Michigan Medicine to Establish Neural Engineering Training Program

James Weiland, Ph.D., Professor of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences and Professor of Biomedical Engineering, led a successful cross-campus effort to establish a Neural Engineering Training Program (NETP) at the University of Michigan.

Funding for this new graduate training program will be provided by an institutional research training grant (T32) from the National Institute of Neurological Disorders & Stroke (NINDS).

The grant will support advanced training for predoctoral students whose research seeks to advance new applications of technology leading to the development of clinical devices for the treatment of complex neurological disorders.

From neuromodulation systems that treat epilepsy, movement disorders and pain, to neural prostheses that restore lost function to eyes and limbs, neurotechnology is transforming medicine. “To create the next generation of devices and implants that will truly change lives, we need better human/machine interfaces, novel new materials, and a fuller realization of the potential of artificial intelligence,” says Dr. Weiland, who will serve as NETP director. “For all of that, we need highly trained neural engineers capable of leading interdisciplinary teams to keep up with the pace of discovery.”

Kellogg Eye Center is one of eight University of Michigan entities collaborating to deliver a targeted curriculum, mentorship and student-led initiatives. To ensure that rigorous analytical techniques are learned and applied, a statistics training workshop will be conducted in collaboration with the existing Kellogg Vision Research Training Program.

“Ophthalmology is among the fields with the most to gain from supporting the next generation of neural engineering leaders,” says Dr. Weiland, who also directs the U-M BioElectronic Vision Lab (BEVL). His lab is at the forefront of creating and translating technological solutions for visual dysfunction, including bioelectronic retinal prostheses and wearable visual aids for the blind.

The NETP, which launched in July 2021, will initially support up to four graduate student slots and will sponsor a number of training and networking opportunities for trainees from more than 30 U-M labs.