Neural Engineering

Neural engineering research involves fundamental and applied studies related to neurons, neural systems, behavior and neurological disease.

This program involves fundamental and applied studies related to neurons, neural systems, behavior and neurological disease encompassing a spectrum of activities, including mathematical modeling; exploring novel approaches to sensory (vision, hearing, smell and touch) and motor processing; exploring fundamentals of neural plasticity; and designing neuroprosthetics. The approaches involve information processing at the molecular, cellular, systems and behavioral levels.

Primary Faculty

Dennis Barbour, MD

Professor
Individualized assessments of brain function and dysfunction

Hong Chen

Associate Professor
Develops ultrasound-based image-guided drug delivery techniques

Jianmin Cui

Professor
Aims to design ultrasound protocols for drug & gene delivery

Song Hu

Professor
Advances theranostics through the development of novel optical and photoacoustic technologies

Dan Moran

Professor
Explores how we can control objects with our minds

Barani Raman

Professor
His lab's electronic nose technology has applications for homeland security

Alexandra Rutz

Assistant Professor
Advances bioelectronics using materials and fabrication-based approaches

Ismael Seáñez

Assistant Professor
Develops tools for neuroprosthetics and rehabilitation

Jonathan Silva

Professor
Creating better ways to treat cardiac arrhythmia

Kurt Thoroughman

Associate Professor
Works to identify patterns in neural activity that correspond to motor adaptation

Affiliate Faculty

Martha Bagnall - Neuroscience

Vestibular and spinal neural circuits in zebrafish

Randall Bateman - Neurology

Diagnostic clinical test biochemistry mass spectrometry process robotics Alzheimer's disease neurodegeneration

Peter Brunner, PhD - Neurosurgery

Brain-Computer Interface (BCI); Brain-Machine Interface (BMI); Electrocorticography (ECoG); Human Brain Mapping

David Bundy - Neurological Surgery

Assistant Professor
Brain-Computer Interfaces, Neuroprosthetics, Stroke, Neuroplasticity

Bruce Carlson - Neuroscience

Neurophysiology, sensory systems, behavior, evolution, mathematical modeling, neuroanatomy

Daniel Castro - Radiology

Assistant Professor
Opioid, motivation, affect, in vivo imaging

Shantanu Chakrabartty - Computer Science & Engineering

Self-powered sensors, wireless telemetry, energy harvesting, neuromorphic systems

Baron Chanda - Anesthesiology

Voltage and Ligand-gating, Pacemaking ion channels, single molecule spectroscopy, structural biology, cryo-EM, fluorescence imaging, Thermodynamic analysis

ShiNung Ching - Electrical & Systems Engineering

Neural Dynamics and Control Theory, Brain Network Analysis, Theoretical Neuroscience

Meaghan Creed, PhD - Anesthesiology

Deep brain stimulation, Neuromodulation, Synaptic Plasticity, Addiction, Pain, Affect, Electrophysiology, Behavioral Analysis

Nico Dosenbach - Neurology

Precisions mapping of individual human brains; Real-time image processing

Tom Franken, MD - Neuroscience

Assistant Professor of Neuroscience
vision; visual perception; electrophysiology; non-human primates; cortex; neurons

Robert Gereau - Anesthesiology

Pain, optogenetics, optoelectronics, neural circuitry, in vivo imaging, electrophysiology

Geoffrey Goodhill, PhD - Developmental Biology

Computational neuroscience, Theoretical neuroscience, Systems neuroscience, Neural coding, Neural development, Autism, Zebrafish, Behavior, Calcium imaging

Edward Han - Neuroscience

Two-photon calcium imaging, electrophysiology, virtual reality behavior, neuronal networks, learning and memory, hippocampus

Keith Hengen - Biology

systems neuroscience, big data, neural networks, neuronal recording, emergence, homeostasis, plasticity

Tim Holy - Neuroscience

Novel optical microscopy to record large neuronal populations

James Huettner - Cell Biology & Physiology

glutamate receptors, chimeric subunits, in vitro differentiation, neural differentiation from stem cells

Daniel Kerschensteiner, MD - Ophthalmology & Visual Science

Neural circuits, vision, 2-photon imaging, electrophysiology, retina, visual processing

Alexxai Kravitz, MD, PhD

Striatum, dopamine, electrophysiology, open-source, devices, recording, electrodes, fiber optics, calcium imaging

Catherine Lang - Physical Therapy

Professor and Associate Director of Movement Science PhD Program
human, movement, neural control, motor learning, stroke, autism, upper limb, wearable sensors

