Research Collaborations
Jeff Ojemann (Neurosurgery), Rajesh Rao (CSE), Yoky Matsuoka (CSE) and Emo Todorov (CSE/Applied Math) are collaborating on NSF and NIH funded projects on ECoG and EEG-based brain-computer interfaces.
Jeff Ojemann (Neurosurgery) and Eb Fetz (PBIO) are collaborating on an LSDF funded project on stimulation-induced plasticity in humans and non-human primates using a recurrent brain-computer interface.
Kristi Morgansen (UW Aero/Astro) is the lead of a new ONR MURI on bio-inspired agile flight for which Tom Daniel (UW Biology) is a CoPI. (title: AIRFOILS: Animal Inspired Robust Flight with Inner and Outer Loop Strategies)
Kristi Morgansen (UW Aero/Astro) and Tom Daniel (UW Biology) are collaborating on an AFOSR proposal currently in review studying agile flight and sensing in biological systems with translation to engineered systems.
Alan Borning (CSE), Batya Friedman (iSchool), and Tadayoshi Kohno (CSE) are collaborating on an NSF-funded project concerning implantable medical device security and stakeholder values. The focus thus far has been on cardiac devices.
Karen May-Newman (SDSU-ME) and Andrew Szeto (SDSU-ECE) are co-investigators of an NSF grant (CBET-0649998) aimed at developing assistive technology with teams of engineering students. Prior projects include a winchtop grinder and a cabin lift for disabled sailors, and a campus navigation aid for blind pedestrians. Activities from this effort has been highlighted in NSF Press Releases 05-116, 05-127 (http://www.nsf.gov/news/news_summ.jsp?cntn_id=104291&org=NSF&from=news, http://www.nsf.gov/news/news_summ.jsp?cntn_id=104322 ).
Bill Moody (UW, Biology) and Adrienne Fairhall (UW, Physiology & Biophysics) are collaborating on a project using white noise stimulation of single cortical neurons to elucidate how single neuron firing properties early in development can lead to spontaneous waves of electrical activity in the brain. NIH funding for this project is pending with a score likely to receive funding.
Tom Daniel (UW), Joel Voldman (MIT) and Jeff Lang (MIT) are collaborating on a DARPA project aimed at developing technologies for functional electrical stimulation of nerve cords.
Adrienne Fairhall (UW, Physiology and Biophysics) and Fred Rieke (UW, Physiology and Biophysics) have collaborated on a project aimed at understanding the multiple timescales of retinal adaptation to changes in stimulus statistics in terms of statistical inference.
Tom Daniel (UW, Biology) and Adrienne Fairhall (UW, Physiology and Biophysics) have collaborated on a study of the encoding properties of biological gyroscopic sensors.
Eric Shea-Brown (UW, Applied Math) and Fred Rieke (UW, PBio) collaborate on studies of correlated activity and neural coding and have submitted a joint grant on this work.
Kristi Morgansen collaborates with Sheryl Burgstahler on her AccessStem2 grant to make science and engineering more accessible to non-traditional students.
Emo Todorov, Chet Moritz and Eb Fetz are collaborating on FES control of monkey arm and hand muscles.
Emo Todorov and Zoran Popovic are collaborating on collecting rich experimental data from natural and perturbed human walking (and other full-body movements) and building computational models using optimal control theory.
Emo Todorov and Yoky Matsuoka are collaborating on an NSF EFRI project on studying human hand manipulation experimentally, and designing control algorithms that can achieve similar performace using state-of-the-art robotic hands.
Michael Shadlen (UW, PBio) and Eric Shea-Brown (UW, Applied Math) collaborate on modeling the neural mechanisms by which sensory inputs are integrated over time in decision tasks.
Steve Perlmutter and Eb Fetz collaborate on projects a) to elucidate the role of the spinal cord in the control of voluntary hand and arm movements, and b) to explore the potential of cortically-driven spinal stimulation to produce plasticity in corticospinal pathways.
Chet Moritz and Steve Perlmutter collaborate on a project to study the use of spinal stimulation to promote functional recovery after spinal cord injury.
