuroscience research, he joined the lab in 2025 and is currently investigating thalamo-limbic functions as a gating network for mesial temporal lobe epilepsy amongst other limbic-associated functionalities.
Ajay Pathakamuri
MD Student (MS1)
Collaborators
Arka N. Mallela MD, MS
Assistant Professor of Neurological Surgery
Arka Mallela, MD, MS, is an assistant professor of neurological surgery at Rush Neurosurgery and leads the epilepsy surgery and brain mapping practices. Arka completed his residency at the University of Pittsburgh Department of Neurological Surgery. He completed fellowship in epilepsy and functional neurosurgery with Dr. Gonzalez-Martinez and post-doctoral training with Drs. Gonzalez-Martinez and Mahon in the Cortical Systems Lab. Since graduating, he continues to work closely with the Cortical Systems Lab with a particular focus on the cortical and subcortical systems that support language production.
His research combines intracranial electrophysiology, neuroimaging, and cognitive neuroscience to investigate the neural systems underlying language and cognition, with an emphasis on improving functional brain mapping and outcomes for patients undergoing epilepsy and brain tumor surgery.