Dr. Diego Contreras

Biography

Diego Contreras, MD, PhD, is a professor at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania. His research expertise lies in the cellular basis of information representation in the visual system, especially through the study of thalamocortical networks and their implications in epilepsy. Contreras has a strong background in neuroscience with extensive training and experience, having received his MD from Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, Spain, in 1988, and his PhD from Laval University, Quebec, Canada, in 1996. His research techniques include intracellular optical recordings in vivo, focusing on dynamic properties of thalamocortical synapses and the role of inhibitory circuits in the primary visual cortex. He investigates how neural networks engage in abnormal activities that characterize epilepsy, particularly looking into seizure initiation and propagation within the adult neocortex. Contreras has contributed to numerous publications in top-tier neuroscience journals, discussing critical insights into the mechanisms of sensory encoding and the properties of thalamic and cortical interactions.

Research Interests