The Neural Tissue Engineering Lab at Rice University
The Butts Lab is interested in the factors that drive neural fate decisions, particularly in the brainstem. Connecting the brain to the spinal cord, the brainstem is the most evolutionarily conserved part of the nervous system and is responsible for our everyday survival, including regulating heart rate and respiration. Despite the brainstem's importance, little is known about its development and how diverse neuronal functions are carried out. The Butts lab will uncover in vivo developmental transcriptional programs to engineer new in vitro neuronal models from pluripotent stem cells. These findings are then used to model various neurological diseases that affect the brainstem.
Principal Investigator: Jessica Butts
Digital Signal Processing Group
Digital Signal Processing (DSP) — the transformation of data to extract or better transmit information — has evolved from an obscure research discipline into an essential technology of everyday life. Rice has been a major force in DSP research and education, and many outstanding DSP alumni now hold leadership positions in academics and industry.
Associated Faculty: Baraniuk, Burrus, Cavallaro, Frantz, Johnson, Kemere, Orchard, Patel, Pitkow, Sabharwal, Veeraraghavan
Hayden Lab
Hayden Lab seeks to use behavioral and electrophysiological methods to develop new treatments for psychiatric and neurological diseases, especially depression, obsessive-compulsive disorder, and addiction. They also use recordings from human brains to probe the neural basis of control and choice, especially in naturalistic contexts, using new statistical methods based on spiking and LFP data.
Principal Investigator: Benjamin Hayden
Heilbronner Lab
In biology, structure and function are linked. Neurons specialize in the communication of information, but each neuron can only interface with a subset of other neurons. That structural pattern is called the brain's 'wiring diagram.' Using multiple methodologies (tract-tracing, MRI, PS-OCT), the Heilbronner Lab works to uncover the wiring diagram of the brain.
Principal Investigator: Sarah Heilbronner
The Keene Lab
The Keene Lab, based in the Department of Materials Science and NanoEngineering at Rice University, focuses on understanding and tuning the functional properties of conducting polymers. Using the unique properties of these materials, they aim to build better tools for fundamental neuroscience and neurotechnology.
Principal Investigator: Scott Keene
Laboratory for Nanophotonic Computational Imaging and Sensing
The laboratory for Nanophotonic Computational Imaging and Sensing (NCIS) designs and builds imaging systems that can dramatically outperform systems built from traditional physical optics. The founding principle is that by co-designing nanophotonic devices and imaging algorithms, we can break free from the limitations imposed by conventional physical optics, such as lenses and mirrors.
Associated Faculty: Robinson, Veeraraghavan
Luan Laboratory of Integrative Neural Interface
The Luan Laboratory of Integrative Neural Interface research focuses on developing multimodal neural interfaces that integrate state-of-the-art electrical, optical, and other technologies to monitor and manipulate brain activity. The application of these neurotechnology advancements enables the fundamental investigation of neurological disorders and the development of novel therapies. The lab aims to develop tools to create a multifaceted picture of the brain in health and in disease, and to seek new ways to better diagnose, treat, cure, and even prevent brain disorders.
Principal Investigator: Lan Luan
Nanoscale Neural Interface Laboratory
Nanoscale Neural Interface Laboratory (Xie Lab) develops theories focused on tissue-integrated neural electrodes, neural recoding, neural interfaces, and longitudinal electrophysiology in clinical research.
Principal Investigator: Chong Xie
Provenza Lab
The Provenza laboratory uses an engineering approach to investigate ethologically relevant brain-behavior relationships underlying psychiatric symptoms to develop personalized neuromodulation strategies that will improve outcomes for psychiatric disorders.
Principal Investigator: Nicole Provenza
Realtime Neural Engineering Laboratory
The Realtime Neural Engineering Laboratory focuses on how the hippocampus forms, stores, and uses memory. Problems in the hippocampal circuit can lead to memory problems (e.g., Alzheimer's, PTSD) and also more complex disorders such as depression and anxiety. We'd like to understand how the hippocampal circuit works at the systems level in healthy brains, how it goes wrong, and what can be done to change its function.
Principal Investigator: Caleb Kemere
Robinson Lab
The Robinson Lab for Nano-neurotechnology believes that new methods to measure and manipulate the activity of specific brain cells will reveal fundamental principles of brain function and advance the treatment of neurological disorders. Using semiconductor nanofabrication and genetic engineering, the lab creates electronic, photonic, and magnetic interfaces to the brain. In addition, the lab studies millimeter-sized invertebrates with tiny nervous systems. By creating interface technologies for these tiny organisms, the lab hopes to decode the activity of the entire nervous system and uncover how simple brains operate to solve complex problems.
Principl Investigator: Jacob Robinson
Laboratory for Noninvasive Neuroengineering
The team in the Szablowski Lab for Noninvasive Neuroengineering is developing technologies for noninvasive control and monitoring of the brain. In our work, we combine synthetic biology, molecular engineering, and strategies for enhanced gene and drug delivery into the central nervous system. Their goals are to understand neural circuit function and treat brain disorders with fewer side effects.
Principal Investigator: Jerzy Szablowski
Translational Biomimetic Bioelectronics Lab
The TBBL is part of two large neuroengineering initiatives, one at UTHealth and one at Rice University. Dr. Seymour and his team focus on advancing neurotechnology to improve the treatment of neurological disease. They are dedicated to answering the many questions that remain about how to improve the efficacy of implantable devices currently being used to treat conditions such as epilepsy, aphasia, locked-in syndrome, and ALS.
Principal Investigator: John Seymour