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Research Assistant
University of Iowa
I do not have any relevant financial / non-financial relationships with any proprietary interests.
OMB No. 0925-0001 and 0925-0002 (Rev. 10/2021 Approved Through 09/30/2024)
BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH
NAME: Trevor Viohl
eRA COMMONS USER NAME (credential, e.g., agency login): tviohl
POSITION TITLE: Undergraduate
EDUCATION/TRAINING
INSTITUTION AND LOCATION DEGREE FIELD OF STUDY
University of Iowa BS 12/2022 Neuroscience
A. Personal Statement
I am an undergraduate research assistant, and my work focuses on translating our understanding of brain networks and white matter connectivity into clinical tools to predict postlesion cognitive deficits. My background is in Neuroscience with a focus on cognitive science and its methods; traditional lesion methods reliant on MRI and neuropsychological testing data, transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS), and EEG. As a research assistant I’ve participated in both the cognitive and clinical components of our work, beginning with lesion tracing and collection of cognitive testing data to integrating specific regions of interest elucidated by lesion-network maps and regions with high measures of white matter connectivity into a study design that evaluates whether these regions can serve as effective predictors of significant poststroke cognitive deficits when damaged. Thus, I’ve developed an understanding of how advances in our knowledge of the relationships between brain structure and function can be translated into effective clinical tools to aid postlesion rehabilitation efforts. I also work as an Emergency Medical Technician which frequently involves managing stroke patients from onset to those in recovery during the chronic phase. This has also reinforced my understanding of how crucial effective rehabilitation therapy can be in producing optimal patient outcomes; further driving my desire to research tools that can improve the chances of rehabilitation therapy in mitigating long term cognitive impairment.
B. Positions, Scientific Appointments, and Honors
Scientific Positions
2020 - Undergraduate Research Assistant
Other Relevant Experience and Professional Memberships
2021 - 2022 President, Iowa Neuroscience Club
2021 - 2022 President, University of Iowa Emergency Medical Services Student Interest Organization
2021 Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation Technician, Iowa Noninvasive Brain Stimulation Program
2020 - 2022 Member, National Collegiate Emergency Medical Services Foundation
2019 - 2020 Volunteer and Training Mentor, University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics
2019 - Emergency Medical Technician, CARE Ambulance Service
Honors
2021 - 2022 Undergraduate Neuroscience Honors Research Program, University of Iowa
2020 - 2022 Dean’s List, University of Iowa
C. Contributions to Science
1. Translation of lesion-network mapping and measures of white matter connectivity into prognostic clinical tools. Recent lesion-network mapping studies found that a discrete region of posterior deep left hemisphere white matter, corresponding to the left posterior arcuate fasciculus, produces a significant impairment in general cognitive ability (g) when damaged (Bowren et al., 2020). Additional work in human connectomics has associated regions of high-density white matter with a significant impairment in g when patients have intersecting lesions (Reber et al., 2021). My work, through an undergraduate honors thesis (b) and a study currently in progress (a) is focused on evaluating whether significant risk for cognitive impairment can be predicted based on a patient’s lesion intersecting with the posterior left arcuate fasciculus and regions of high-density white matter.
a. Kaminski J, Viohl TV, Boes AD, Tranel D. Prediction of post-stroke cognitive impairment based on lesion location. 2022, Manuscript in Progress.
b. Viohl TV, Boes AD. The Neural Architecture of Executive Function and Prediction of Post-Stroke impairment in Executive Function Based on Lesion Location. Undergraduate Honors Thesis, May 2022.
