Johns Hopkins experts have been at the forefront of research into the benefits and proven outcomes of the most advanced prenatal surgery techniques to treat a range of conditions including congenital diaphragmatic hernia (CDH), spina bifida and twin-to-twin transfusion syndrome (TTTS).

Dr. Borahay's lab focuses on understanding pathobiology, developing novel treatments, and carrying out high quality clinical trials for common gynecologic problems with a special focus on uterine fibroids. Our lab also investigates the causes and novel treatments for menstrual disorders such as heavy and irregular periods. In addition, Dr. Borahay’s team explores innovative approaches to minimally invasive gynecologic surgery, focusing on outpatient procedures with less pain and faster recovery times.

The goals of the Vikram Chib Lab are to understand how the nervous system organizes the control of movement and how incentives motivate our behaviors. To better understand neurobiological control, our researchers are seeking to understand how motivational cues drive our motor actions. We use an interdisciplinary approach that combines robotics with the fields of neuroscience and economics to examine neuroeconomics and decision making, motion and force control, haptics and motor learning, image-guided surgery and soft-tissue mechanics.

Researchers in the Laboratory for Fetal and Neonatal Organ Regeneration in the Department of Surgery at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine are studying whether cellular reprogramming, stem cells, and ex vivo modeling can be applied to improve organ regeneration in pediatric surgical patients. To execute these aims, the lab collaborates with developmental biologists and biomedical engineers throughout the country and employs cutting-edge molecular strategies and pre-clinical animal models.

We are continually in motion. This self-motion is sensed by the vestibular system, which contributes to an impressive range of brain functions, from the most automatic reflexes to spatial perception and motor coordination. The objective of Dr. Cullen's lab's research program is to understand the mechanisms by which self-motion (vestibular) information is encoded and then integrated with signals from other modalities to ensure accurate perception and control of gaze and posture. Our studies investigate the sensorimotor transformations required for the control of movement, by tracing the coding of vestibular stimuli from peripheral afferents, to behaviorally-contingent responses in central pathways, to the readout of accurate perception and behavior. Our experimental approach is multidisciplinary and includes a combination of behavioral, neurophysiological and computational approaches in alert behaving non-human primates and mice. Funding for the laboratory has been and is provided by the Canadian Institutes for Health Research (CIHR), The National Institutes of Health (NIH), the National Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC), FQRNT / FQRSC (Quebec).

The goal of the Singh Lab is to cure retinal degeneration due to genetic disease in patients. There are many retinal diseases such as Stargardts, Macular Degeneration, and Retinitis Pigmentosa, that are currently incurable. These diseases damage and eventually eliminate photoreceptors in the retina. The lab's aim is to take healthy photoreceptors derived from stem cells and transplant them into the patient’s retina to replace the lost photoreceptors. The transplanted photoreceptors are left to mature, make connections with the recipient’s remaining retina, and restore vision. Further, the lab is most interested in the cone-photoreceptor rich region of the macula, which is the central zone of the human retina, enabling high-acuity vision for tasks such as facial recognition and reading.

Investigators in the Shivani Patel Lab study ways to improve intraoperative resuscitation during pediatric surgeries.

The Jonathan Walsh Lab is currently researching longitudinal trends of diagnostic and procedural utilization in pediatric patients with head and neck complaints.

URobotics is a research and education program that uses advanced technology to improve how urological diseases are diagnosed and treated. The URobotics lab’s main focus is creating robots that aid in real-time, image-guided interventions. This multidisciplinary team of urologists, radiologists and engineers has teamed up to revolutionize how surgeries are performed.

Directed by Debraj “Raj” Mukherjee, MD, MPH, the laboratory focuses on improving access to care, reducing disparities, maximizing surgical outcomes, and optimizing quality of life for patients with brain and skull base tumors.

The laboratory achieves these aims by creating and analyzing institutional and national databases, developing and validating novel patient-centered quality of life instruments, leveraging machine learning and artificial intelligence platforms to risk-stratify vulnerable patient populations, and designing novel surgical trials to push the boundaries of neurosurgical innovation.

Our research also investigates novel approaches to improve neurosurgical medical education including studying the utility of video-based surgical coaching and the design of new operative instrumentation.