Noah Young
Bio-X Bioengineering Fellowship 2012/2013

When the human heart is damaged, modern biotechnology provides a bevy of artificial parts to replace anything from valves to the entire heart. When the brain becomes damaged, there is no artificial cerebellum or other synthetic part to repair the harm. As a preliminary step to designing neural implants that can restore function to the brain, Noah hopes to use optogenetics and other modern techniques to study how small networks of neurons interact, compute, and adapt. Standing at the intersection of neuroscience, electrical engineering, and bioengineering, this research may also lead to low-power electronics, better prosthetics, and more intelligent machines.