Dr. Harper grew up outside of Charlotte NC, is a Tar Heel born and bred, and thus had no choice but to attend the University of North Carolina as an undergraduate. Unsure of where college would take him, his scientific torch was lit sophomore year in a Sensation & Perception course. The research journey began at UNC, continued post-doc at The University of Michigan, and is currently progressing at Emory with the opening of a new lab! Dr. Harper is passionate about science and hopes to make a positive contribution to society through research, mentoring, teaching, and service. Outside of work, Dr. Harper enjoys spending time with his partner and their three young children.

Alia is from Queens, New York and was raised in Atlanta, Georgia. In December 2019, she graduated from Georgia State University where she obtained a B.S. In Public Health. During the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, Alia worked with the Georgia Department of Public Health where her passion for research and public health grew immensely. Now a Clinical Research Coordinator in the Harper PaINLab, Alia assists with Quantitative Sensory Testing (QST) in individuals experiencing chronic pain and plays a key role in the execution of studies within the lab. Outside of work, Alia enjoys running, finding inspiration in the discipline of the sport.

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Priyanka earned her Master of Public Health from Rollins School of Public Health (Class of 2023) and is a registered medical practitioner in India, where she completed her Bachelor’s in Ayurvedic Medicine and Surgery. Her professional journey includes roles as a data and policy analyst and hands-on experience in diverse healthcare settings, including serving as a medical officer on a Covid-19 taskforce. Driven by a desire to explore the nuances of pain mechanisms and their impact on public health, she pivoted to clinical research at a PaIN Lab. Outside of her professional endeavors, Priyanka enjoys painting, hiking, and traveling.

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Niveen Kaddoura is a Clinical Research Coordinator II with over a year and a half of research experience. Prior to joining the PaINLab, Niveen worked in Alzheimer’s research. Niveen completed her undergraduate degree in Public Health at the University of Nebraska at Omaha and her master’s degree in Public Health with an Epidemiology concentration at the University of Nebraska Medical Center. Before moving to Atlanta, she worked in healthcare at Nebraska Medicine and conducted research at the Medical Center. Niveen’s research interests include Neurology, sensory research, and infection prevention research.

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Mayuri Charan is a third year Emory student majoring in Neuroscience  and Chemistry (B.A.). She is from Coimbatore, India, and has always been interested in science. Mayuri is passionate about neuroscience because it is a field with so much potential for discovery. She plans on going to medical school in the future, and is very excited to be a part of the PaINLab and looks forward to being involved in research and learning more about how the brain works. In her free time, Mayuri loves playing tennis and painting.

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Originally from Cupertino, California, Eleonora is a fourth-year undergraduate student on the pre-med track majoring in Neuroscience and Behavioral Biology and minoring in Ethics. She has always been drawn to the sciences, but her interest in clinical research sparked during the summer of her sophomore year after she worked as a research assistant for a neuro-engineering lab that strived to better the experience of prosthetics for amputee patients. She is particularly excited about researching with the PaIN Lab as it combines her passion for neuroscience with her interest in the role of ethics in public health issues such as that of chronic pain. This year, she will be completing an honors thesis focused on learning more about thermosensation in patients with fibromyalgia and TMD. Outside of academics, she loves to read, plays the piano, and has a black belt in martial arts. She also loves to travel and visits her family in Italy every summer where she goes sightseeing beautiful landmarks, visits museums, and eats delicious food. 

Frank Martinez is a second year undergraduate Emory student majoring in Neuroscience (B.S.)  He is from Wilmington, California and has a deep interest in STEM related fields.  Frank is passionate about Neuroscience and its association with understanding different forms of pain. This is due to a longstanding history of witnessing the debilitating impacts of pain on members of his community.  He hopes to use this research opportunity to hopefully improve the quality of life of many individuals in his home struggling with various forms of pain.  Outside of the lab, Frank enjoys serving as the treasurer for the Minority Pre-Medical Society and swimming

Timothy is a third year undergraduate at Emory University majoring in NBB (B.S.) and Chemistry (B.A.) with an expected graduation year of 2026 on the pre-med track. Timothy has always been interested in the field of medicine, but more particularly in adrenaline-filled specialties such as Emergency Medicine or Trauma Surgery. Timothy joined the PAINLab because of because of his interest in better understanding chronic pain conditions, and how he could utilize the knowledge gained during his tenure in the lab to help alleviate pain in his future endeavors. On the weekends, Timothy works as an EMT, and his hobbies include playing video games and participating in sports such as snowboarding, surfing, and badminton

Xuan Yang is a second-year undergraduate student at Emory University majoring in Neuroscience (B.S). He is from Milledgeville, Georgia and deeply interested in neural connectivity and how it changes due to injury or disease. Specifically, he is interested in the difference in connectivity between normal-functioning brains and those with chronic pain, and how these differences can be used to personalized therapeutic treatments. In his free time, he likes to play tennis, read about politics, and facetime his cat