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7-1-08 Neurolab welcomes Dr. Christopher Rozell

Welcome to ECE Assistant Professor Christopher Rozell, Ph.D.! Dr. Rozell's work focuses on the use of signal processing to both understand and model how information is processed in sensory neural systems.

Update: Dr. Michelle LaPlaca Elected to AIMBE's College of Fellows

11-12-07 Dr. Garrett Stanley joins Neurolab

We are happy to announce a that Garrett Stanley, Ph.D. has joined the Biomedical Engineering Department as a Associate Professor and as a PI in the Laboratory for Neuroengineering. Dr. Stanley's work focuses on sensory coding in visual and tactile systems, which will introduce a new facet of research in the NeuroLab. We also welcome Garrett back to Tech, where he completed his B.S. degree!

01-31-07 Dr. Lena Ting Receives a 2007 Arthur C. Guyton Award for Excellence in Integrative Physiology

Given by the American Physiological Society, the award recognizes the contributions of Arthur C. Guyton and his interests in feedback control and mathematical modeling of physiological systems. The award is given to an independent investigator who holds an academic rank no higher than assistant professor and is pursuing research that utilizes quantitative and integrative approaches and feedback control system theory for the study of physiological functions. The award recognizes an individual demonstrating outstanding promise based on his/her research program in feedback control systems, quantitative modeling, and integrative physiology. Dr. Ting will be recognized at the APS Business meeting on May 1, 2007 during the Experimental Biology Meeting in Washington DC. Click for More

12-18-06 Dr. Stephen DeWeerth Elected to AIMBE's College of Fellows

The College of Fellows consist of 1,000 individuals who are the outstanding bioengineers in academia, industry and government. These leaders in the field have distinguished themselves through their contributions in research, industrial practice and/or education. AIMBE's College of Fellows is comprised of true trailblazers - men and women who drive change and innovation across a field that has made medical procedures less invasive and more effective, saving lives and improving daily life all around the world. Click for More

12-06-06 Dr. Bellamkonda Named GCC Scholar for 2006-2007

The Georgia Cancer Coalition established the Distinguished Cancer Clinicians and Scientists Program as the cornerstone of its research agenda. The committee evaluates the candidates' achievements relative to securing grant funding, publishing in peer-reviewed journals, giving presentations at scientific meetings and receiving patents for discoveries. Successful candidates carry the title of Distinguished Cancer Scholar, and receive funding ranging from $50,000 - $150,000 per year for five years depending on the level of appointment. Dr. Bellamkonda's honor includes a $150,000 appointment per year for five years. Click for More

10-23-06 Potter group shown as part of BBC-TV's Horizon

The week of Oct 23-29, 2006, BBC-TV aired the episode "Human v2.0" on the BBC Horizon show. It features a range of scientists and pundits on the topic of AI and artificial consciousness, including Ray Kurzweil, Miguel Nicolelis and Henry Markram. The web exclusives have scenes shot in the Potter Lab at Georgia Tech, including the NIDA-funded In Vitro Chemical Reward System, starring former GT BME undergrad Ryan Haynes, and the Art/Science collaboration MEART2: 3D Drawing Prototype, starring GT PhD student Doug Bakkum. The segment also includes the plating neurons on an MEA, with Steve Potter, and a time-lapse of them growing, taken by another GT BME alumnus, John Brumfield. Click for More

10-14-06 Shalini Bumb is a Winner in the 2006 SWE Collegiate Poster Competition

Shalini Bumb, student of Dr. Ravi Bellamkonda, was awarded 2nd place in the Undergraduate Collegiate category at the National SWE Collegiate Poster Competition. All entrants were required to submit an abstract and was scored based on that abstract. There were ten finalists in the undergraduate student category who attended the conference, in Kansas City, MO on October 12 -14, and presented a poster on their research. The finalists received a $250 travel stipend to attend the conference and were recognized at the Celebrate SWE! Awards Banquet held that weekend. Click for More

10-12-06 The Promise of Stem Cells forum to feature Dr. LaPlaca

The MIT Enterprise Forum of Atlanta will host a forum to take a scientific look at embryonic stem cell research and examine its influence on commercial applications in such industries as pharmacology, transgenics, biomedicine and cloning. The forum will feature Dr. Michelle LaPlaca of the NeuroLab as one of the panelists. This event will occur on Thursday, October 12 and will be held at the Georgia Public Broadcasting studios in Midtown. Click for More