Jin-Moo Lee, MD - Neurology

Stroke, Brain injury, Alzheimer's disease, Brain repair

Eric Leuthardt, MD - Neurosurgery

Brain Computer Interfaces, Neuroprosthetics, Advanced Imaging, Resting State fMRI

Christopher Lingle - Anesthesiology Basic Science Research

ion channel biophysics, modeling of channel gating and cell excitability, methods of analysis

Matthew MacEwan - Neurology

Neuroprosthetics, Nerve Regeneration, Peripheral Nerve Interfacing, Transient Electronics, Nanomaterials

Jacob McPherson, MD, PhD - Physical Therapy, Anesthesiology

Neural engineering; neurological injury; neurorehabilitation; stroke; spinal cord injury; neural control of movement; neuropathic pain; neural-computer interfaces; neural plasticity; sensorimotor integration; neuromodulation; electrophysiology; spinal physiology; neuropharmacology; physical rehabilitation

Laura McPherson - Physical Therapy, Neurology

Assistant Professor of Physical Therapy and Neurology
Neural control of movement, Neurological injury, Systems neuroscience, Neurorehabilitation, Reverse engineering motor unit discharge patterns, Spinal motor output, Stroke, Multiple Sclerosis

Robi Mitra - Genetics

Genomics. Genome Engineering. Computational Biology. Transcription Factors.

Josh Morgan - Ophthalmology

vision, retina, connectomics, synapse, imaging, electron microscopy, circuitry, thalamus, development, neuron, image analysis

Arash Nazeri - Radiology

Neurofluid Imaging, Preclinical MRI, Diffusion MRI, Computational Neuroanatomy, Neurodevelopment

Arye Nehorai - Electrical & Systems Engineering

Forward models, inverse models, statistical analysis, quantitative methods, modeling

Colin Nichols - Cell Biology & Physiology

Molecular aspects of potassium channels

Camillo Padoa-Schioppa - Neuroscience

Decision Making, Neurophysiology, Modeling, Primates

Brenton Pennicooke - Neurological Surgery

machine learning, artificial intelligence, patient-user interface, predictive analytics, causal inference, patient outcomes, risk stratification, data science, applied mathematics, spine surgery, spine disease

Carlos Ponce - Neural Engineering

Vision, electrophysiology, non-human primates, cortex, neurons, deep learning, neural networks

W. Zachary Ray, MD - Neurosurgery

neuroprosthetics, resorbable electronics, nerve regeneration, spinal cord injury

Janice Robertson - Biochemistry and Molecular Biology

membrane protein folding thermodynamics assembly single-molecule TIRF microscopy computational modeling structure function oligomerization lipids

Jarod Roland, MD - Department of Neurosurgery

Assistant Professor
Functional MRI, resting state MRI, intracranial electrophysiology, development, plasticity, epilepsy

Erica Scheller - Internal Medicine - Bone & Mineral Diseases

diabetes, fracture risk, advanced imaging, neurobiology, metabolic disease, bone regeneration, biosensors

Srikanth Singamaneni - Mechanical Engineering and Materials Science

Biosensing; bioplasmonics; biopreservation; surface enhanced Raman scattering; plasmon-enhanced fluorescence; point-of-care diagnostics; nano-neuro interactions

Larry Snyder, MD, PhD - Neuroscience

Primate sensory-motor and cognitive neurophysiology; electrophysiological bases and correlates of resting state functional connectivity (rs-fcMRI).

Aristeidis Sotiras, PhD - Radiology

Machine learning; deep learning; image processing; image analysis; data science; neuroimaging; neurodegenerative diseases; neuropsychiatric disorders

Alexander Stegh - Neurosurgery

Genetic program, pathogenesis of glioblastoma, brain tumor research

David Van Essen - Neuroscience

Functional brain-mapping

Shuo Wang - Radiology

Neuroimaging, human single-neuron recordings, eye tracking, human cognitive neuroscience

Yong Wang - Obstetrics & Gynecology

Diffusion MRI and PET imaging; Noninvasive Electrophysiology Imaging; Cancer and Immunotherapy Imaging; Preterm Birth; Alzheimer's disease

Jon Willie, MD - Neurosurgery

Neuromodulation, deep brain stimulation, functional neurosurgery, stereotactic neurosurgery, epilepsy, post-traumatic stress disorder, mood disorders

Dmitriy Yablonskiy - Radiology

Professor of Radiology
applying advanced MRI to link brain genetic and cellular microstructure with brain functioning in healthy people and patients with brain diseases, Alzheimer’s disease and Multiple Sclerosis.