Howe Lab

Christian joined the Howe lab as a research fellow at the beginning of 2023. He
received both his B.S. and M.S. in biomedical engineering from Drexel University with a concentration in neuroengineering. He first worked as a research assistant at the Rutgers Institute for Translational Medicine and Science (RITMS) where he studied pulmonary smooth muscle and epithelial cells to evaluate cellular responses to glucocorticoids and cAMP-elevating agents. He also assisted with several phase II clinical trials of treatments for COPD and Scleroderma. Later, he would work at the Drexel Cognitive Neuroengineering and Quantitative Experimental Research (CONQUER) Collaborative as a research assistant where he utilized the Unity cross-platform game engine to design experimental setups investigating human-robot interactions and clinical applications of VR for the treatment of neurodegenerative diseases. During the COVID pandemic, he developed online surveys and neurophysiological test batteries to facilitate research into the long-term effects of COVID-19 on cognitive function. As part of his senior design team, he helped develop a brain computer interface utilizing minimalist EEG to classify sleep stages in near real-time. Analysis of sleep architecture was accomplished via a machine learning algorithm to determine the least disruptive wake-up time for users and had over 75% sleep stage agreement with technician generated hypnograms, the standard for inter-rater agreement. Outside of research, Christian enjoys relaxing at home with his two cats, Majin Buu and Lady Tomoe, while reading, gaming, or otherwise surfing the internet.