Funded Projects

Dr. Miguel Garcia believes that identifying the mechanism of myelin wrapping is important in understanding neural development and is a critical first step towards creating much needed therapeutic approaches to stimulate remyelination in patients with demyelinating diseases.

Dr. Iram will use brain intrinsic and systemic regulators of aging, in an attempt to accelerate maturation of human-derived brain organoids. This has the potential to produce the first ever aged human brain 3D cultures and identify factors which accelerate brain aging.

Project's stimulation method may provide a powerful tool to reduce disability after a stroke, and the wearable form factor allows users to receive intensive therapy during their normal daily routine

Developing an automated seizure detection and localization system based on deep neural networks, EEG data, and real-time video with the goal to dramatically increase neurologist diagnostic capabilities while improving quality of care.

Developing a protein-engineered nerve implant that mimics the biochemical and mechanical cues of native tissue in order to enhance the potential for neural regeneration following injury.

Although you’re aware of the light that you see, light also affects us in ways that you might not appreciate. These so called “non-image forming” (NIF) pathways were recently discovered, they start in the human eye before projecting to over a dozen brain regions. They modulate aspects of human function including our daily rhythms, our sleep patterns, the way we feel and the way we think.

Schistosomiasis is a parasitic disease second only to malaria in its human health and economic impact on tropical nations.

The project aims to alleviate this bottleneck by developing a weak supervision system that optimally deals with time-series data and takes advantage of multiple data modalities.

Developing a platform of biocompatible nanoparticles that uncage a drug payload upon ultrasound application.

Behavioral state—such as alertness or exhaustion—dramatically impacts how our brains function. Yet, in spite of the key role that it plays in cognition, how behavioral state influences brain function remains a central mystery in neuroscience.

We propose to design a lightweight, wearable system for integrated ultrasonic drug uncaging and fUS neuroimaging to noninvasively pharmacologically modulate a brain target and then image the resultant changes in neural activity without significant motion limitations.

These tools will enable us to dissect how myelin contributes to specific brain circuits and types of neurons, bringing us closer to a holistic understanding of how cells in the brain collaborate to build a functional nervous system.

We believe our research has the potential of generating transformative results for both neuroscience research and neurological applications, also offering strategies to manipulate key intracellular pathways to prevent gliosis in therapeutic neural implants.

This proposal brings together faculty with this diverse expertise to develop the first gold standard test of auditory-vocal affect. Once developed, validated, and normed, we will deploy this test in the clinical context of autism to quantify impairments and direct neurobiological investigation.

Adaptation to environmental variations is vital for animal survival. While short-lived organisms face unpredictable environmental fluctuations, long-lived animals are subject to regular and generally drastic environmental changes across different seasons.

Communication between cells in the nervous system regulates the senses, memory, and information processing. Using electrical and biochemical sensors, such as patch clamps, voltage-sensitive dyes, and calcium-sensitive dyes, scientists have mapped with extraordinary detail the interactions of the nervous system.

Neural circuits can exhibit remarkable stability (e.g., when supporting long-term memory) as well as flexibility (e.g., when supporting rapid learning).

Meta-learning, an old concept in psychology, is the ability of humans to improve the way they learn with experience.  Our previous experience of learning a skill makes us better at learning another, related skill. For instance, an athlete will learn a new sport faster than someone without the same level of experience in similar learning tasks.

Aging is the number one risk factor for debilitating diseases such as neurodegeneration. Can manipulation of neurons in the brain alter the body’s physiological state to extend lifespan? Neuropeptides are key modulators of short-term homeostasis such as feeding, temperature, and sleep.