08-24-06 AJC reports on Dr. Ting's flamingo research at Zoo Atlanta

The Atlanta Journal Constitution has written an article about new research being conducted by Dr. Lena Ting of the NeuroLab and Dr. Young-Hui Chang of Ga Tech's Applied Physiology department. These two have initiated research into the one-legged standing of flamingos because this represents an ideal case of long-term balance control. It is hoped that this research will aid in the development of prosthetics and improve methods of physical therapy. Click for More

08-22-06 Dr. Stefan Clemens publishes in Neurology

Dr. Stefan Clemens' article "Restless legs syndrome: Revisiting the dopamine hypothesis from the spinal cord perspective" has been published in the July issue of Neurology. As the leading clinical neurology journal worldwide, Neurology is directed to physicians concerned with diseases and conditions of the nervous system. The journal's purpose is to advance the field by presenting new basic and clinical research with emphasis on knowledge that will influence the way neurology is practiced. The journal is at the forefront in disseminating cutting-edge, peer-reviewed information to the neurology community worldwide. Click for More

08-01-06 Animats written up on Wired.com

Wired.com contributor Brandon Keim wrote an article about the Animats research going on in the Potter lab. Animats are cultured mammalian neurons grown on multi-electrode arrays and interfaced to either a robotic body or a computer simulated environment. The Potter group uses this technique as an in vitro method for studying learning and memory. Click for More

07-30-06 Nanotechwire selects article by Dr. Bellamkonda for publication

Dr. Bellamkonda's article "For Anticancer Nanoparticles, Two Targets Are Better than One" has been selected for publication in Nanotechwire. Nanotechwire is one of the leading sources for articles on the internet for nanotechnologies and research. Click for More

07-21-06 DETECT featured on CNN Explorers

CNN has produced an episode of Explorers describing DETECT technology being developed by Dr. Michelle LaPlaca of the Neurolab and Dr. David Wright of Emory University's Emergency Medicine Research Center. DETECT is a portable device which is being used to test for mild traumatic brain injuries. The device can be used on the sidelines of an athletic contest and on the battlefield. Click for More

06-05-06 Congratulations to Dr. Steve Potter

Dr. Potter's article "Persistent dynamic attractors in activity patterns of cultured neuronal networks," published in Physical Review E 73, 051907 (2006), has been selected for the May 15, 2006 issue of Virtual Journal of Biological Physics Research. The Virtual Journal, which is published by the American Physical Society and the American Institute of Physics, is an edited compilation of links to articles covering a focused area of frontier research. Congratulations Dr. Potter! Click for More

05-19-06 Michael Birnbaum Scholars Award

Three BME undergraduates Alex Stroh and Vijal Patel, students in Dr. Ravi Bellamkonda's lab and Shreya Shukla, student in Dr. Todd McDevitt's lab are the inaugural recipients of the Michael Birnbaum Scholars Award. These $1000 awards are given to BME undergraduate students to help support continuation of their post-PURA undergraduate research experience. Congratulations Alex, Vijal and Shreya!

05-08-06 Undergraduate Research Poster Session Honors

Two BME students awarded Undergraduate Research Poster Session Honors. The criteria for the winners were judged on three categories; Appearance, Content and Presentation. Shalini Bumb, student of Dr. Ravi Bellamkonda, was awarded first place in the poster session and Shreya Shukla, student of Dr. Todd McDevitt, was awarded third place. Congratulations Shalini and Shreya!

