Lab Personnel
Principle Investigator
Emily Graczyk
Assistant Professor, Dept. of Biomedical Engineering,
Case Western Reserve University
Biomedical Engineer,
Louis Stokes Cleveland VA Medical Center
PhD Biomedical Engineering, Case Western Reserve University, 2018
BS Biomedical Engineering, University of South Carolina, 2013
Postdoctoral Researchers
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Post Doctoral Researcher
Rohit Bose
PhD University of Pittsburgh, 2024
Rohit is interested in exploring the nuances of different sensory restoration technologies to rehabilitate people with amputations, spinal cord injuries, and women who have undergone mastectomies.
Post Doctoral Researcher
Russell Hardesty
PhD West Virginia University, 2020
Russell’s research focuses on elucidating mechanisms of human motor control and motor learning to develop more intuitive assistive and rehabilitative technologies.
Post Doctoral Researcher
Leah Roldan
M.Eng Cornell University, 2013
BS Cornell University, 2012
Leah is part of the Bionic Breast Project, which explores the use of electrical stimulation of intercostal nerves to restore breast sensation following mastectomy. Her current focus is evaluating skin sensation pre- and post-mastectomy, characterizing sensation during electrical stimulation, and evaluating stimulation’s impact on post-mastectomy pain.
Graduate Students
PhD Candidate, Dept. of Biomedical Engineering
John Wright
BS Psychology & BS Biomedical Engineering, University of Utah, 2016
John investigates how multi-contact temporal patterning can be used to expand the qualities and usability of peripheral nerve stimulation specifically examining how multi-location stimulation can evoke sensations like movement across the skin, or affective touch-like experiences.
PhD Candidate, Dept. of Biomedical Engineering
Preethisiri Bhat
BS Bioengineering, University of California Berkeley, 2020
Preethi studies the perceptual and cortical response of peripheral nerve stimulation-elicited sensation in individuals with spinal cord injury.
PhD Candidate, Dept. of Biomedical Engineering
Jonah Mudge
BS Biomedical Engineering & BS Neurobiology, Minor in Computer Science, University of Wisconsin-Madison, 2021
Jonah's research focuses on characterizing proprioceptive percepts in upper-limb amputees and aims to benefit amputees by improving proprioceptive feedback in neuroprostheses. Jonah is also studying proprioceptive movement illusions in non-amputee populations through TENS and tendon/muscle vibration.
PhD Candidate, Francis Payne Bolton School of Nursing &
Clinical Research Nurse Coordinator, Louis Stokes Cleveland VA Medical Center
Meilissa Schmitt
BS Nursing, Kent State University, 2005
Melissa currently works with a multi-disciplinary team that applies electrical stimulation to the residual nerves in amputees to provide sensation from prosthetic hands or feet. Her research interest includes seeking to understand the psychosocial experiences of upper limb amputees.
PhD Candidate, Dept. of Biomedical Engineering
Bronwyn Spilker
BSE Biomedical Engineering & Psychology, Minor in Electrical Engineering, Case Western Reserve University, 2022
Bronwyn studies the coapplication of multiple stimulation modalities, including ICMS and PNS, to understand how these modes integrate and how they affect the elicited sensation with the ultimate goal of improving the sensation to allow participants to more naturally embrace and use ICMS or PNS stimulation in place of lost sensation.
PhD Candidate, Dept. of Biomedical Engineering
Roberto Peralta
BS Mechanical Engineering, Minors in Mathematics & French, University of Arizona, 2022
Roberto is interested in developing biomimetic peripheral nerve stimulation paradigms to improve sensory and functional restoration in persons with limb loss and spinal cord injury. Roberto uses in-silico models to inform and iterate on these paradigms.
PhD Student, Dept. of Biomedical Engineering
Coleman Walsh
BS Cognitive Science & BS Computer Science, Minor in Neuroscience, University of Delaware, 2026
Coleman is interested in developing better stimulation paradigms for upper limb prosthetic sensorimotor integration.
PhD Student, Dept. of Biomedical Engineering
Carrina Iacobacci
BS Neurobiology, Physiology, and Behavior & BA Psychology,
University of California, Davis, 2022
Carrina is interested in the restoration of naturalistic sensation in individuals with spinal cord injury and the effects of somatosensation on agency.
MSE Student, Dept. of Biomedical Engineering
Sweta Chivukula
BSE Biomedical Engineering, Case Western Reserve University, 2026
Sweta is investigating the effects of intracortical microstimulation in causing sensory auras and persistent sensation in individuals with spinal cord injury. Her focus is in identifying neural signatures to better inform early detection and prevention efforts.
