Alumni Lab Members

Former Project(s): "Linking Brain Diffusion Metrics to Cognition, Depression and Pain in SCD"

Publications:

• Roy, S., Wu, J., Cao, J., Disu, J., Bharadwaj, S., Meinert-Spyker, E., Grover, P., Kainerstorfer, J. and Wood, S., “Exploring the Impact and Influence of Melanin on Near-Infrared Spectroscopy Measurement,” Journal of Biomedical Optics., 29(S3), S33310 (2024), doi: 10.1117/1.JBO.29.S3.S33310.
• Abdelmohsen, L ., Disu, J., Mossazghi, N., Meinert-Spyker, E., Xu, J., Wood, S., Grande-Gutierrez, N., “Personalized Cerebrovascular Modeling: Comparing Generalized and Patient-Specific Boundary Condition Approaches for Sickle Cell Disease,” World Congress of Biomechanics, Vancouver, Canada; 2026, July.
• Abdelmohsen, L., Disu, J., Mossazghi, N., Meinert-Spyker, E., Oden, A., Novelli, E., Jonassaint, C., Grande-Gutierrez, N., Wood, S., “Patient-Specific Modeling Reveals Stroke-Related Cerebral Hemodynamic Changes in Adults with Sickle Cell Disease,” Journal of Sickle Cell Disease, Ft. Lauderdale, FL, USA; 2026, June. * Oral Presentation
• Roy, S., Disu, J., Mossazghi, N., Abdelmohsen, L., Meinert-Spyker, E., Wood, S., “Altered Detection-Pain Transition Profiles and Cortical Signatures of Sensitization in Sickle Cell Disease,” The Journal of Pain. 2026 Mar 1;41. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jpain.2025.106022

• Disu, J., Mossazghi, N., Meinert-Spyker, E., Abdelmohsen, L., Alter, B., Wood, S., “Cerebellar and Cortical Correlates of Central Sensitization Define Pain Phenotypes In Sickle Cell Disease,” The Journal of Pain. 2026 Mar 1;41. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jpain.2025.106003
• Abdelmohsen, L., Disu, J., Mossazghi, N., Meinert-Spyker, E., Oden, A., Novelli, E., Jonassaint, C., Grande-Gutierrez, N., Wood, S., “Cerebral Arterial Flow Velocities Are Associated With Pain Burden and Cognitive Performance in Adults With Sickle Cell Disease: Preliminary Finding,” The Journal of Pain. 2026 Mar 1;41. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jpain.2025.106123
• Duong, A., Roy, S., Meinert-Spyker, E., Cao, J., Kwasa, J., Kainerstorfer, J., Grover, P., Wood, S., “Novel Optode Sensor Development for Functional Near Infrared Spectroscopy Systems and its use in Dark, Coarse, and Curly Hair,” In Clinical and Translational Neurophotonics 2026, vol. 13834, pp. 20-25. SPIE, 2026.     * Selected for Oral Presentation
• Momoh, S., Tukakira, J. Meinert-Spyker, E., Candra, L., Ibrahim, TS, Novelli, E.M., Wu, M., Wood, S., Xu, J., “Sex-related differences in silent cerebral infarction burden among adults with sickle cell disease,” American Society of Hematology, Orlando, FL; 2025, December. *  Received ASH Abstract Achievement which reflects top 10% of accepted abstracts
• Jallepalli, D., Roy, S., Meinert-Spyker, E., Xu, J., Wood, S. “Cerebral and Peripheral Microvascular Function in Sickle Cell Disease: Blood Flow and Oxygen Extraction via Diffuse Correlation and Near-Infrared Spectroscopy,” Blood146(2025): 2937. https://doi.org/10.1182/blood-2025-2937
• Kiriza, N., Abdelmohsen, L., Meinert-Spyker, E., Tukakira, J., Oluwole, F., Adiat, A., Disu, J., Mossazghi, N., Jonassaint, J., Olesugun Joseph, D. A., Osunkalu, V., Oluwole, O., DeCastro, L., Novelli, E., Adeyemo, T., Wood, S., Xu, J., “Raising hemoglobin level with erythropoietin improves cerebral but not muscle tissue oxygenation in patients with sickle cell disease,”  Blood146 (2025): 2964. https://doi.org/10.1182/blood-2025-2964 * Received ASH Abstract Achievement which reflects top 10% of accepted abstracts
• Disu, J., Mossazghi, N., Abdelmohsen, L., Meinert-Spyker, E., Jonassaint, C., Wood, S., “Investigating Chronic Pain Mechanisms In Adult Sickle Cell Disease Measured By Functional Connectivity - A Feasible Study,” The Journal of Pain. 2025 Apr 1; 29. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jpain.2025.105280
• Abdelmohsen, L., Mossazghi, N., Roy, S., Disu, J., Meinert-Spyker, E., Saber, C., Xu, J. Z., Wood, S., “Assessing the Impact of Cognitive Load on Resting State Tissue Oxygen Saturation in Adult Patients with Sickle Cell Disease,” American Society of Hematology, San Diego, CA; 2024, December. https://doi.org/10.1182/blood-2024-208977
• Disu, J., Abdelmohsen, L., Mossazghi, N., Meinert-Spyker, E., Saber, C., Xu, J. Z., Wood, S., “Dynamic Cerebral Autoregulation and Blood Pressure Reveal the Severity of Autoregulatory Dysfunction in Sickle Cell Disease,” American Society of Hematology, San Diego, CA, 2024, December. https://doi.org/10.1182/blood-2024-210312
• Saber, C., Meinert-Spyker, E., Abdelmohsen, L., Philips, B., Disu, J., Mossazghi, N., Kiriza, N., Nouraie, S., Oluwole, O., DeCastro, L., Straub, A., Novelli, E., Wood, S., Xu, J., Z., “Higher Hemoglobin Level Correlates with Increased Tissue Oxygenation in a Comprehensive Profile of Hemorheology in Sickle Cell Disease,” American Society of Hematology, San Diego, CA;2024, December. https://doi.org/10.1182/blood-2024-203346Notable: Featured as top 10% of abstracts accepted and chosen for podium talk
• Meinert-Spyker, E., Santini, T., Bharadwaj, S., Novelli, E., Ibrahim, T.S., and Wood, S., “Patients with sickle cell disease have altered brain fractional anisotropy, axial, mean and radial diffusivity quantified by 7T MRI”, In Proc. of the 32nd International Society of Magnetic Resonance in Medicine Annual Meeting, Toronto, Canada; 2023,3-8, June.
• Disu, J., Mossazghi, N., Abdelmohsen, L., Meinert-Spyker, E., Wood, S., “Central Sensitization drives Cerebellar and Cortical Pain Phenotypes in Sickle Cell Disease,” Organization for Human Brain Mapping, Bordeaux, France; 2026, June.
• Roy, S., Disu, J., Mossazghi, N., Meinert-Spyker, E., Abdelmohsen, L., Wood, S., “Quantitative Sensory Testing and EEG Reveal Cortical Dysregulation in SCD Pain,” Society of Neuroscience, San Diego, CA; 2025, November.
• Mossazghi, N., Roy, S., Disu, J., Abdelmohsen, L., Meinert-Spyker, E., Wood, S., “Disrupted cognitive-flexibility networks due to sickle cell disease captured by simultaneous task-based fMRI-EEG,” Society of Neuroscience, San Diego, CA; 2025, November.
• Soo, R., Abdelmohsen, L., Disu, J., Mossazghi, N., Meinert-Spyker, E., Wood, S., “Quantifying Skull Thickness from MR images of Adults with Sickle Cell Disease,” Biomedical Engineering Society, San Diego, CA; 2025, October.
• Meinert-Spyker, E., Santini, T., Bharadwaj, S., Jonassaint, C., Butters, M., Oluwole, O., Novelli, E., Ibrahim, T.S., and Wood, S., “Fractional Anisotropy Varies with Age, Cognition, and Depression in Patients with Sickle Cell,” Organization for Human Brain Mapping, Seoul, Korea; 2024, June.
• Meinert-Spyker, E., Santini, T., Disu, J., Abdelmohsen, L., Wood, S., “A Pilot Study shows Altered Orientation Dispersion Index in Patients with Sickle Cell Disease,” Organization for Human Brain Mapping, Brisbane, Australia; 2025, June.
• Mossazghi, N., Disu, J., Abdelmohsen, L., Meinert-Spyker, E., Karim, H., Wood, S., “The neural basis of cognitive deficits in adults with sickle cell disease: a task-based fMRI study,” Organization for Human Brain Mapping, Brisbane, Australia; 2025, June.
• Mossazghi, N., Roy, S., Disu, J., Abdelmohsen, L., Meinert-Spyker, E., Wood, S., “Increased synchronization in cognitive flexibility tasks in Sickle Cell Disease: A Feasibility Study,” Organization for Human Brain Mapping, Brisbane, Australia; 2025, June.
• Disu, J., Mossazghi, N., Meinert-Spyker, E., Abdelmohsen, L., Wood, S., “Altered Pain Processing and Temporal Dynamics of Brain Microstates in Sickle Cell Disease Adults,” Organization for Human Brain Mapping, Brisbane, Australia; 2025, June.
• Meinert-Spyker, E., Santini, T., Bharadwaj, S., Novelli, E., Ibrahim, T.S., and Wood, S., “Sickle Cell Disease (SCD) subtype and sex analysis of diffusion metrics on 7T MRI”, Organization for Human Brain Mapping, Montréal, Canada; 2023, 22-26, July.

