NeuroTech Entrepreneurship and Innovation

The neurotechnology markets are rapidly growing and may surpass the cardiovascular technology industry’s investment and market values in the coming decades.

We devote this one-day workshop to discuss promising neuro-technologies and highlight the recent business advances in the area: neural rehabilitation devices, neural implants, neuro-regeneration devices, deep-brain simulation devices, bioelectronics medicine, neuro-modulation therapeutics, and brain and body computer devices. We also focus on the neuro-tech market, investment trends, and unmet treatment needs of neurological diseases.

This workshop can serve as a comprehensive neuro-tech platform for entrepreneurs, investors, clinicians, and technologists (neural engineers and scientists) to interact with, and discuss, the recent technological advances, global neuro-tech business landscape, global venture capital trends, healthcare and market needs, opportunities and challenges, and career opportunities for neural engineers and scientists.

The workshop will include detailed presentations from neuro-tech industry leaders on a wide variety of areas, including neuro-modulation, neuro-implants, neuro-prostheses (for neuro-immune disease treatments), mental disorders, epilepsy, mild cognitive impairment, pain, Parkinson’s, age-related macular degeneration, sensory disorders, traumatic brain injury, and stroke. More than 10 public and private neuro-tech companies specialized in drugs, devices, and diagnostics, will participate in the workshop

Steering Committee  

  1. Akay (Chair)
  2. Sajda
  3. Micera
  4. Rigdon
  5. Sacristan

Workshop Manager

SK Hawkins

Organizers

Metin Akay

Metin AkayMetin Akay received his B.S. and M.S. in Electrical Engineering from the Bogazici University, Istanbul, Turkey in 1981 and 1984,  respectively and a Ph.D. degree from Rutgers University in 1990. He is currently the founding chair of the new Biomedical Engineering Department and the John S. Dunn professor of biomedical engineering at the University of Houston. He has played a key role in promoting biomedical education in the world by writing and editing several books, editing several special issues of prestigious journals, including the Proc of IEEE, and giving several keynote and plenary talks at international conferences, symposiums and workshops regarding emerging technologies in biomedical engineering.

He is the founding editor-in-chief of the Biomedical Engineering Book Series published by the Wiley and IEEE Press and the Wiley Encyclopedia of Biomedical Engineering.  He is also the editor of the Neural Engineering Handbook published by Wiley/IEEE Press and the first steering committee chair of the IEEE Trans on Computational Biology and Bioinformatics.

He established the IEEE EMBS Special Topic Conference on Neural Engineering. He is also the chair of the IEEE EMBS Neuroengineering Technical Committee. He was the program chair of the International IEEE EMBS 2001 and the co-chair of the International  IEEE EMBS 2006 and the program co-chair of the International IEEE EMBS 2011 and the IEEE EMBS Point-of-Care Health Technologies (POCHT) 2013.

He currently serves on the advisory board of several international journals including the IEEE T-BME, IEEE T-ITIB, Smart Engineering Systems etc. and furthermore serves on several NIH and NSF review panels

Dr. Akay is a recipient of the IEEE EMBS Early Career and Service awards as well an IEEE Third Millenium Medal and is a fellow of IEEE, the Institute of Physics (IOP), the American Institute of Medical Biological Engineering( AIMBE) and the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS). His Neural Engineering and Informatics Lab is interested in investigating the effect of nicotine on the dynamics of ventral tegmental area (VTA) dopamine neural networks and engineering a high-throughput cancer chip for precision medicine.

Emilio Sacristan

Emilio Sacristan photoDr. Sacristan is a respected Mexican Researcher, Inventor and Entrepreneur in the field of medical technology. He holds a Ph.D. in Biomedical Engineering and is Professor and Director of the
National Center for Medical Instrumentation and Imaging Research, CI3M, at the UAM-Iztapalapa, Mexico, and founder of 9 medical technology startups. He is an Endeavor Entrepreneur (2004),
American Express Entrepreneur of the Year (2006), and recipient of the 2017 Mexican National Prize for Science. He currently serves as Chair of the Translational Engineering and Healthcare Innovation Technical Committee of the IEEE-EMBS.

Paul Sajda

Silvestro Micera

Program

Opening and Welcome Remarks

08:45-09:00 AM
Metin Akay, Chair, IEEE Brain Initiatives NTEI Workshop
Paul Sajda, Chair, IEEE Brain Initiatives 

Symposium#1: Healthcare Business Innovations

09:00-10:30 AM

Stephanie Fertig, MBA
Director, NINDS Small Business Programs, NIH
Focus on Small Business Innovations 

Martha Morrell, MD
Chief Medical Officer, NeuroPace
Focus on the treatment of epilepsy, a debilitating neurological disorder

Riki Banerjee, PhD
Engineering Director, Research and Core Technology, Medtronic
Focus on Implants 

Coffee Break

10:30-11:00 AM

Symposium#2: Neural Probes, Interface and Electrode, Orthopedics Technologies

11:00 AM-12:30 PM

Daryl R. Kipke, PhD
Director & CEO, NeuroNexus
Focus on Neural Probes

Asgeir Alexandersson, MD
Director of Research and Innovation, Ossur
Focus on Non-invasive Orthopaedics

Martin Schuettler
Co-founder of CorTec
Focus on Neural interface and Electrode Technologies

Lunch Break

12:30 PM-01:30 PM

Symposium#3: Data Analytics for the Detection and Treatment  Of Neurological Disease

01:30-03:00 PM

Jack Ming Po, MD, PhD
Product Manager, Google
Focus on Machine Learning and Artificial intelligence in Medicine

Dimitris Fotiadis
Co-Founder, PD Technologies, London
Focus on the Detection and Treatment of Parkinson Disease

Emilio Sacristan, PhD
CEO, Nervive Inc.
Focus on Magnetic Stimulation of the Facial Nerve as an Emergency Treatment for Stroke

Coffee Break

03:00-03:30 PM

Symposium#4: NeuroRehab Technologies

03:30-05:00 PM 

Jose Pons, PhD
Head of the Neural Rehabilitation Group
Cajal Institute, CSIC, Spain
Coordinator of EU Projects EXTEND, EUROBENCH and CSA INBOTS
Focus on Intelligent Wearable Robots and Neuroprostheses

James Weiland, PhD
University of Michigan
Focus on Bioelectronic Retinal Prostheses (Bionic Eyes)

Leigh R. Hochberg, M.D., Ph.D.
Director, Center for Neurotechnology and Neurorecovery, MGH and Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital
Professor of Engineering, Brown University
Director, Center for Neurorestoration and Neurotechnology, Rehabilitation Research & Development Service, Dept. of VA, Providence RI.
Focus on BrainGate

Closing Remarks

05:00-05:15 PM

Metin Akay,  Chair, IEEE Brain Initiatives NTEI Workshop
Paul Sajda, Chair, IEEE Brain Initiatives