Asif Jamil

I'm a research scientist and Principal Investigator in the Division of Neuropsychiatry and Interventional Psychiatry at Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School. My research focuses on developing and optimizing non-invasive neuromodulation techniques to understand human neurophysiology and advance treatments for neuropsychiatric disorders.

Education, Training & Work

2011

BS, Biology
University of Maryland, College Park, USA

2012

MS, Neuroimaging
King's College London, UK

2017

PhD, Neuroscience
University of Göttingen, Germany

2017–2020

Postdoctoral Research Fellow
Leibniz Research Institute for Working Environment and Human Factors, Dortmund, Germany

2020–2021

Postdoctoral Research Fellow
Mass. General Hospital & Harvard Medical School, Boston, USA

2021–present

Instructor in Psychiatry
Mass. General Hospital & Harvard Medical School, Boston, USA

Research Areas

Characterizing Nonlinear Dose-Response Relationships and Mechanistic Principles of Human Neuroplasticity

Nonlinear neuroplasticity in human brain stimulation.

Dose-dependent reversals in stimulation after-effects across intensity and duration.
Polarity-specific modulation of cortical excitability and physiological biomarkers.
Multimodal validation with TMS-EEG and fMRI perfusion measures.

Key Publications:

Systematic evaluation of the impact of stimulation intensity on neuroplastic after-effects induced by transcranial direct current stimulation — Journal of Physiology (2017)
Current intensity- and polarity-specific online and aftereffects of transcranial direct current stimulation: An fMRI study — Human Brain Mapping (2019)

Development of Temporally-Precise, Phase-Synchronized rTMS+tACS Neuromodulation

Phase-synchronized rTMS+tACS to stabilize intrinsic brain rhythms.

Phase-locked stimulation protocols tuned to endogenous oscillations.
Targeted anatomical modeling and bespoke electrical/software systems.
Demonstrated functional gains in executive function and working memory.

Key Publications:

External induction and stabilization of brain oscillations in the human — Brain Stimulation (2021)
Phase synchronized 6 Hz transcranial electric and magnetic stimulation boosts frontal theta activity and enhances working memory — NeuroImage (2021)
Induction and stabilization of delta frequency brain oscillations by phase-synchronized rTMS and tACS — Brain Stimulation (2024)
Phase-synchronized 40 Hz tACS and iTBS effects on gamma oscillations — Imaging Neuroscience (2025)

Translating Neuromodulation to Aging, Motor Learning, and Cognitive Rehabilitation

Translation of mechanistic neuromodulation to aging and rehabilitation.

Improved visuo-motor and bimanual control in healthy aging cohorts.
Intervention studies demonstrating robust motor-learning gains.
Pathway to practical rehabilitation protocols and clinical translation.

Key Publications:

Improved bimanual control in elderly after motor cortex stimulation — Clinical Neurophysiology (2018)
Nonlinear effects of dopamine D1 receptor activation on visuomotor coordination task performance — Cerebral Cortex (2020)
Dissociating the causal role of left and right dorsal premotor cortices in planning and executing bimanual movements – a neuro-navigated rTMS study — Brain Stimulation (2021)
Modulating functional connectivity with non-invasive brain stimulation for the investigation and alleviation of age-associated declines in response inhibition: A narrative review — NeuroImage (2018)

Establishing EEG-Based Biomarkers of Clinical Response Using Machine Learning

Building upon mechanistic neuromodulation work, I have developed a translational research program identifying EEG-based biomarkers and machine-learning predictors for clinical symptomology and neuromodulation response. My ongoing work involves building computational neuroimaging processing pipelines for ongoing neuromodulation clinical trials in major depression (MDD), ADHD, OCD, Alzheimer's Disease, and substance-use disorders (SUDs). Recent findings have identified reproducible EEG signatures associated with clinical symptoms, supporting the feasibility of data-driven precision neuromodulation wherein quantitative EEG metrics guide parameter selection.

Key Publications:

Fractional Amplitude of Low Frequency Fluctuations Track Clinical Response to 10 Hz Repetitive Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation in Major Depressive Disorder — Brain Stimulation (2025)
Assessing the Predictive Utility of Quantitative Electroencephalography Coherence in Adolescent Major Depressive Disorder: A Machine Learning Approach — Journal of Child and Adolescent Psychopharmacology (2025)

Recent Talks & Lectures

Invited talk: Multimodal synchronization of transcranial electric and magnetic stimulation for targeting neuro-oscillatory activity: challenges & opportunities for clinical interventions. NYC Neuromodulation Conference 2024- New York City, NY - Summer 2024
Guest Lecture: Non-invasive transcranial electric stimulation in humans: mechanisms and clinical applications. JPK Stroke Center, Boston MA - Spring 2024
Invited talk: tDCS as a restitutive tool for motor learning in the aging population. Russian Rehabilitation Union, Moscow Russia - Summer 2021
Invited talk: Phase-synchronized rTMS and tACS for modulating oscillatory brain activity. International Conference on Complex Medical Engineering (CME), Matsue, Japan - Fall 2018