People
Stephen P. DeWeerth, Professor
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Professor
Wallace H. Coulter Department of Biomedical Engineering
School of Electrical and Computer Engineering
Georgia Tech/Emory University
3107 UA Whitaker Bldg
313 Ferst Drive NE
Atlanta, Georgia 30332-0535
Phone: 404.894.4738
Fax: 404.385.5044
Email: steve.deweerth@gatech.edu
B.A., Mathematics/Chemistry, Wartburg College (Waverly, IA), 1985
M.S., Computer Science, California Institute of Technology, 1987
Ph.D., Computation and Neural Systems, California Institute of Technology, 1991
Staff
 Edgar Brown, Research Engineer |
Current Graduate Students
Liang Guo
Joined 2005, Bioengineering (BME) Ph.D. program
Homepage
My current research is devoted to tissue-level neural interfacing using novel PDMS-based conformable microelectrode arrays (MEAs). While having developed reliable and easy-to-use PDMS-based conformable MEA technologies for multichannel neural/muscular surface recording and stimulation, I am trying to explore more neural/muscular mysteries that can only be revealed from data with a high dimensionality, and to engineer novel neural prostheses that can only be enabled by the conformable MEA technologies. My hope is that the PDMS-based conformable MEA technologies will provide neuroscientists with a new tool to study the nervous systems, and provide biomedical engineers with a new capability to address challenging neurological and neuromuscular diseases through novel neural prosthetics.
JoAnna Todd
Joined 2005, Biomedical Engineering Ph.D. program
Research
Michelle Kuykendal
Joined 2006, Bioengineering (ECE) Ph.D. program
I am investigating our ability to selectively stimulate tissue in vitro. To do this I image neural activity via calcium-sensitive fluorescence dyes to understand how extracellular electrical stimulation excites cultured cortical tissue. I use this technique to explore new stimulus waveforms that will enable us to localize excitation both spatially and temporally. This work can greatly improve our ability to target tissues and networks to ultimately aid in clinical applications such as epilepsy treatment and DBS or surface cortical stimulation.
Chris Tuthill
Joined 2006, Biomedical Engineering Ph.D. program
Research
Dustin Li
Joined 2007, Bioengineering (ECE) Ph.D. program
Homepage
I am using hybrid neural microsystems to investigate the effect of sensory feedback on motor patterns. I am currently integrating crayfish electrophysiology with mechanical systems to explore how resonance tuning occurs beyond simulation, in situ. These results will be used to advance biological control of robots.
Sarah Steinmetz
Joined 2007, Bioengineering (BME) Ph.D. program
I am investigating the muscle activation patterns generated in the sandfish, a sand swimming lizard, as it locomotes subsurface. By changing the properties of the granular media through which it swims, I hope to discover how sensory feedback changes the neural signal generated in order to optimize performance. This work may be used to advance the actuation strategy of robotic systems when navigating complex media.
Research
Keith Van Antwerp
Joined 2007, Bioengineering (ME) Ph.D. program
I use standing balance as a paradigm to study how the central nervous system controls movement of the body. I do this by perturbing the support surface (the floor) of humans and animals, measuring their muscle activity, forces and joint angles. I hope to tease out biomechanical and neural strategies used in animal movement. In addition, I use computational models to provide further insight and experimental guidance in problems of neural control of movement. Hopefully, my research will inspire novel robotic control strategies, prosthetics and orthotics, and result in a deeper understanding of movement disorders.
Wafa Soofi
Joined 2008, Biomedical Engineering Ph.D. program
Research
Aaron Hughes
Joined 2008, ECE Ph.D. program
Aaron Hughes is currently performing a rotation in the DeWeerth lab as part of the IGERT Hybrid Neural Microsystems program. Presently, he is integrating two systems designed by former PhD students in the lab, in an attempt to create a mechanical dynamic clamp system that couples an isolated muscle to a robotic device. This new system will be used in experiments that analyze the tuning of neuromechanical dynamics during standing balance control as well as during rhythmic movement. The "robot+muscle" system will complement human balance and movement studies and will allow the lab to investigate the effects of actual muscle properties on neuromechanical dynamics. The principles revealed by this work will form a novel and necessary framework for interpreting scientific studies in the neural control of movement, designing compliant and multifunctional robots to interact with humans and/or dynamic environments, developing neural prosthetics devices, and interpreting changes in movement patterns in motor dysfunction.
Current Undergraduate Students
Laura Kitashima
Joined 2009, Electrical Engineering
Mentor: Liang Guo
Undergraduate Research Scholars Program
I am working with Liang Guo on digitally processing signals recorded using conformable microelectrode arrays. Ultimately, we hope to be able to detect a signal from one nerve, process that signal, and then accurately transmit the signal to another nerve. Currently, we are experimenting using frog muscles and nerves. These results will be applied to vocal cord disorders.
Srinija Konduru
Joined 2009
Mentor: Liang Guo
Siddharth Tantia
Joined 2009
Mentor: Liang Guo
Hubert Pan
Joined 2009, Biomedical Engineering
Mentor: Dustin Li
Blake Vanderwood
Joined 2009
Mentor: Michelle Kuykendal
Alumni
| Kartik Sundar |
BioE Ph.D., 2009 |
Bain & Company |
| Stefan Clemens |
Research Faculty, 2004-2008 |
East Carolina University |
| Kathleen W. Meacham |
BME Ph.D., 2008 |
Medical student, Emory University School of Medicine |
| James D. Ross |
BioE Ph.D., 2008 |
Nanogrip, Axion |
| Shane A. Migliore |
ECE Ph.D., 2007 |
Research Engineer, Sandia National Laboratory, New Mexico |
| A. Scott Buscemi |
M.S., 2007 |
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| Jevin Scrivens |
BioE Ph.D., 2007 |
Research Engineer, Mako Surgical Corp. |
| Richard A. Blum |
ECE Ph.D., 2007 |
Research Engineer, Integrated Device Technology, Inc. |
| Michael S. Reid |
ECE Ph.D., 2006 |
Research Engineer, IBM |
| Carrie Williams |
BME Ph.D., 2006 |
Postdoc @ Emory |
| Michael Sorenson |
BioE Ph.D., 2005 & Postdoctoral Fellow, 2005 |
President, Simatra Technologies |
| Samir Das |
M.S., 2005 |
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| Julian Alex Bragg |
BioE Ph.D., 2002 |
Resident, Department of Neurology, Emory University |
| Mario F. Simoni |
ECE Ph.D., 2002 |
Assistant Professor, RoseHulman Institute of Technology |
| Tina M. Hudson |
ECE Ph.D., 2000 |
Assistant Professor, RoseHulman Institute of Technology |
| Mara Carey |
M.S., 2000 |
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| Joseph Fernald |
M.S., 1999 |
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| Jason Meeks |
M.S., 1999 |
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| Girish N. Patel |
ECE Ph.D., 1998 |
Research Engineer, Microtune, Inc. |
| Clinton D. Knight |
ECE Ph.D., 1998 |
Engineering Manager, IBM |
| Tonia G. Morris |
ECE Ph.D., 1996 |
Engineering Manager, Intel Corporation |
| Denise M. Wilson |
ECE Ph.D., 1995 |
Associate Professor, University of Washington |
| Brannon Harris |
M.S., 1995 |
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