Ludovica Labruna

CEO / Founder

Ludovica Labruna, PhD, is an entrepreneurial neuroscientist dedicated to advancing the field of brain health. During her 20-year career as a researcher at UC Berkeley, she developed a profound expertise in non-invasive brain stimulation (NIBS). Today, Dr. Labruna is pioneering more comfortable, reliable NIBS methods to augment human brain function. Her mission is to bring kTMP to market and revolutionize the treatment of chronic stroke and various neurological and psychiatric disorders.

CTO / Founder

Daniel Sheltraw, MD, PhD, has expertise in magnetic resonance physics, applied mathematics, and control systems engineering. His research, focused on solving the physics and engineering challenges of extending TMS and tES systems beyond their present capabilities, led to the development of kTMP, our innovative NIBS method.

Founder

Richard Ivry, PhD, is a distinguished professor at the University of California, Berkeley. To study various aspects of human performance, his lab uses multiple cognitive neuroscience tools including brain stimulation (tES and TMS), neuroimaging, and behavioral work involving patients with neurological disorders.

COO

Spencer is a serial entrepreneur and start-up advisor. Before joining the Magnetic Tides team, Spencer founded Uqora, a urinary tract infection prevention company sold to Otsuka Pharmaceutical in 2021. Spencer's core focus is business development, customer discovery, marketing, and brand strategy.

Director of Research

Christina Merrick, Ph.D., leads the clinical development of kTMP, advancing non-invasive neuromodulation across multiple indications. She oversees translational research and clinical trials, with a primary focus on stroke recovery. Her prior work includes human intracranial neural recordings and clinical applications of deep brain stimulation.

Lead Research Engineer

Cidnee Luu has expertise in device development and testing, as well as signal processing of physiological signals. Her master’s research focused on the development and validation of wearable EEG systems and dry EEG electrodes. She is interested in neurotechnology and its application to improving brain health.

Philipp Reber

Lead Neuroscientist

Philipp Reber, MSc, is a core member of our research and engineering teams. As a technical lead, he spearheads the design and implementation of critical systems for our neuromodulation platform. Beyond development, he is instrumental in shaping our scientific strategy and leads the behavioral research to validate our technology in healthy populations.

Lead Scientist

I bridge the gap between discovery and intervention at Magnetic Tides. Currently, I am heading a trial for anhedonia that utilizes our proprietary kTMP technology to noninvasively modulate the brain’s reward system. My goal is to translate complex neurophysiological and behavioral data into high-efficacy brain stimulation therapies.

Quality Systems and Regulatory Specialist

Haajar (or Hodge) Ahmad-Ali is a recent Graduate from the University of Pittsburg's Swanson School of Engineering, with a bachelor's degree in Bioengineering and a focus in medical product development and quality management systems (QMS).

Doctoral Student

Ian O'Kidhain is a PhD candidate in the UC Berkeley-UCSF Joint Bioengineering Program. His research is focused on neural engineering, with an emphasis on machine learning models, the analysis of neural dynamics in response to stimulation, and the design of hardware and software for non-invasive neural stimulators. He leads the non-human primate work at UC San Francisco.

Lab Manager / Research Assistant

Shaya Parto graduated from UC Berkeley with a bachelor’s degree in Psychology, earning highest honors. His work focuses on the intersection of psychology and neuroscience, with an emphasis on applying non-invasive brain stimulation to improve mental health and well-being. He is currently supporting the development of Magnetic Tides’ clinical trial targeting anhedonia at UCSF and aims to pursue a Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology.

Jaskanwaljeet Kaur

Research Scientist

Dr. Jaskanwaljeet Kaur (PhD) earned her Ph.D. in Cognitive and Information Sciences from the University of California, Merced, where her dissertation examined how the motor system flexibly adapts to changes in sensory input, mechanical loads, and neural activity to maintain coordinated movement. She has previously used robotic exoskeletons, motion capture, EEG, and TMS to study how the brain adapts during coordinated movement. She has worked directly with stroke patients to evaluate how nerve stimulation affects hand function.

Abdul-Jabbar Mohammed

Associate Research Engineer

Abdul-Jabbar Mohammed is a bioengineering professional with a mechanical engineering foundation and multidisciplinary experience in medical device development and deep-tech commercialization. His work spans wearable health systems, embedded hardware prototyping, and machine learning for clinical applications. Abdul-Jabbar is committed to translating rigorous engineering research into deployable healthcare solutions that improve patient outcomes and advance clinical practice.

Clinical Research Coordinator

Diana Marquez earned her B.S. in Molecular, Cell, and Developmental Biology from UC Santa Cruz. With a strong foundation in immunology and translational science, she transitioned into patient-centered clinical research to bridge scientific rigor with compassionate participant care. As a CRC, Diana is dedicated to ethical research conduct, data integrity, and delivering a thoughtful, patient-focused clinical trial experience.

Postdoc

Kyungsoo Kim is a neuroscientist and brain engineer with experience in neuromodulation, computational modeling, neural engineering, and motor rehabilitation. His research is dedicated to developing high-precision neurostimulation protocols and predictive simulations to enhance our understanding of motor recovery and design more effective therapies for stroke and neurological disorders.