05-01-06 Dr. Stephen P. DeWeerth Awarded Class of 1934 Outstanding Interdisciplinary Activities Award

The Outstanding Interdisciplinary Activities Award recognizes faculty who have made significant interdisciplinary contributions to teaching and research. The honor includes a $7,500 award made possible through the generosity from the class of 1934. Congratulations Dr. DeWeerth! Click for More

04-11-06 Steven Marzec Awarded Emory University Award of Distinction

Steven Marzec is one of 12 employees receiving the distinguished Emory University Award of Distinction in 2006. Recognized for his significant contribution resulting in increased satisfaction for students, employees and visitors and exceptional contribution which advances and supports the quality of teaching and research. His abilities to coordinate and manage computing resources for a broad range of laboratory groups have continued to lead to department successes in supporting continuously growing research teams and funding. (http://www.bme.gatech.edu/news/index.php)

04-10-06 Radhika Madhavan Wins Women in Science Fellowship

Potter Group Doctorial Researcher Radhika Madhavanwas selected to recieve the Women in science and technology Faculty for the Future award 2006, which is a strategic partnership with the education sector particularly in emerging economies to encourage women in their pursuit of academic careers in science and technology. (http://www.bioengineering.gatech.edu/students/student_news.htm)

03-03-06 Technique writes about Potter Group MEART project

In the March 2006 issue of Technique, Hernando Jimenez describes the collaborative work between the Potter Group and artists at SymbioticA. The collaborative project uses cultured rat cortical neurons to control a remote robotic arm that draws pictures. The article describes the methods used, as well as the information used to drive the generative artwork. Others comment on the mechanisms and implications of finding emergent behavior. In recent decades, new media art has often focused on the relationship between artists and scientists. MEART is an excellent example of the artist-scientist collaboration and the exploration of creativity. The full article can be found here.

02-17-06 Dr. Lena Ting Awarded a Junior Faculty Teaching Excellence Award

CETL/BP Junior Faculty Teaching Excellence Award recognizes junior faculty that have demonstrated excellence in some, if not all, of the following characteristics: educational innovations, connections between research and teaching, educational outreach beyond the classroom and laboratory, teaching excellence in core classes, required classes, and large classes, accessibility to all students, even those who were not performing well in the class, impact on students' lives, beyond the classroom, passion about teaching and learning and good Georgia Tech citizenship. (http://www.bme.gatech.edu/news/index.php)

12-01-05 Autumn Schumacher Wins Martha N. Hill Award

Lee Group Postdoctoral NeuroLab Alumni Autumn Schumacher, PhD, RN is the 2005 Martha N. Hill New Investigator Award Winner for work she did while a member of the Neurolab. Dr. Schumacher is currently employed at the Medical College of Georgia in Augusta. Her presentation was entitled "Autonomic Receptor Activation Does Not Promote Nonlinear Dynamic Stationarity of Ventricular Fibrillation."(http://www.americanheart.org/presenter.jhtml?identifier=1621)

11-21-05 Mahesh Chandra Dodla Wins Society For Biomaterials Award

Bellamkonda Group Doctorial Researcher Mahesh Chandra Dodla has been selected to receive the Society for Biomaterials 2006 Student Award for Outstanding Research in the PhD Candidate category. (http://www.biomaterials.org/Awards/award_06.htm)

11-09-05 Michael Ryan Hanes Wins Marshall Scholarship

Potter Group Undergrad Researcher Michael Ryan Haynes has won a Marshall Scholarship. This prestigious 2-year award from the British Government allows the winner to study at the UK university of their choice. (http://www.marshallscholarship.org/)

The scholarship will allow him to spend a year at Cambridge, then a year at Imperial College London, for a Masters in neuroscience and health-related nanotechnology, such as developing new MRI contrast agents.

Read more on the GT web site ( http://www.gatech.edu/news-room/release.php?id=701 )

08-01-05 Rob Butera appointed to COE Interdisciplinary Bioengineering Graduate Program Chair

College of Engineering Dean Don Giddens has appointed Rob Butera as the new program chair of the Interdisciplinary Bioengineering Graduate Program. Rob will begin the transition to this new position during the next few weeks, but remains as a full-time ECE faculty member and will serve as chair of ECE's bioengineering technical interest group.

The Interdisciplinary Bioengineering Graduate Program is administered within the College of Engineering. Currently, eight schools participate in recruiting students to the program: ECE, BME, ME, ChBE, MSE, AE, PTFE, and CoC, with more schools to be added. Participating faculty are from these schools, as well as the Schools of Biology and Applied Physiology.

03-29-05 Yinghui Zhong earns 'Journal of Neural Engineering Award 2005'

Yinghui is a member of the Bellamkonda Group, and her winning paper is entitled, "A Novel Dexamethasone-releasing, Anti-inflammatory Coating for Neural Implants". It was accepted to the 2nd International IEEE EMBS Conference on Neural Engineering 2005. The authors are Yinghui Zhong, George C. McConnell, James D. Ross, Stephen P. DeWeerth, and Ravi V. Bellamkonda.

