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Caleb Awarded NSF Graduate Fellowship!

Caleb Thomson, a second-year PhD student in the Biomedical Engineering department, was awarded the National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship. This highly prestigious fellowship recognizes and supports outstanding graduate students in NSF-supported STEM disciplines who are pursuing research-based master’s and doctoral degrees at accredited US institutions. The five-year fellowship includes three years of financial support including an annual stipend of $34,000 and a cost of education allowance of $12,000 to the institution. Caleb is one of 2500 fellows this year. Since 1952, the NSF has funded over 46,500 Graduate Research Fellowships out of over 500,000 applicants. Many former graduate fellows have gone on to become Nobel laureates and members of the National Academy of Sciences. Some well known NSF GRFP alumni include Eric Cornell, Steven Chu, Jennifer Richeson, Sergey Brin, Amy Mainzer, Steven Levitt, Burton Richter, and John C. Mather.

2nd Annual Lab Ski Day

Today we celebrated another great year together in the Utah NeuroRobotics Lab! And we couldn't have asked for better weather! It was 70 and sunny on the slopes and most of us skied in a t-shirt. After a couple of laps down the mountain, we brought out the grill and had a cookout on the ski "beach." A great annual tradition to celebrate our successes, strengthen our team, spark new ideas, and to just relax in the mountains.

Dr. George highlighted to Utah Health Partners

Health care is changing, and University of Utah Health is leading the way—thanks to our many donors. Ongoing support and partnerships from the University of Utah Health Partners enabled us to extend the highest quality of care to thousands of Utahns, train the next generation of providers, and make groundbreaking discoveries.

As a large academic medical center set within the thriving University of Utah campus, U of U Health is uniquely positioned to tackle complex issues in our society. With scientists down the hall from health care providers and across campus from scholars in diverse fields, we bring interdisciplinary groups together. When we combine their broad scientific expertise with the large clinical footprint of our health system, we benefit our community, the nation, and the world.

Research is an increasingly important pillar of what we do to advance science and medicine. University of Utah Health’s research funding doubled in less than a decade, reaching $428 million in 2021, with 3,249 active projects.

Dr. George is one of the pioneering research at the University of Utah, and in his recent video presentation he tells us about the impact of his work in his own words. We hope that you will enjoy his passion and enthusiasm for research, and we look forward to future events celebrating our shared mission at U of U Health!

Abby Citterman inducted to Beehive Honor Society

Congratulations to Abby Citterman for being inducted into the Beehive Honor Society! The Beehive Honor Society (BHS) was founded at the University of Utah in 1913 for the purpose of honoring graduating seniors who have demonstrated leadership, scholarship, and service to the university and the community. On average, just one in 1,000 students at the U is inducted into Beehive. Among the society ’s 1,200-plus members and 20 honorary members are prominent leaders in medicine, academe, business, politics, and the arts. Sponsored by U Alumni, the society is the oldest local honor society on the U campus and is directed by a committee of former BHS inductees. Abby is the second NeuroRobotics Alumni to be accepted into the BHS. Adrian Porras joined the BHS in 2021.

Q&A with Dr. George featured in The Superposition

Dr. George's recent Q&A session with The Superposition is worth the read! Dr. George touches on his ongoing research, patient needs, the motivation behind the "LUKE Arm", and current trends in AI and brain-computer interfaces. This Q&A session has it all: one-shot learning, the metaverse, brain-computer interfaces curing obesity, and robot bodies storing our memories. There are even shout outs to Facebook Reality Labs and Blackrock Neurotech, and shots fired at Elon Musk! Read the full Q&A session here!

Multiple Awards at the Utah Biomedical Engineering Conference!

Today we had six poster presentations and one podium presentation at the Annual Utah Biomedical Engineering Conference! We had presentations from:

  • Marshall Trout (FIRST-PLACE PODIUM PRESENTATION!): Improved Mirror-Therapy: Reanimation of Fine Motor Function Using Low-Cost Transcutaneous Electrical Nerve Stimulation Driven by Synchronized Bilateral Movements
  • Caleb Thomson (FIRST-PLACE POSTER PRESENTATION!): Proportional Electromyographic Control of a Bionic Arm in a Participant with Chronic Hemiparesis, Muscle Spasticity, and Impaired Range of Motion
  • Monika Buczak: Instrumented Egg: Developing a Quantitative Assessment Tool of Hand Dexterity
  • Connor Olsen: Electromyographically Controlled Prosthetic Wrist Improves Dexterity and Reduces Compensatory Movements
  • Abby Citterman (THIRD-PLACE POSTER PRESENTATION!): A Universal, Low-Cost Transradial Socket for Validating New Myoelectric Prosthetic Control Strategies
  • Aidan Lethaby: A Low-Cost Portable and Intuitive Control System for Assistive Robotic Devices
  • Abby Harrison: Transcutaneous Electrical Stimulation of the Wrist Evokes Sensations from the Fingers

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Caleb and Marshall Land Summer Internships at Ripple Neuro!

Congratulations to graduate students Marshall Trout and Caleb Thomson for accepting internship offers at Ripple Neuro this summer! Ripple is a leading manufacturer of electrophysiology equipment. They develop implanted electronics, high-channel-count stimulation and recording systems, and custom software for analyzing electrophysiological data. Ripple's technology is heavily used in the Utah NeuroRobotics Lab and other labs around the world. Ripple was founded in 2005 from previous alumni of the University of Utah's Center for Neural Interfaces, and Ripple is an integral part of the blossoming neurotech industry in Salt Lake City.

Research featured in Mind Matters News!

"No this isn't some Uncanny Valley; the human nervous system responds to electrical signals from machines." - Mind Matters News. The research from the Utah NeuroRobotics Lab was recently highlighted in Mind Matters News alongside similar ongoing work from MIT. The article highlights previous work from Dr. George (Univ Utah) and Dr. Hurr (MIT) featured in PBS News' NOVA segment on science. You can read more about the work here.

Dr. George featured in “Neuroscience Faculty Spotlight”

Dr. George was recently featured the "Neuroscience Faculty Spotlight" for his lab's interdisciplinary neuroscience research at the University of Utah. The Neuroscience Initiative at University of Utah Health represents a commitment, by the University of Utah and the Senior Vice President for Health Sciences office, to unify basic, translational, and clinical research efforts towards a better understanding of the brain in disease and health. This vision is currently being accomplished by linking clinicians, scientists, and the broader neuroscience community at University of Utah Health. Our neuroscience research community, ranging from neurologists to imaging specialist to molecular biologists (>150 investigators) spans across 7 colleges and schools, 15 centers and institutes, and more than 32 departments. Dr. George was recently featured as a key faculty member of the Neuroscience Initiative. Check out the article to learn more about Dr. George's background and ongoing neuroscience research!

 

Gabriel Santana Awarded Research Fellowship

Congratulations to Gabriel Santana for being awarded an undergraduate research fellowship from the Western Alliance to Expand Student Opportunities! This $1,964 fellowship will support Gabe’s ongoing research to create artificial electromyography datasets to improve the control of myoelectric prostheses. The Western Alliance to Expand Student Opportunities Louis Stokes Alliances for Minority Participation (WAESO LSAMP) program is a National Science Foundation (NSF) funded consortium of 13 educational institutions across Arizona, Utah, and Colorado. The WAESO program works to broaden the participation of students in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) disciplines at the undergraduate student level and prepare students for advanced STEM degrees.