Professors Economo and O’Shea Win Dean’s Catalyst Award & Collaborative Award for Neurophotonics Devel-Opment (CAN-DO)
Biomedical engineering professors Michael Economo and Tim O’Shea have been awarded both the BU College of Engineering’s Dean’s Catalyst Award and the Collaborative Award for Neurophotonics Devel-Opment (CAN-DO) in response to their united effort to produce longer-lasting neuroengineering devices.
“A huge problem in neuroengineering is that devices implanted in the brain eventually become encapsulated by scar tissue, preventing these devices from communicating with neurons,” Dr. Economo explained. “Dr. O’Shea has a longstanding interest in developing exciting new materials that minimize scar formation and my research group has developed some powerful methods for observing scars forming in the brain in real time.”
Their combined strengths are being implemented for this project via coated implantation devices to determine the different ways certain material-coatings react and respond inside the brain.
“We hope that this process will allow us to build new implanted devices that work longer and more reliably in the brain, in the lab and, eventually, in patients with neurodegenerative diseases,” Economo said.
“We are grateful and buoyed by the support given to this exciting convergent project by the Dean and College of Engineering,” said Dr. O’Shea. “This support, in conjunction with the additional resources provided by the Collaborative Award for Neurophotonics Devel-Opment (CAN DO) awarded by the Neurophotonics Center, will help launch this project to new heights and allow us to realize new technologies that have immense translational potential.”