02-24-05 Biomedical engineering professors LaPlaca and Bellamkonda promoted

Join us in congratulating Michelle LaPlaca on her promotion to Associate Professor with tenure, and Ravi Bellamkonda on his promotion to Professor with tenure! There will be a reception for them at a time TBA.

02-21-05 Steve Potter to give Tuesday Talk at GT Library

His talk, entitled "Hybrots: Using Cultured Neurons to Control Robots & Study Learning," will take place on Tuesday, February 22nd at 2pm in the Wilby Room of the GT Library. All Tuesday Talks are free, and refreshments are provided. Click for More

02-18-05 Potter Group in February issue of The Economist.

The work of Potter Group members Steve Potter and Radhika Madhavan, along with collaborators Daniel Waganaar of Caltech and Robert Gross of Emory, is described in an article entitled "Quieting the brain, opening the mind." Future therapeutic implications of their efforts to control neural bursting may include treatment of epilepsy with embedded electrodes. Full text in Potter Group press page.

01-20-05 New site design!

The new site design is here, and should be more representative of NeuroLab, easier to read, easier to navigate, and be generally more usable. Hopefully it looks good too. From the project plan of site designer Dave McColgin:

Administratively, the Laboratory for Neuroengineering (NeuroLab) is comprised of four departments: two engineering programs at Georgia Tech, the neuroscience program at Emory, and a joint biomedical engineering program. While most of its members come from these or similar backgrounds, the lab's interdisciplinary work includes people with a variety of other skill sets. NeuroLab stands out from similar laboratories with its unusual strength in engineering and its integration with science. It is also rare for labs of comparable size to have as many as seven primary investigators working together. These relationships should be clear in the web site. Cutting edge technology is both a goal and a tool of research in NeuroLab, and should be highlighted in their online presence. Overall, the lab's energy and ambition should come across in the design, but should be backed up with the rigorous research that keeps them at the top of their field. Much progress has been made in new and updated content generation using a format that, while functional, seems too rigid and template-like to represent NeuroLab well. The redesign was initiated for aesthetic changes. Thus, the primary goal is to generate a global look and feel that reflects NeuroLab's outstanding qualities and encourages visitors to dig deeper into the site's resources.

08-25-04 NeuroLab grad student and group win first round of biotechnology competition

Congratulations to Chris Lessing and his group of BME graduate students! They have been selected to compete against three other North American teams in Scotland to develop the best biotechnology business plan. They have proposed development of an adhesive "that draws on the genetic mechanisms spiders use to control the protein composition of their treads." The competition is sponsored by the British government, and is entitled Biotechnology Young Entrepreneurs Scheme, or YES. The winner will go on to the finals in London and receive a cash prize. All groups will get expert advice on their business plan. Chris is in Dr. Michelle LaPlaca's research group. Read more about the team and the competition here. Good luck!

08-02-04 NeuroLab discussed on NeuroTechReports.com

In an article titled "New Microdevices Enable Fluidic Interface with Brain," Warren Grill discusses how our own Laboratory for Neuroengineering as well as the University of Michigan's neural engineering laboratory are building microfluidic interfaces with living cells. Potential applications include discrete targeting of pharmaceuticals to the brain areas that need them, and not the ones that don't. Full text.

07-30-04 Professor Stephen DeWeerth steps up to Associate Chair for Graduate Studies in BME

Dr. DeWeerth's new position as Associate Chair was recommended last spring by the Wallace H. Coulter Department of Biomedical Engineering Administrative Review. Congratulations!

07-23-04 Dr. Lena Ting and Dr. Robert Lee contribute to MATLAB News and Notes

In an article titled "Teaching Physiology with Simulink," Drs. Ting and Lee discuss how Simulink is implemented in graduate coursework to explore and then build physiological models, from drug metabolism to pain modulation. PDF

06-29-04 Dr. Steve Potter receives 2-year, $200,000 grant from National Institute on Drug Abuse

The proposal, entitled "Chemical Reward Systems for Embodied Cultured Networks" was accepted into NIDA's Cutting-Edge Basic Research Awards program. The grant will fund building systems to allow cultured networks to give themselves chemical neuromodulators. The idea is to study the cellular and network effects of drug-abuse related neurochemicals such as dopamine, norepinephrine, and acetylcholine. Network activity will be used to control location and timing of delivery of potentially reinforcing chemicals, using our closed-loop real-time systems.

