Genis Prat Ortega

Genis  Prat Ortega, PhD, joined the faculty of the University of Pittsburgh Department of Neurological Surgery as an assistant professor in October of 2025.  He completed his PhD in Computational Neuroscience at the Autonomous University of Barcelona in 2019. His doctorate work focused on understanding the neural mechanisms underlying perceptual decision making. After completing his PhD, he joined the group of Dr. Capogrosso at the University of Pittsburgh  Department of Neurological Surgery. As a postdoctoral researcher, he worked in a first-in-human Spinal Cord Stimulation clinical trial for people living with Spinal Muscular Atrophy, a project that received a Top 10 Clinical Research Achievement Award 2025.

  • BS, Physics, Universidad de Granada, 2007 - 2013
  • MS, Applied Mathematics, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, 2013 - 2014
  • PhD Computational Neuroscience, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, 2014 - 2019

  • Balaguer, J.M., Prat-Ortega, G., Ostrowski, J., Borda, L., Verma, N., Yadav, P., Sorensen, E., de Freitas, R., Ensel, S., Donadio, S., Liang, L., Ho, J., Damiani, A., Grigsby, E.M., Fields, D.P., Gonzalez-Martinez, J.A., Gerszten, P.C., Fisher, L.E., Weber, D.J., Pirondini, E., & Capogrosso, M. (2025). Neural mechanisms underlying the recovery of voluntary control of motoneurons after paralysis with spinal cord stimulation. Neuron, 113(22), 3846-3862.e6.Elsevier. doi: 10.1016/j.neuron.2025.08.023.
  • Prat-Ortega, G., Ensel, S., Donadio, S., Borda, L., Boos, A., Yadav, P., Verma, N., Ho, J., Carranza, E., Frazier-Kim, S., Fields, D.P., Fisher, L.E., Weber, D.J., Balzer, J., Duong, T., Weinstein, S.D., Eliasson, M.J.L., Montes, J., Chen, K.S., Clemens, P.R., Gerszten, P., Mentis, G.Z., Pirondini, E., Friedlander, R.M., & Capogrosso, M. (2025). First-in-human study of epidural spinal cord stimulation in individuals with spinal muscular atrophy. Nat Med, 31(4), 1246-1256.Springer Nature. doi: 10.1038/s41591-024-03484-8.
  • Simon, C.M., Delestrée, N., Montes, J., Sowoidnich, L., Gerstner, F., Carranza, E., Buettner, J.M., Pagiazitis, J.G., Prat-Ortega, G., Ensel, S., Donadio, S., Dreilich, V., Carlini, M.J., Garcia, J.L., Kratimenos, P., Chung, W.K., Sumner, C.J., Weimer, L.H., Pirondini, E., Capogrosso, M., Pellizzoni, L., De Vivo, D.C., & Mentis, G.Z. (2025). Proprioceptive synaptic dysfunction is a key feature in mice and humans with spinal muscular atrophy. Brain, 148(8), 2797-2811.Oxford University Press (OUP). doi: 10.1093/brain/awaf074.
headshot of Genis Prat Ortega
Contact Genis Prat Ortega
Assistant Professor
PhD student
Bioengineering Department
GEP67@pitt.edu