Abstract: There is currently a concerted effort to develop technologies to record and stimulate neural activity across the entire volume of the mammalian brain. Recent engineering advancements have propelled electrode- and optical-based devices, achieving nanometer scale spatial resolution and impressive signal-to-noise ratio and temporal response. However, these probes usually require tethered connections and provide access to relatively small areas in the nervous system. Developing modalities to access the entire brain for direct recording and stimulation of neural signals, will allow neuroscientists and neurologists to study and treat the brain network directly and as a whole, and is expected to elevate brain science and medicine to new heights. I will describe the development of wireless, implantable electronic probes that are able to transduce electromagnetic fields in the brain, as well as the application of molecular agents for large volume in vivo measurements of neurotransmitter dynamics in live mammals. These strategies pave the way towards functional studies of neural activity across wide brain regions with molecular and electrophysiological specificity.

Bio: Dr. Aviad Hai is a neuroengineer and a neuroscientist whose group focuses on developing implantable and injectable agents for accessing the nervous system—towards achieving a broader understanding of brain function. Dr. Hai is the recipient of the 2020 NIH Director’s New Innovator award, the NIH NIBIB Mentored Research Scientist Development Award (K01), 2024 NSF EAGER award, a long-term fellowship from the European Molecular Biology Organization (EMBO) and a fellowship from the Edmond & Lily Safra Center for Brain Sciences. In 2019, Dr. Hai joined the Department of Biomedical Engineering at the University of Wisconsin-Madison as an assistant professor in 2019, where his group is developing cutting edge electrical, magnetic, and electromagnetic sensors for large-scale recording and stimulation of brain activity. Dr. Hai received his Ph.D. from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem under the guidance of Prof. Micha Spira (Neurobiology) and Prof. Joseph Shappir (Electrical Engineering), where he pioneered nano-scale devices for multiplexed recording of neuronal intracellular signals. He later joined Prof. Alan Jasanoff at the department of Biological Engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where he developed wireless implantable sensors that detect electromagnetic fields in the brain, and molecular technologies for direct imaging of neurotransmitter dynamics across large volumes of the brain. His efforts cohere with the goal of providing neuroscientists and neurologists with a complete toolbox for understanding and modulating electrical and neurochemical activity across the entire volume of the brain in parallel.

_~ BME Host: Krishna Jayant _~

BME Historic Quote of the Week:  "If you don't know the history of your field, you won't know if you have discovered something new." - Leslie A. Geddes, founder of Biomedical Engineering at Purude, est. 1974

Zoom link:  https://us02web.zoom.us/j/81438777812?pwd=VfUbYTUYnTdW3KDQ2JCAP08toFHE9A.1