Machine Biointerface Lab
Johns Hopkins University
Gene Y. Fridman, Ph.D.
Principal Investigator
gfridma1@jhmi.edu
Dr. Fridman is a Biomedical and Electrical engineer. After receiving his Master of Science in Electrical Engineering from Purdue University in 1995, he worked in the aerospace and then the biomedical industry for five years as a software and systems engineer before deciding to engage in an academic career. He received his Ph.D. in Biomedical Engineering specializing in neural recording and stimulation and micro-electro-mechanical systems (MEMS) from UCLA in 2006. Since 2000 he has held an on-going consulting and collaborative relationship with biomedical engineering companies in research and design of neural stimulation and recording devices. He contributed to research and development of spinal cord, retinal, cortical, cochlear, and vestibular neural implants.
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Grace Foxworthy
Ph.D. Student in Biomedical Engineering
Grace received her bachelor's degree in Biomedical Engineering and Electrical Engineering from Case Western Reserve University and her master's degree in Biomedical Engineering from Johns Hopkins University. She is currently a Biomedical Engineering PhD student. Her past work in the lab included hardware and firmware development for the SDCS device. She is currently working on examining the effect of DC stimulation on the sciatic nerve to explore its potential as a treatment for chronic pain.
Celia Fernandez Brillet
Ph.D. Student in Biomedical Engineering
Celia Fernandez Brillet is a third-year PhD Candidate in the Department of Biomedical Engineering at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. In 2020, she completed her BS in Biomedical Engineering at Universidad Carlos III de Madrid (Spain), where she graduated with honors at the top of her class and School of Engineering. Additionally, she spent several months studying at other universities around the world sponsored by academic excellence scholarships, including Stanford University, Imperial College London, University of Maryland, and Vrije Universiteit.
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Celia is passionate about bridging the gap between medicine and engineering. She is especially interested in the design of medical devices to interface with the nervous system. In the lab, she is working on extending the functionality of vestibular implants by testing the safety of chronic DC stimulation and exploring stimulation of the otolith end organs. She is also involved in the human clinical trial.
Katherine Mueller
Research Assistant
Katherine Mueller joined the lab in 2022 as a research assistant in the Johns Hopkins Department of Otolaryngology. She received her BS in Neuroscience from Saint Louis University in 2021 with a minor Mathematics.
She is currently exploring the excitatory and inhibitory effects of ionic direct current stimulation on the vestibular system. Katherine is passionate about translational research with an interest in the clinical and scientific use of neural interfaces.
Yangsheng Xu
Research Assistant
Yangsheng received his B.S. in mechanical engineering from Southwest Jiaotong University and M.S.E in Mechanical Engineering from Johns Hopkins University. He is working on realization of the freeform stimulator.
Yuxin Du
M.S.E Student in Biomedical Engineering
Yuxin received her B.S. in nuclear engineering from Fudan University. She is currently pursuing her master’s degree in biomedical engineering at Johns Hopkins. She is working on a percutaneous cuff lead used to interface with sciatic nerve and deliver electrical current to suppress pain.
Kelly E. Lane, R.V.T.
Registered Veterinary Technician
Kelly Lane joined the Vestibular NeuroEngineering Lab in 2014 after working with the Behavioral Biology Research Center of Johns Hopkins for 12 years. Here, she serves as both the Laboratory Manager and Veterinary Technician. Kelly is a Registered Veterinary Technician who graduated from the CCBC Veterinary Technology Program passed the Veterinary Technician National Exam as well as the Maryland State Board Exam in 2012.