ESE Seminar: “Magnetic technologies for battery-free bioelectronics and neuromodulation” (Jacob Robinson, Rice University)

Jacob Robinson

Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering and Associate Professor of Bioengineering, Rice University

Jacob Robinson is a Professor in Electrical & Computer Engineering and Bioengineering at Rice University where his group develops miniature technologies to manipulate and monitor neural circuit activity. Prof. Robinson received a B.S. in Physics from UCLA, a Ph.D. in Applied Physics from Cornell University, and completed Postdoctoral training in the Chemistry Department at Harvard. He previously served as the co-chair of the IEEE Brain Initiative and a core member of the IEEE Brain Neuroethics working group and is currently a member of the IEEE EMBS AdCom. In addition to his academic work, Dr. Robinson is the co-founder and CEO of Motif Neurotech, which is developing minimally invasive bioelectronics to treat mental health disorders.

Research Synopsis:

Miniature implanted and injected technologies capable of manipulating and recording biological signals promise to improve the way we study biology and the way we diagnose and treat disease; however, to create an effective bioelectronic network we must overcome myriad engineering challenges. In this talk, I will describe how we can leverage unique material properties to overcome some of these challenges. Specifically, I will show how magnetoelectric materials allow us to effectively transmit data and power to mm-sized devices deep inside the body. I will also describe how we can engineer fast magnetic control of genetically targeted neurons. Overall, these technologies provide a suite of miniature interfaces that could support next-generation brain-computer interfaces and closed-loop electronic medicine.