Hamada Hamid Altalib, DO, MPH
Principle Investigator
Dr. Altalib is the Director of the Yale Epilepsy Outcomes Research Program, in which he oversees health service related and cohort studies related to epilepsy interventions. In addition to seizure outcomes, his research explores the psychiatric co-morbidity of neurologic disease. At Yale University he also provides care for people with neurological injuries that impact emotional processing. For instance, epilepsy, traumatic brain injury, and movement disorders (and their treatments) can affect brain circuits and chemistry and lead to mood, anxiety, and even psychotic disorders. Furthermore, neuropsychiatric conditions such as functional movement disorder and psychogenic non-epileptic seizures are managed in his clinic. He is also the Chief of Neurology of the Veteran Administration (VA) Connecticut Healthcare System, overseeing neurology services and providing direct care for Veterans with epilepsy throughout the greater New England region.
Current Lab Members
Margaret Gopaul, PhD, MSCP
Assistant Professor, Yale School of Medicine & Veterans Affairs Connecticut Healthcare System
Dr. Gopaul holds dual appointments as an assistant professor at Yale University School of Medicine and Veterans Affairs. Her expertise covers neuropsychology, neurophysiology, and psychopharmacology, with a focus on epilepsy, neurodevelopmental disorders, and mental health. She leads a national evaluation of over 19 Veterans Affairs facilities to help access and improve mental health care integration for epilepsy patients. At Yale, she’s the program director of the Yale New-Onset Refractory Status Epilepticus (NORSE) and VA Tele-EEG NORSE programs, with a recent PCORI-funded ($15+ million) award for a comparative effectiveness study examining anakinra versus tocilizumab in treating NORSE. She serves as a scientific consultant for the Yale Institutional Review Board and a committee member of the AES psychosocial comorbidities committee. Her work bridges clinical practice and research with key publications on seizure risks and a co-authored book on comparative psychopathology.
Prathyush Sirimalle, B.Tech, MS
Prathyush Sirimalle recently completed his Master’s degree in computer science (Artificial Intelligence) at Binghamton University. He is involved in social network analysis of referral patterns and contributes to the Human Epilepsy Project (HEP) and Models for Integrating and Championing (mental) Health (MICH) studies.
Yayan Jiang, MS
Poojith Nuthalapati, MD
Senior Postdoctoral Associate, Yale School of Medicine
Health Science Specialist, Veterans Affairs Connecticut Healthcare System
Dr. Nuthalapati is a senior postdoctoral associate in the Yale Department of Neurology and the Yale Epilepsy Outcomes Research Program. He leads the Reduction of Seizures Through Education and Support (ROSES) trial, the Human Epilepsy Project (HEP-3), and national initiatives to improve mental health integration across VA epilepsy centers through the MICH study. He also delivers the Home-based Self-Management and Cognitive Training Changes Lives (HOBSCOTCH) program for Veterans with post-traumatic epilepsy. Dr. Nuthalapati began his research career in medical school, conducting drug discovery studies, developing novel antidepressants, anti-thrombin inhibitors, and anticancer agents. He completed neurology postdoctoral fellowships at Massachusetts General Hospital/Harvard Medical School and Yale School of Medicine, contributing to quality improvement projects, epilepsy clinical trials (Cerevel CVL-865, Refractory Status Epilepticus [RAISE], Staccato Alprazolam), and cohort studies (NORSE & HEP-3). His current research focuses on the psychiatric and cognitive adverse effects of anti-seizure medications and on improving mental healthcare coordination across VA epilepsy centers through the MICH study—assessing coordination networks between neurology and mental health teams, identifying system-level gaps, and developing targeted interventions to improve the efficacy and outcomes of network intervention. He also continues to leverage clinical quality informatics through the ROSES study to improve the quality of clinical care and patient outcomes.
Mirza M Baig, MD, MPH, MSc
Postdoctoral Fellow
Dr. Mirza M. Baig is a Postdoctoral Fellow at Miami School of Medicine and Yale Center for Medical Informatics. He is currently involved with Epilepsy Outcomes Research, specifically Human Epilepsy Project (HEP-3) and the VA Neurology Dashboard.
Sohail Dewain, MBBCh
Postdoctoral Fellow
Dr. Dewain used to be an internal medicine resident back in Egypt. He is currently involved in the investigation of RLS syndrome, sleep disorders, and their associations, and the Reduction of Seizures Through Education and Support (ROSES) study.
