Andrew Perley

I am a 4th year PhD candidate in the department of Bioengineering working with Dr. Todd Coleman. As a Bioengineer, I place a lot of value in understanding how better to accessibly improve the quality of life of those affected by health conditions. My current research focuses on developing mathematical techniques to characterize the gut-brain axis and understand it's physiology in disease processes. While both the gut and the brain are implicated in many disorders (e.g., depression and Parkinson's Disease), the electrophysiological connection between the two is poorly understood. I aim to develop new experimental paradigms that involve the use of high-density simultaneous gut-brain electrophysiology and the corresponding mathematics to inform both diagnosis and treatment. I wholeheartedly believe in using physiology as the guide to shape statistically rigorous and interpretable mathematics to extract information from the body. Aside from my research, I also am very passionate about equitable education in STEM and love working with students!

Prior to coming to Stanford, I received by B.S. in Bioengineering from UCLA and began my PhD in Bioengineering at UCSD before moving to Stanford with my advisor, Todd Coleman. While at UCLA I did research on neural signal processing in both memory and epilepsy, and while at UCSD I worked on developing new techniques for assessing neural coupling as well as using pacemakers for the gut. Outside of research I love to be in the company of my friends or by a body of water, and stay active through sports like volleyball!