Assistant Professor of Biomedical Engineering
Department of Biomedical Engineering
Jacobs School of Medicine & Biomedical Sciences
Alzheimer Disease / Memory Disorders; Bioinformatics; Clinical Neurophysiology; Genomics; Genomics and proteomics; Movement Disorders; Neurodegenerative disorders; Neuroimaging; Neurology; Neuropsychology; Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation
As director of UB’s Neuroengineering and Informatics for Rehabilitation Laboratory (NIRlab), I conduct interdisciplinary research in neural engineering, the application of engineering to neurosciences. My academic and research training in neurotechnology, motor rehabilitation, clinical neurophysiology, and cerebrovascular medicine provides me with the expertise for translational research focused on developing computational models and hardware technologies for neural interfaces to monitor and activate the beneficial neural function.
My research transcends conventional academic boundaries in my overarching goal to treat, cure, and even prevent neurological disorders using ‘electroceuticals’--bioelectronics that stimulates the nervous system. Specifically, my research is directed toward an enhanced understanding of the neurophysiological mechanisms associated with the relearning and/or augmentation of visuomotor function. My special focus on neurorehabilitation uses neuroengineering and informatics to leverage human-machine interfaces. Here, the human brain and body act in concert with biofeedback and multilevel neurostimulation to promote neuroplasticity and lead to neurorestorative therapy. I am developing electroencephalography (EEG) and electromyography (EMG) and near-infrared spectroscopy-based (NIRS) portable multimodal imaging to understand skeletal, muscle, and brain physiology during noninvasive electrical stimulation.
If achieved, the bench-to-bedside translation of electroceuticals, developed through innovations in computational methods and instrumentation, will have a very high societal impact since neurological disorders—e.g., stroke and dementia-- will likely dramatically increase as the world population ages. I collaborate with researchers from industry and academia locally as well as from across the globe in conducting interdisciplinary translational research on neuroaugmentation in health and neurorehabilitation in disease.