Howard Chizeck (EE,UW) and Chet Moritz (UW) are collaborating in research involving the design of novel brain-machine interface decoding methods involving small numbers of neurons, in ways that leverage the effects of neural plasticity. They are also investigating the potential benefits of local feedback BMI-controlled devices.
Blake Hannaford (EE, UW) and Howard Chizeck (EE, UW) are developing new control algorithms and software methods for cyberphysical systems. In particular, research involving robotic surgery control that takes into account the nonlinear properties of tissue is supported by NSF grant CNS-0930930 CPS Small: Control of Surgical Robots: Network Layer to Tissue Contact.
Brian Otis (EE, UW) and Chet Moritz (PBIO, UW) are working on deploying low power wireless sensors for recording various electrophysiological signals (neural, EMG, etc).
Janet Powell is collaborating with Yoky Matsuoka on the development of robotic interventions for upper limb dysfunction following acquired brain injury.
Kee Moon and Karen May-Newman (SDSU-ME) have co-advised teams of undergraduates to design an assistive knee brace for patients with knee injury or weakness of the quadriceps muscles.
Magdalena Balazinska (CSE) and Shwetak Patel (CSE) are collaborating on an NSF-funded project on sensor-based community elder. The project is developing new activity sensing infrastructures and a new data stream analysis engine to support at-home elder monitoring and care.
Educational Collaborations
Rajesh Rao (CSE, UW) and Adrienne Fairhall (PBIO, UW) have been collaborating over the past five years in developing and teaching CSE 528/Neubeh 528, a cross-disciplinary graduate-level course in computational neuroscience for students across the colleges of Engineering and Arts & Sciences.
Jeff Ojemann (Neurosurgery), Rajesh Rao (CSE) and Yoky Matsuoka (CSE) are co-supervising Bioengineering graduate student Tim Blakeley.
Rajesh Rao (CSE) and Jeff Ojemann (Neurosurgery) are co-supervising Neurobiology graduate student Kai Miller.
Adrienne Fairhall (UW, PBio) and Eric Shea-Brown (UW, Applied Math) collaborate in a number of activities to educate students and postdocs in computational neuroscience, including joint lab meetings inclusive of a wider group, a weekly journal reading group and a seminar series featuring invited speakers and presentations from faculty, students and postdocs at UW.
Adrienne Fairhall, Mike Shadlen and Fred Rieke (all UW, PBio) co-teach a course titled "Computational Methods in Neuroscience." Enrollment includes neurobiology, computer science and applied math graduate students. For more info see http://rieke-server.physiol.washington.edu/People/Fred/Classes/545/545.html
As part of their ONR MURI on bioinspired agile flight, Kristi Morgansen and Tom Daniel will be running a summer school on Bioinspired Agile Flight for the next five summers.
Karen May-Newman teaches a graduate course in medical device design with an emphasis on innovation and FDA design control. Past design projects include an angioplasty catheter and spinal implants. This is an interdisciplinary course open to all Engineering graduate students.
Industry Collaborations
Rajesh Rao, Jeff Ojemann, and Yoky Matsuoka have been collaborating with Desney Tan at Microsoft Research in a project on "Cortically-coupled computing" funded by Microsoft's external research program.
Graduate students from Rajesh Rao's laboratory have interned at Desney Tan's laboratory in Microsoft Research, resulting in several joint industry-university publications.
Jaideep Mavoori (EE, UW and now at Neurovista) and Chris Diorio (Impinj) were responsible for the development of Neurochip at UW.
Bill Moody (UW, Biology) led a software development team funded by NSF to create NerveWorks, a neurobiology educational software package that realistically simulates single neuron recording experiments. This was developed with and licensed to SimBiotic Software.
Graduate students from Kristi Morgansen's laboratory have interned at the Seattle Intel Research Lab on sensor development, resulting in several publications.
Kristi Morgansen has received funding and hardware from the Seattle Intel Research Lab to pursue inertial measurement unit sensor development.
Community Outreach Collaborations
As part of Sheryl Burgstahler's AccessSTEM2 grant, Kristi Morgansen periodically hosts activities in her lab for disabled students to introduce them to engineering activities.