Melinda Cromie
Mechanical Engineering
Profs. Scott Delp (Bioengineering, Mechanical Engineering) and Mark Schnitzer (Biology, Applied Physics)

Melinda’s goal is to understand the fundamental behavior of muscle by imaging sarcomeres, the smallest units of muscle tissue that contract to generate force. Sarcomeres have never been imaged in humans because they are smaller than the resolution of current clinical imaging modalities. Using a novel microendoscopy system, their laboratory imaged sarcomeres in humans for the first time. Melinda’s current work is to use this newly developed system to quantify muscle contractile behavior in healthy humans and in individuals with spinal cord injury to improve surgical treatments that restore muscle function.

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Viviana Gradinaru
Neurosciences
Profs. Karl Deisseroth (Bioengineering, Psychiatry) and Jaimie Henderson (Neurosurgery)

Deep brain stimulation (DBS) is a powerful therapeutic option for intractable movement and affective disorders (Parkinson's disease, tremor, depression). However, due to the nonspecificity of electrical stimulation, DBS has variable efficacy and can lead to serious side effects, such as speech impairment or paresis. Viviana’s research uses precise bioengineering tools to address a critical question in the neurosurgery field: how does DBS exert its therapeutic effects? By using a cell-type specific optical deep brain stimulator developed in the Deisseroth lab, her research investigates the role of specific cell types in PD pathology. These findings could be used to improve the parameters for electrode placement and stimulation in patients.