The people behind the work.
Discovery is one thing. Carrying it into someone's recovery takes a team — and this is ours.
Katinka Stecina, PhD
ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR — SYSTEMS PHYSIOLOGY
Katinka Stecina is a systems physiologist who studies how the spinal cord generates movement — and how that movement can be restored after injury. Her work runs the full distance from mechanism to recovery: recording how spinal circuits behave in real conditions, using genetic and chemical tools to isolate the specific neurons that drive locomotion, and carrying those findings into non-invasive stimulation and movement training for people living with spinal cord injury. She's especially drawn to the thoracic cholinergic and serotonergic neurons that help shape locomotion — and to the question of what an injured nervous system can still be coaxed to do.
[ PLACEHOLDER — Katinka's real quote in her own voice. Do not fabricate. ]
Laboratory Members
Names, photos, roles, and focus statements are client-provided. Below is the active organizational structure ready for population.
Postdoctoral Researchers
Graduate Students
Research Staff
Alumni
How we work.
The lab is collaborative and interdisciplinary by design — foundational science and real-world impact treated as one continuous effort, not two separate camps. We hold the work to a high standard and keep the environment supportive, a little geeky, and genuinely human. (And yes, there's usually cake.)
Hands-on access to cutting-edge neuroscience methods.
Work that reaches actual clinical recovery.
Collaborative, interdisciplinary, human.
Looking for a place to do work that matters? We're often looking for curious people.
Join the lab