Browse wide-ranging research at the frontiers of neuroscience supported by Wu Tsai Neurosciences Institute grants, awards, and training fellowships.
Projects
Tracking Parkinson’s Disease with transformer models of everyday looking behaviors
It is more common nowadays for people to have their own wearable devices to measure physiological signals like heart rate and respiration to keep track of physical diseases. However, monitoring decline in cognitive functions or development of neurodegenerative diseases, such as Parkinson’s (PD), is still complex and tricky.
Microglia-Mediated Astrocyte Activation in Chronic Pain
While acute pain is an important biological signal in response to injured tissue, chronic pain occurs when the pain signaling outlasts the initial injury and has deleterious effects on health and quality of life. Chronic pain represents an enormous public health burden with few therapeutic options.
High-Fidelity Artificial Retina for Vision Restoration
This team will use their Neuroscience:Translate award to develop a large-scale bi-directional neural interface that will restore high-fidelity vision to people blinded by retinal degeneration.
Programmable RNA editing in Parkinson’s disease therapy
This team will use their Neuroscience:Translate award to employ a novel therapeutic technique to correct pathogenic mutations causing Parkinson’s disease.
New Thrombectomy Device for Endovascular Neurosurgery
This team will use their Neuroscience:Translate award to develop an entirely new class of ischemic stroke treatment device that will lead to improved clot extraction to improve the success of endovascular thrombectomy.
Development of an Ultrasound Neuromodulation Therapy to Treat Rheumatoid Arthritis
This team will use their Neuroscience:Translate award to develop the first wearable ultrasound (US) device for the treatment of inflammatory diseases, such as Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA) and Inflammatory Bowel Disease.
Developing a dopamine and neural systems model of anhedonia
More than 60 million people in the United States currently suffer from a serious mental illness, and the associated financial, productivity and human suffering costs are only projected to rise in the near future.
Cognitive remediation of distraction to reduce striatal dysregulation and improve clinical outcomes for individuals with psychosis
The ability to ignore distracters is impaired for individuals with psychosis. This impairment negatively impacts treatment effectiveness and the ability of individuals with psychosis to function fully.
Simultaneous 15O-PET and MRI of cerebral blood flow and cerebrovascular reserve
Continuous blood flow to the brain is needed for neural tissues to survive. Noninvasive imaging of cerebral blood flow (CBF) in humans is challenging, but is critically useful to understand normal brain physiology and to help patients with cerebrovascular disorders such as stroke.
Determining the microstructural basis of diffusion MRI
The aim of this project is to improve the accuracy and reliability of dMRI fiber tracking through comparison with a gold standard that unambiguously relates the measured water diffusion patterns to the underlying tissue structure.
Sustained release of growth factors from bioengineered synthetic "cells" for treating spinal cord injury
Spinal cord injury (SCI) is a debilitating condition that affects young adults between the ages of 16 and 30, which leads to lifelong medical and financial burdens. SCI still results in a decreased quality-of-life and lower life expectancy for patients. This is due in part to the lack of a regenerative-based therapeutic approach to treating SCI in the clinic.
Multi-modal deep learning for automated seizure localization
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.
A mobile game for domain adaptation and deep learning in autism healthcare (Seed Grant)
Reprogramming organismal lifespan through modulation of neuropeptidergic circuits
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.
Targeting DNA repair for neuroinflammation in stroke
CPStim: Optimized non-invasive brain stimulation for chronic pain
Deep learning for automated seizure localization
Wearable stimulation for sensorimotor rehabilitation
Vibrotactile stimulation provides powerful somatosensory and proprioceptive input to the nervous system.
Mechanisms of myelin membrane expansion
Myelin is the protective covering that surrounds nerve fibers to accelerate communication between different parts of the nervous system. Damage to myelin occurs in diseases such as multiple sclerosis, which compromises nerve signaling and impairs motor and cognitive function.
Optimization of the African killifish platform for rapid drug screening for aggregate based neurodegenerative diseases
Remote reliable measurements of movement using a Bluetooth enabled engineered keyboard solve an unmet need in neurological diseases
This team is developing a device that will enable accurate diagnosis of Parkinson’s disease via telemedicine. They initially introduced the technology of Quantitative DigitoGraphy (QDG) using a repetitive alternating finger tapping (RAFT) task on a musical instrument digital interface (MIDI) keyboard and will use Neuroscience: Translate funding for the next stage of device development.
Topical Hedgehog modulators to enhance motor nerve regeneration after injury and repair
Development and validation of selective novel small molecule therapeutics for Parkinson's Disease
Extended Reality(XR) enhanced behavioral activation for treatment of Major Depressive Disorder
This team has created an extended reality–enhanced implementation of "behavioral activation," one of the most effective forms of evidence-based psychotherapy for major depression. They will use the Neuroscience:Translate award to test the efficacy and scalability of this approach and accelerate the development of extended reality technologies to improve treatment options for major depression.