Former Project: “SCD ADHD Functional Connectivity,” from Fall 2025-Spring 2026 (in partnership with Dr. Eboni Lance).

She received his Master's degree in Biomedical Engineering (BME) in 2025 and was a visiting research associate from Fall 2025 to Spring 2026.

Thesis: “The neural basis of cognitive deficits in adults with SCD: a task-based fNIRS study,” Spring 2025. 

• 2024 Biomedical Engineering Summer Research Award

Publications:

• Roy, S., Mossazghi, N., Bulger, E., Lin, J., Saber, C., Shinn-Cunningham, B., Kainerstorfer, J., Xu., J. Z., Wood, S., “The potential of using a hemodynamic signal as a biomarker of cognitive deficit in sickle cell disease,” fNIRS 2024, Birmingham, United Kingdom; 2024, September.

Former Project: “Designing fNIRS optode holder for curly, coarse hair,” from Summer 2022-Spring 2025.

Publication:

• Duong, A., Roy, S., Meinert-Spyker, E., Cao, J., Kwasa, J., Kainerstorfer, J., Grover, P., Wood, S., “Novel Optode Sensor Development for Functional Near Infrared Spectroscopy Systems and its use in Dark, Coarse, and Curly Hair,” In Clinical and Translational Neurophotonics 2026, vol. 13834, pp. 20-25. SPIE, 2026.   * Selected for Oral Presentation

Former Projects: “Using Machine Learning to Investigate Neural Correlates of Pain in Adults with Sickle Cell Disease,” December 2022.

Former Project: “Measuring Cerebral Blood Flow in Adults with Sickle Cell Disease with Diffuse Correlation Spectroscopy,” Summer - Fall 2024. 2024 SURA participant.

Received BS in BME and ECE in 2026.

Former Project: “Development of an EEG pipeline,” Fall 2023-Spring 2024.

Receieved BS in BME and ChemE in 2026.