Biography
Ioana joined St Hilda's in 2024 as a Lecturer in Medicine (Pharmacology), where she teaches pharmacology for pre-clinical medical students. Previously, Ioana graduated with a medical degree (MD) from the Carol Davila University of Medicine and Pharmacy, in Bucharest, Romania. She then completed an MSc in Neuroscience (2018) and a DPhil in Clinical Neurosciences (2022) at the University of Oxford focusing on the role of brain inhibition in motor learning. During her postgraduate studies, she conducted pharmacological experiments using GABA agonists (baclofen, zolpidem), neuroimaging and non-invasive brain stimulation techniques to investigate how increasing GABA-mediated inhibition affected motor learning in humans.
Now working as a Postdoctoral Research Associate in Neuroimaging, her research uses multi-modal neuroimaging (fMRI, MR spectroscopy), transcranial magnetic stimulation and transcranial ultrasound, to continue exploring the neurophysiological mechanisms of motor learning in healthy people and stroke survivors.
Relevant publications:
Martin, E.*, Roberts, M.*, Grigoras, I. F.*, Wright, O.*, Nandi, T.*, Rieger, S. W., Campbell, J., den Boer, T., Cox, B. T., Stagg, C. J., & Treeby, B. E. (2025). Ultrasound system for precise neuromodulation of human deep brain circuits. Nature communications. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-025-63020-1
Grigoras I.F., Geist E., Johnstone A., Clarke W.T., Emir U., Nettekoven C., Levenstein J.M., Capitao L., Stagg C.J. (2025). Baclofen, a GABAB receptor agonist, impairs motor learning in healthy people and changes inhibitory dynamics in motor areas. BioRxiv https://doi.org/10.1101/2025.03.27.645701
Gann, M. A., Paparella, I., Zich, C., Grigoras, I. F., Huertas-Penen, S., Rieger, S. W., Thielscher, A., Sharott, A., Stagg, C. J., & Schwab, B. C. (2025). Dual-site beta transcranial alternating current stimulation during a bimanual coordination task modulates functional connectivity between motor areas. Brain stimulation. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.brs.2025.08.011
Zich, C., Nowak, M., Hinson, E. L., Lasbareilles, C., Mancini, V., Pogosyan, A., Puicar, O., Grigoras, I. F., Cambalova, P., Scholl, J., Josephs, L., Quinn, A. J., Woolrich, M. W., & Stagg, C. J. (2025). Human motor cortical gamma activity relates to GABAergic intracortical inhibition and motor learning. Imaging neuroscience. https://doi.org/10.1162/imag_a_00538
Ionescu MI*, Grigoras IF*, Ionescu RB, Chitimus DM, Haret RM, Ianosi B, Ceanga M, Zagrean AM (2024) Oxytocin Exhibits Neuroprotective Effects on Hippocampal Cultures under Severe Oxygen-Glucose Deprivation Conditions. In Curr Issues Mol Biol. Pubmed PMID: 38921042
Grigoras IF, Stagg CJ (2021) Recent advances in the role of excitation-inhibition balance in motor recovery post-stroke. In Fac Rev. Pubmed PMID: 34308424
Schoenfeld MJ, Grigoras IF, Stagg CJ, Zich C (2021) Investigating different levels of bimanual interaction with a novel motor learning task: a behavioural and transcranial alternating current stimulation study. In Front. Hum. Neurosci. Pubmed PMID: 34867245
Johnstone A, Grigoras I, Petitet P, Capitao LP, Stagg CJ (2020). A single, clinically relevant dose of the GABAB agonist baclofen impairs visuomotor learning. In J Physiol. Pubmed PMID: 33085094
Positions
- Lecturer in Medicine
Subjects
- Pre-Clinical Medicine
