The Nano-Cybernetic Biotrek (NCB) research group at the MIT Media Lab has received the NIH BRAIN Initiative R21 Grant. This grant mechanism supports new concepts and early-stage research for unique and innovative technologies for recording and/or modulation of the brain.

NCB is headed by Dr. Deblina Sarkar, assistant professor at MIT and AT&T Career Development Chair Professor at the MIT Media Lab. Her lab merges engineering, applied physics, and biology to develop energy-efficient biomimetic nanoelectronics and novel bioelectronic interfaces. This BRAIN Initiative grant will fund NCB’s research on remotely controlled subcellular-sized devices for neuromodulation with high spatio-temporal precision and drastically low invasiveness.

The Brain Research through Advancing Innovative Neurotechnologies (BRAIN) Initiative, spearheaded by President Obama in 2013, aims to transform our understanding of the human brain. It supports the nation’s finest scientists to develop innovative technologies for shedding light into how the brain works and treating brain disorders.