Saifeldin Hossameldin, MD
Postdoctoral fellow
Dr. Hossameldin is a Postdoctoral Fellow in the Department of Neurology at Yale School of Medicine. He is involved in the Reduction of Seizures Through Education and Support (ROSES) study and the Functional Seizure Disorder (FSD) study, focusing on diagnostic delays and healthcare utilization among Veterans.
Simar Chawla, MD
Postdoctoral fellow
Dr. Chawla is a Postdoctoral Fellow in the Department of Neurology at Yale School of Medicine. She is involved in the Models for Integrating and Championing (mental) Health (MICH) study, where she contributes to the analysis of the national MICH ECOE qualitative codebook, conducts thematic analyses, and integrates implementation science principles to inform her qualitative project.
Ahmed Mohamed, MD
Postdoctoral fellow
Dr. Mohamed is a postdoctoral fellow at Yale Neurology. He is currently involved in the Reduction of Seizures Through Education and Support (ROSES) study.
Postdoctoral fellow
Dr. Avula is a Postdoctoral Fellow in the Department of Neurology at Yale School of Medicine. She is involved in the Models for Integrating and Championing (mental) Health (MICH) project, where she leads quantitative analyses of interdisciplinary networks using Social Network Analysis (SNA) to identify, measure, and enhance collaboration between neurology and mental health
Mark Li, MS
Mark Li is a Master of Science student at the Yale School of Public Health. He is involved in the Models for Integrating and Championing (mental) Health (MICH) study and is completing his master’s capstone under Dr. Altalib’s supervision.
Tina Tao, MS
Tina Tao is a Master of Science student in the Health Informatics Track at the Yale School of Public Health. She is involved in social network analysis (SNA) of healthcare systems projects under Dr. Altalib’s supervision.
Ruoxuan Li is a Master of Science student in Health Informatics at Yale University’s Graduate School of Arts and Sciences and the Yale School of Public Health. She is completing her master’s capstone under Dr. Altalib’s supervision.
Nandita Avula, MD
Biostatistics/Bioinformatics Interns
Ruoxuan Li, MS
Yayan Jiang is a Master of Science student in Health Informatics at the Yale School of Public Health. She works on social network analysis projects and is completing her master’s capstone under Dr. Altalib’s supervision.
Sana F. Ali, MD
Medical School: Dow International Medical College
Yale Projects: Reduction of Seizures Through Education and Support (ROSES), Home-based Self-Management and Cognitive Training Changes Lives (HOBSCOTCH) studies and Functional Seizure Disorder (FSD) studies.
Life After Yale: Adjunct Faculty at Michigan State University Department of Psychiatry and Cognitive Coach at Dartmouth-Hitchcock School of Medicine
Chinenye Okafor, MD
Medical School: Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka, Nigeria
Yale Projects: Reduction of Seizures Through Education and Support (ROSES) and the Human Epilepsy Project (HEP)
Life After Yale: Internal Medicine Residency, Medical University of South Carolina.
Siddharth Khasnavis, MD
Medical school: Albany Medical College, Medicine;
Resident: Yale School of Medicine, Dept. Psychiatry
Fellow - Quality Improvement:
Yale School of Medicine/West Haven VA, Dept. Psychiatry
Yale Projects: Functional Seizure Disorder (FSD), Healthcare Utilization among Veterans with FSD, and remained at Yale as Assistant Professor at Yale Psychiatry
Post-Doctoral Fellow Alumni
Mohamed Afify
Medical School: Tanta University, Egypt
Yale Projects: Anti-Seizure Medication Database
Life After Yale: Neurology Residency University of Connecticut, Farmington, CT
Yarden Bornoviski
Medical School: Universita Vita-Salute San Raffaele, Italy
Yale Projects: Post Traumatic Epileptic & Psychogenic Seizure Veteran Cohort Study
Life After Yale: Neurology Residency Westchester Medical Center, Westchester, NY
.jpg)
Daniela Galluzzo
Medical School: Universita Vita-Salute San Raffaele, Italy
Yale Projects: Post Traumatic Epileptic & Psychogenic Seizure Veteran Cohort Study
Life After Yale: Neurology Residency Westchester Medical Center, Westchester, NY
Mohamed Eldokmak
Medical School: University of Alexandria, Egypt
Yale Projects: Anti-Seizure Medication Database
Life After Yale: Neurology Residency SUNY Downstate University, Brooklyn, NY
Ambar Khan
