LASER-Net Leadership

Steven C. Cramer, MD
Dr. Steven C. Cramer is a Professor of Neurology at the University of California, Los Angeles, where he holds the Susan and David Wilstein Endowed Chair in Rehabilitation Medicine. He is also the Director of Research at California Rehabilitation Institute, co-PI of the NIH StrokeNet clinical trials network, Associate Editor at Neurorehabilitation and Neural Repair, and a Section Editor at the journal Stroke. Dr. Cramer graduated with Highest Honors from University of California, Berkeley; received his medical degree from University of Southern California; did a residency in internal medicine at UCLA; and did a residency in neurology plus a fellowship in cerebrovascular disease at Massachusetts General Hospital. He also earned a Masters Degree in Clinical Investigation from Harvard Medical School. His research focuses on neural repair after central nervous system injury in humans, with an emphasis on stroke and on recovery of movement.
 
Emily Sobel
Emily is a fourth-year Physiological Science major at UCLA. She has been a member of Dr. Cramer's laboratory since 2023 and is currently assisting in planning LASER-Net's annual events to foster community among stroke survivors, scientists, and clinicians. Her research interests include the pathophysiology of stroke, stroke recovery, and neurodegenerative disease. Outside the lab, she focuses on educating Los Angeles youth about the brain and neuroscience, and she plans to apply to medical school in the coming year.
 
Matthew Hansen
Matthew is a third-year undergraduate student at UCLA majoring in Psychobiology. He has been a member of Dr. Cramer's stroke laboratory since 2024 and assists Dr. Cramer with planning LASER-Net's annual stroke survivor picnic and stroke rehabilitation symposium. His research interests include post-stroke recovery, neural plasticity, and brain imaging. Outside of research, Matthew is interested in furthering disability advocacy and stroke education throughout the greater Los Angeles area.