Development and Commercialization of Therapeutic Brain-Computer Interfaces

ABSTRACT:

Millions of people suffer from psychiatric and neurological disorders that remain poorly treated by current therapies. Dysfunctional neural circuits underlie many of these conditions, yet drugs cannot precisely target these pathways. Therapeutic brain–computer interfaces (BCIs) offer a new approach: implantable devices that can both monitor and modulate brain activity to restore healthy function. Advances in miniaturization, wireless power, and closed-loop stimulation are enabling devices that are safer, less invasive, and scalable for chronic use. I will describe our path from academic research to venture-backed development, as we translate therapeutic BCIs into clinically validated product.

BIOGRAPHY:

Jacob Robinson is the co-founder and CEO of Motif Neurotech, a company developing a therapeutic brain computer interface (BCI) to treat and track mental illness, and a professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering at Rice University. He holds a Ph.D. in Applied Physics from Cornell and completed his postdoc at Harvard. Prior to founding Motif, Jacob led a research group at Rice University for 12 years, publishing over 60 peer-reviewed papers in journals including Nature and Science. During this time he led a multi-institution DARPA program to create a minutely invasive BCI. Although now leading Motif full-time, Jacob remains a professor over seeing a research group at Rice.