Medical School: Nishtar Medical College, Pakistan
Yale Projects: Anti-Seizure Medication Database, Pediatric Cluster Seizures
Life After Yale: Fellow Palliative Care Larkin Community Hospital, Miami, Fl
Noor Mahmoud
Medical School: University of Sharjah, UAE
Yale Projects: Anti-Seizure Medication Database
Life After Yale: Neurology Residency University of Oklahoma, Oklahoma City, OK
Paulina Rojas
Medical School: Universidad Central De Venezuela, Venezuela
Yale Projects: Neuropsychology of Epilepsy, Epilepsy Surgery Database, Cohort Study of Lyrica and Vision Function
Life After Yale: Neurology Residency Einstein Healthcare, Philadelphia, PA
Hatem Tolba
Medical School: Tanta University, Egypt
Yale Projects: ENGAGE Clinical Trial, Anti-Seizure Medication Database
Life After Yale: Neurology Residency College of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, WI
Khalid Elzamzamy
Medical School: Ain Shams University, Egypt
Yale Projects: Functional Seizure Disorder (FSD)
Life After Yale: Assistant Faculty & Psychiatry Education Fellow at Johns Hopkins University
Post-Graduate Fellow Alumni
Anthony Jimenez
Education: BS, University of California, Riverside
Yale Research Projects: New Onset Refractory Status Epilepticus (NORSE), NORSE/FIRES Biorepository, Staccato alprazolam study, and RAISE.
Life After Yale: Research Affiliate for Herlopian Lab
Daniel G. DeBonis
Education: BA Linguistics Yale University
Yale Research Projects: Human Epilepsy Project (HEP) and Functional Seizure Disorder (FSD).
Life After Yale: Masters of Science in Clinical Psychology program at Columbia University
Anelisa Fergus
Education: BA Linguistics Yale University
Yale Research Projects: Human Epilepsy Project
Life After Yale: Medical School Temple University, Phladelphia, PA
Ebony Jackson-Shaheed
Education: MPH Epidemiology SUNY Downstate School of Public Health
Yale Research Projects: : Post Traumatic Epileptic & Psychogenic Seizure Veteran Cohort Study
Life After Yale: Director Health & Social Services City of Hartford, Hartford, CT
Alma Rechnitzer
Education: BA French Franklin & Marshall College
Yale Research Projects: Human Epilepsy Project
Life After Yale: Medical School, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, NY
Abiha Jafri
Education: BS Applied Mathematics University of Connecticut
Yale Research Projects: Human Epilepsy Project
Life After Yale: Master's Degree in Bioengineering, Brown University, Providence, RI
Zihan Chen, BS
Zihan Chen is a Masters of Science graduate student at the Yale School of Public Health (Health Informatics Track) and the Graduate School of Arts and Science. She is involved in the Human Epilepsy Project and is a Masters Capstone Advisee under Dr. Altalib's supervision.
Monica Colunga, MDP
Monica Colunga is a student in the Master of Public Health program in Biostatistics at the Yale School of Public Health. Her work at the Yale Epilepsy Outcomes Research Program includes a project evaluating quality metrics in epilepsy care.
Biostatistics/Bioinformatics Interns Alumni
Yanjun Wu, MS
Yanjun Wu is a Master of Science in Biostatistics student at Yale and an intern in the Yale Epilepsy Outcomes Research Program. She conducts biostatistical analysis on PNES data focusing on assessing seizure outcomes and healthcare utilization.
Yanhui Guo, MS
Yanhui Guo is a Yale Masters of Science in Biostatistics and an intern in the Yale Epilepsy Outcomes Research Program. She conducts biostatistical analysis on the incidence of psychiatric and behavioral adverse events of anti-seizure medications.
Mariyam Habeeb
Medical School: Quinnipiac University
Yale Research Projects: Social Network Analysis of Epilepsy Coordination of Care
Life After Yale: To be determined
Maschal Mohiuddin
Medical School: University of Connecticut
Yale Research Projects: Muslim Mental Health Models of Service
Life After Yale: Psychiatry Resident Harvard Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center
Shanicka Reynolds
Medical School: Quinnipiac University
Yale Research Projects: Anti-Seizure Medication Database, Epilepsy Surgery Database
Life After Altalib Lab: Yale Neurology Residency
Visiting Students Alumni
View Gallery
There may be no better way to communicate what we do than through images. As you browse our site, take a few moments to let your eyes linger here, and see if you can get a feel for our lab culture.