MSE Student, Dept. of Biomedical Engineering
Samuel Haugen
BSE Biomedical Engineering, Case Western Reserve University, 2026
Sam is creating a Python-based application to construct physiologically equivalent mixed-fiber nerve models and run nerve electrical stimulation models to assess the selectivity of different electrode configurations.
MSE Student, Dept. of Biomedical Engineering
Dylan Bordman
BSE Biomedical Engineering, Case Western Reserve University, 2026
Dylan is developing a noninvasive robotic system to investigate the perceived stiffness of the phantom hand in individuals with limb loss. His focus is on integrating mechanical, sensing, and control systems to accurately measure and apply torque at the elbow and wrist, with the goal of supporting research into sensory rehabilitation.
Staff
Clinical Research Coordinator
Jessica Jarvela (née Walrath
MS Pathology, Case Western Reserve University
BS Biology, University of Dayton
Jessica's primary focus is providing administrative support to both the clinical and technical project teams for the laboratory's multiple projects. This includes coordinating participant scheduling, documentation and maintenance of research data, support completion of regulatory documents for the FDA, IRB, and/or project sponsor as required, as well as assist the quality systems engineer and systems engineer in generation of all quality system documentation.
Clinical Research Analyst
Hannah Ludlow
BA History & BS Anthropology, Montana State University, 2020
MA Anthropology, Case Western Reserve University, 2022
Hannah is a user experience researcher who supports qualitative investigations on multiple projects in the laboratory. She also assists with participant recruitment and coordination efforts.
Research Occupational Therapist, Louis Stokes VA
Chris Cowen
BS Occupational Therapy, Cleveland State University, 1995
Chris works with our research participants to train them in the use of state of the art, high DoF prostheses. She aids in subject recruitment - speaking with potential subjects, answering questions about studies and conducting functional measures during initial screenings - and is the point of contact for all upper extremity amputee participants serving as a patient advocate.
Clinical Research Coordinator
Hannah Teets
MS Microbiology & Immunology, University of Rochester, 2025
BS Microbiology, Minor in Philosophy, University of Rochester, 2024
Hannah assists the clinical and technical project teams with participant coordination, recruitment, and organizational efforts. She is also involved with an ongoing qualitative study exploring prosthesis user experience.
Staff Engineer
Bridget Gagnier
BS Biomedical Engineering, Hope College, 2023
Bridget assists with the technical needs of the team. This includes the collection and processing of data, integrating new devices/systems into the lab setup, and other engineering tasks
Undergraduate Students
Working Under
Leah Roldan & Rohit Bose
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Divya Chatty
Working Under
Bronwyn Spilker
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No current advisees
Working Under
Preethisiri Bhat
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Jonathan Callejas
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Selen Vardar
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Nicole Zhen
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Kasey Thomas
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Amy Gan
Working Under
Roberto Peralta
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No current advisees
Working Under
Jonah Mudge
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Sreyash Das Sarma
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Suraj Das
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Rachel Chang
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Esther Gao
Working Under
John Wright
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No current advisees
Alumni
The following people have been involved in the lab as students, researchers, coordinators, and more. We thank them for their contributions!
MS Electrical Engineering, CWRU, 2021
Tanya Tebcherani
Tanya developed a novel controller for evoking sensation with PNS. Her legacy continues on in the work of the lab and as of 2021, she is a visiting assistant professor at Hope College!
Study Coordinator
Alesia Lambert
Alesia acted as a study coordinator - assisting with IRB and FDA submissions and approvals and coordinating travel for participants.
Research Nurse and Coordinator
Alexandra Hutchison
more info to come
Undergraduate Researcher
Eric Chen
A part of the Graczyk Lab 2019-2023, Eric graduated in 2023 with a BS in Biomedical Engineering. He is currently working at UH while applying to medical school programs.
Undergraduate Researcher
Shifra Narasimhan
A part of the Graczyk lab 2019-2023, Shifra graduated from CWRU in 2023 with a BS in Biomedical Engineering and a minor in Electrical Engineering.
Study Coordinator
Alex Zanowick-Marr
Alex served as a Clinical Research Analyst for out team. She has since gone on to pursue a career in medicine, starting medical school in 2024! Best of luck, Alex!
Biomedical Engineer
Aaron Ketting-Oliver
Aaron supported our team in both our upper extremity amputee and ReHAB studies. An integral member of the team, he has gone on to pursue a career in engineering. Thank you Aaron and best of luck!