06-21-04 Dr. LaPlaca featured in The Scientist article, "Tissue engineering advances central and peripheral nervous system repair" by Aileen Constans

Registered users can find the full text here. Excerpt: "Stem cell-based approaches such as Stupp's are gaining momentum in neural tissue engineering. Georgia Tech biomedical engineer Michelle LaPlaca develops injectable methylcellulose-laminin hydrogels that serve as a scaffold for neural stem cells. The gels are designed to be minimally invasive. 'In traumatic injury and other acute [CNS] injuries, you often have very irregularly shaped defects in the tissue, whether it be a cyst in the spinal cord or in an infarct in the brain. A minimally invasive gel would let you fill the space without opening up the brain or the spinal cord,' says LaPlaca."

Our multiphoton microscope05-07-04 Neurolab Multiphoton Microscope Delivers its First Image

Komal Rambini and primary faculty Dr. Steve Potter were on hand when the Neurolab Muiltiphoton Microscope delivered it's first image. The Multiphoton Microscope (picture at right) has been under construction for 18 months, and its inaugural image was of pollen. Komal will continue to refine the Microscope and it will soon be used to image living neurons. CBN Postdoc Mark Booth also made substantial contributions to the ongoing project, as did Edgar Brown and Ivan for their help with electronics! The project is funded by the Georgia Research Alliance, which we have the Georgia Lottery to thank for. If you bought a lottery ticket, then thanks to you too!

04-12-04 Dr. Lena Ting Awarded First Annual Best Professor Award

The first graduating class of Biomedical Engineering students have recognized Dr. Lena Ting as the Best Professor of the 2003-2004 Academic Year. Dr. Ting is described to be always encouraging, and wanting her students to succeed. She teaches BMED 3400 Introduction to Biomechanics, and BMED 8120 Physiologic Systems.

04-12-04 Dr. Lena Ting Awarded $1.1 million NIH Grant

Dr. Lena Ting has been awarded a 5 year NIH grant from the National Institute of Child Heath and Human Development (NICHD) to develop models of neuromuscular control of balance. The project is funded by an NICHD initiative in "Biomechanical Modeling of Movement" to encourage researchers to construct biomechanical models that enable the diagnosis of movement disorders and predict the outcome of clinical interventions. The results will have important implications in neural control of movement, rehabilitation and neural prosthetic design. Dr. Tom Burkholder (GT Applied Physiology), Dr. Richard Nichols (Emory Physiolgy) and Dr. Jane Macpherson (Oregon Health and Science University) are co-investigators on the grant.

Neurolab initiates IGERT award for highly qualified students

The Georgia Institute of Technology and Emory University are proud to offer the IGERT program of graduate training focused on the creation of systems that integrate living neural tissue with engineered components through the integration of microelectronics/computing technology and microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) with the study of cellular and systems neuroscience. The combination of these two previously disparate disciplines, has great potential for impacting research and applications ranging from the treatment of disease to the implementation of artificial systems inspired by biology. The realization of such far-reaching goals is limited under other educational programs. The IGERT program addresses these limitations by providing an environment that integrates the underlying disciplines fundamentally through a combination of educational infrastructure and interdisciplinary research opportunities. For more information on this award, please refer to our IGERT page.

NeuroLab students presenting research in Australia

Three NeuroLab students, Sarah Stabenfeldt (BE, Dr. LaPlaca), Ryan Gilbert (BME, Dr. Bellamkonda), and Justin Saul (BME, Dr. Bellamkonda) have been selected for oral presentation of their research at the World Biomaterials Conference to be held in May 2004 in Sydney Australia.

Dr. Bellamkonda invited to be editor of new journal

NeuroLab faculty member Dr. Ravi Bellamkonda has been invited to join the Editorial Board of a new journal, "Journal of Neural Engineering" ( http://www.iop.org/EJ/jne ).

