Research within WITNe is conducted across labs that communicate openly. Our engineering researchers, medical researchers and medical practitioners work closely together, sharing knowledge, resources, people, collaborator networks, animal models, grant support, access to industry contacts, training opportunities and increased visibility.
WILLIAMS LAB
Justin Williams
Vilas Distinguished Achievement Professor
Department of Biomedical Engineering and Department of Neurological Surgery
MISSION
Develop new devices for recording from and stimulating neural tissue that are both safe and durable for long-term implantation, as well as safe for use in humans and animals; plus, validate the use of these new devices in animal models and human patients.
WHAT WE’RE UP TO
- Developing new devices for recording from and stimulating neural tissue
- Designing these devices to be both durable for long-term implantation and safe for use in humans and animals
- Using these technologies in a variety of situations, from use in a basic physiology lab recording from single neurons, to clinical settings where people with motor disabilities might benefit from a brain-computer interface or other neural prosthetic communication device
LUDWIG LAB
Kip Ludwig
Associate Professor, Biomedical Engineering
Neuroengineering Lead, Grainger Institute for Engineering
MISSION
Translate next generation neuromodulation therapies to highjack the nervous system to treat circuit dysfunction and deliver biomolecules to target areas with unprecedented precision.
WHAT WE’RE UP TO
- Acute and longitudinal benchtop characterization of new minimally invasive neural interfaces based on proven experience supporting FDA regulatory submissions
- The application of cutting-edge optical tools in rodents to better understand and design clinical neuromodulation interfaces
- Comprehensively instrumented swine model to refine new neuromodulation strategies at human anatomical scale in order to assess effects and side effects
- Detailed functional and post-mortem anatomical evaluation across animal and human experimental models to reduce the time to translation of new concepts
SUMINSKI/LAKE LAB
Aaron Suminski
Senior Scientist, Department of Neurological Surgery
Wendell Lake
Assistant Professor, Department of Neurological Surgery
MISSION
Understand how neuromodulation therapies regulate neural activity both in close proximity to the stimulating electrodes and in neural circuits receiving projections from the site of stimulation.
WHAT WE’RE UP TO
- Optimizing patient outcomes following implantation of neuromodulation therapies using advance imaging techniques and electrophysiology
- Investigating the mechanisms of action for neuromodulation therapies using experimental models across the translational spectrum from basic science in rodent models to clinically translatable research in large animal models and human patients
HAI LAB
Aviad Hai
Assistant Professor, Department of Biomedical Engineering
Fellow, Grainger Institute for Engineering
MISSION
Engineer minimally invasive tools to access the nervous systems for neurobiological studies of brain function.
WHAT WE’RE UP TO
- Developing nanoscale electrochemical and electromagnetic sensors for recording neurophysiological activity and neurotransmitter in the brain
- Combining them with neuroimaging modalities such as functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging
- Using microelectronic fabrication, nanolithography, and surface chemistry techniques, together with in vitro and in vivo animal models to establish our technologies for clinical applications in neurology
LOCI LAB
Kevin Eliceiri
Director and Principal Investigator, Laboratory for Optical and Computational Instrumentation (LOCI) Laboratory
Associate Professor, Department of Medical Physics and Department of Biomedical Engineering
MISSION
Develop advanced optics and computational techniques for imaging and experimentally manipulating living specimens
WHAT WE’RE UP TO
- Computational optics research
- Imaging the cellular microenvironment of wound healing models
- Developing software tools such as FIIJI for 3D visualization analysis