Research Seminars @ Illinois

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Tailored for undergraduate researchers, this calendar is a curated list of research seminars at the University of Illinois. Explore the diverse world of research and expand your knowledge through engaging sessions designed to inspire and enlighten.

To have your events added or removed from this calendar, please contact OUR at ugresearch@illinois.edu

Hassel and Marianne Ledbetter MatSE Colloquium - "Bioelectronics to Probe Brain-Body Physiology"

Event Type
Seminar/Symposium
Sponsor
Materials Science and Engineering Department
Location
100 Materials Science and Engineering Building, 1304 W. Green Street
Date
Mar 10, 2025   4:00 pm  
Speaker
Prof. Polina Anikeeva
Contact
Bailey Peters
E-Mail
bnpeters@illinois.edu
Views
5
Originating Calendar
MatSE Colloquium Calendar

Bioelectronics to Probe Brain-Body Physiology

Biological signaling in the mammalian nervous system spans a dizzying range of spatial and temporal scales. To understand how cellular and molecular signals contribute to physiology and behavior and to treat the neurological and psychiatric conditions our group designs tools that mimic biological complexity yet match the materials properties of tissues. By combining polymer engineering, fiber drawing, and solid-state microelectronics we create scalable fiber-based tools that record and modulate cell signaling in the central and the autonomic nervous systems in behaving rodents. Using these fiber-based tools we reveal the contributions of gut-brain circuits not only to ingestive and metabolic functions but also to high-level behaviors previously attributed exclusively to brain signaling. To probe receptor contributions to neural circuit dynamics, we synthesize magnetic nanotransducers that convert externally applied magnetic fields into thermal, chemical, mechanical, and electrical signals. Since biological tissues exhibit negligible magnetic permeability and low conductivity, magnetic fields can penetrate deep into the body with no attenuation allowing us to apply the nanomagnetic transducers to remotely modulate ion channel function in arbitrarily deep tissues. We employ magnetic neuromodulation to control reward and motivation circuits and extend their applications to relieve motor dysfunctions in mouse models of Parkinson’s disease.

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