Meet Our Lab Members

Dr. Jinsook Roh is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Biomedical Engineering at the University of Houston, TX. Her research program focuses on understanding the neural mechanisms of motor coordination in healthy and pathological populations (esp. stroke) and translating the resultant scientific findings to develop new therapeutic strategies to improve motor function after neural injuries. She holds her graduate degree in Systems and Computational Neurosciences at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), with undergraduate Physics background.

Before joining UH, she worked as an Assistant Professor in Kinesiology at Temple University. She completed a post-doctoral fellowship at Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago (#1 rehabilitation research hospital for > 25 years in the US) and at Northwestern University. She has implemented research projects to identify and characterize abnormalities in synergistic muscle coordination in stroke survivors and to develop novel rehabilitation methods. Dr. Roh received several research awards and fellowships that include American Heart Association Postdoctoral Fellowship (2010-20120). Dr. Roh has been performing research projects supported by extramural funds, such as National Center for Neuromodulation for Rehabilitation (NC NM4R) Pilot Grant as the PI, American Heart Association Scientist Development Grant as the PI, NIH R01 as a co-I, and one international grant from National Rehabilitation Center in South Korea as the co-PI. She also likes teaching and mentoring students with diverse experiences. When she finds free time, she enjoys cooking Korean food, walking with her husband, and chatting with her friends with diverse backgrounds.

In her life, she found that the source of pure joy for her is to see positive changes in people’s life. That finding motivates her to do her science in human motor rehabilitation engineering.

Dr. Kyoungsoon Kim joined the REIGN lab in July 2023 as a Postdoctoral fellow. He has received NIH-funded fellowship from NeuralCODR (Neural Control of Organ Degeneration and Regeneration)postdoctoral training program. Dr. Kim holds his PhD in Mechanical Engineering at the University ofTexas at Austin, and BS and MS in Mechanical Engineering at Sogang University. His previous researchfocused on improving walking in people with stroke and transtibial amputees using engineering andneurophysiological approach. His current project focuses on identifying whether a myoelectrical signal-guided movement exercise with an “assist-as-needed” robotic environment normalizes impairedintermuscular coordination patterns in the Upper Extremity after stroke. His research interests are inrobotics, neurorehabilitation, and developing innovative rehabilitation technologies for neurologicalimpaired population. During his free time, he enjoys outdoor sports and cooking.

Yoon No Hong joined the REIGN lab as a Ph.D. student in June 2019. He did MS in Mechanical engineering at Colorado school of mines and at Sogang University, and BS in mechanical engineering at Sogang University.  Since he studied the musculoskeletal level of human movements during his master's program, he joined the lab to learn more about the neuromuscular level. His research interests are characterizing motor impairment and developing a tool to quantify impairment level after stroke.

Manuel from Quito, Ecuador, joined the lab in September 2020. Also, he worked as a lab technician in the Department of Kinesiology at Temple University. He did his MSc in Bioengineering at Temple University, Philadelphia, and BS in mechatronics at the Equinox University of Technology, Quito, Ecuador. The following list shows his research interests: 1) Neurorehabilitation, 2) Multivariable analysis methods for processing information, and 3) Neural mechanisms of motor coordination. His hobbies are programming and cooking.

Shahab joined the REIGN lab in August 2023 to pursue his Ph.D. in biomedical engineering. He has acquired his BS and MS in mechanical engineering from the University of Tehran and the Sharif University of Technology respectively. Throughout his master's, he exploited synergy analysis to classify cerebral palsy gait kinematics. Therefore, he has started his Ph.D. to identify stroke neurorehabilitation strategies through motor coordination methods. His research interests mainly focus on Neuroscience, Optimization, and Data science. In his free time, he enjoys mountaineering, camping, and cooking.

Attiya Hussaini is currently a senior majoring in Biomedical Engineering at the University of Houston, following the Bionanoscience Track. She joined REIGN Lab as an undergraduate research intern in January 2021 and is hoping to learn about data collection in aspects of rehabilitation in stroke patients. After her undergraduate studies, she hopes to pursue optometry school to use her skills to impact lives. In her free time, she enjoys working on calligraphy and trying new foods.

Hy Doan joined the REIGN lab in October 2020. Her research interest includes computational neuroscience and cognitive rehabilitation technologies. She is currently working on analyzing intermuscular coordination patterns of the human upper limb across different reaching conditions. Her hobbies are pilates/yoga, soccer, and cooking with friends and family.

Sean Chakraborty is a graduate student who joined the lab in the Autumn of 2022. His research interests include brain machine interfacing and machine learning. In the lab, he is currently learning to improve his ability to code using Matlab, Labview, and Python. His hobbies include eating, listening to music, and story writing.

Besmir joined the REIGN lab in August 2023 to pursue his Master of Science degree in biomedical engineering. He earned his BS in Biomedical Engineering from LeTourneau University in Longview, Texas. Throughout his undergraduate studies, he worked on a senior design project aimed at designing and developing a medical-grade rehabilitation device for individuals with motor impairments due to neurological disorders, such as stroke and spinal cord injuries. This device utilizes the operant conditioning of the stretch reflex in the soleus muscle to reduce muscle spasticity. For his master's degree, he aims to expand his understanding of the mechanisms of neuromuscular coordination and develop novel ways to assess impairments following a stroke. In his free time, he enjoys working out, hanging out with friends, and reading.

Anisa Abdulhussein joined the REIGN lab in September 2022 as an undergraduate research intern. She is currently a senior majoring in BME. She is interested in neurorehabilitation and the overall impacts biomedical engineering research can have on the quality of life for stroke patients. Her career goal is to go into medicine and practice as a physician utilizing her engineering background. In her free time, Anisa enjoys playing with her two dogs, baking, and watching new movies with her younger siblings.

Marcus Tubera is currently a junior majoring in Biomedical Engineering at the University of Houston. He joined the REIGN lab in Fall 2022 as an undergraduate research intern and is interested in rehabilitation robotics and machine learning. In the lab, he is working on improving his programming skills in MATLAB and C++ as well as broadening his knowledge in biomechanics. In his free time, his hobbies include video games, reading, and working out.