Dr. Bellamkonda awarded 4-year $1 million NIH grant

Dr. Ravi Bellamkonda was recently awarded a new four year NIH grant from NIDCD to develop neuro-integrative coatings for multi-electrode arrays. The award totals $1,057,241 and will help facilitate stable chronic in-vivo recordings using multi-electrode arrays. Dr. Robert Lee is co-investigator on this grant and other collaborators include Andy Schwartz ( University of Pittsburgh ), David Kleinfeld (UCSD) and Andrew Rollins (CWRU).

NeuroLab highlighted in Atlanta Journal Constitution article

In an article in the November 7th issue of the AJC, reporter David Wahlberg writes about the work of NeuroLab, with a special focus on Dr. Steve DeWeerth's projects. It also discusses collaboration across institutions and the medical potential from NeuroLab's research. The full article is available in PDF format here. (Published with permission of the Atlanta Journal Constitution).

IEEE Intelligent Systems writes about Potter Group MEART project

In the September/October 2003 issue of Intelligent Systems, Danna Voth describes the collaborative work between the Potter Group and artists at SymbioticA. The collaborative project uses cultured rat cortical neurons to control a remote robotic arm that draws pictures. The article describes the methods used, as well as the information used to drive the generative artwork. Others comment on the mechanisms and implications of finding emergent behavior. In recent decades, new media art has often focused on the relationship between artists and scientists. MEART is an excellent example of the artist-scientist collaboration and the exploration of creativity. The full article can be found here.

Neuro grad students help make science hands-on for high schoolers

Neurolab students helped organize a high school open house dubbed "Buzz on Technology." The goal of the high school open house was to increase high school students' understanding of biotechnology techniques and areas of BME research. Students from 85 high schools were invited, and about 180 students participated on September 21st, a marked increase from last year's 80 students. Activities included hands-on demonstrations, lab tours, and technical demonstrations (i.e., confocal microscopy and mass spectrometry). Neuro demos included: brain injury awareness, biomechanics of balance, and muscle-generated electricity to power propeller caps. All involved agree that Buzz on Technology was an enormous success. More on the GTEC newsletter. For Picures of this event, check the GTEC website.

Neurolab Student wins "Best Paper" Competition

Michael Sorensen won the student paper competition at the 25th Annual International Conference of the IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society for his original paper "Control of Bursting Activity with an Intrinsic Current in a Hybrid Half-Center Oscillator". Michael is a student of Dr. Steve DeWeerth in the department of Biomedical Engineering. This work would not have been possible without the immense help and support of Dr. DeWeerth and Drs. Ron Calabrese and Gennady Cymbalyuk of Emory University.

Six Neuro Faculty are to attend the Society for Neuroscience conference in New Orleans

Several of the Neuro faculty are preparing to attend the 33rd annual Society for Neuroscience meeting in New Orleans. The following is a list of abstracts of the Laboratory for Neuroengineering faculty attending this meeting:

Lena Ting Awarded prestigious Whitaker grant for Neuromechanical Determinants of Postural Responses

This project will develop experimental and theoretical tools for investigating the time-varying relationship between body biomechanics and neuromuscular coordination during balance control. We hypothesize that sensorimotor processes continually modify muscle activity in response to the acceleration, velocity, and displacement of the body's center of mass during perturbations to balance. Our study is designed to answer three yet-unanswered questions relevant to clinical characterization of balance impairments: How rapidly can an ongoing postural response be modified following a change in perturbation characteristics? How do biomechanical properties of the perturbation and the body affect time-varying characteristics of the postural response? How do ongoing voluntary and involuntary movements influence postural responses? We will develop an experimental device to apply novel, dynamically changing perturbations to the support surface. We will also develop computer simulations of the interactions between body biomechanics postural responses, to determine which perturbation features contribute to temporal changes in muscle activity patterns. This combined experimentation and modeling approach will allow us to dissect out the interdependent influences of sensory, motor, and biomechanical factors on postural stability. This work will significantly advance our understanding of the mechanisms underlying postural control in the natural environment, and we believe that the data derived from these analyses will form the foundation for the development of more rational, novel, and effective interventional tools to reduce the deleterious effects of falls among older adults. Our work will also provide a new foundation for the design of prosthetic and robotic devices that assist balance control.