Welcome to the combined July/August 2014 IEEE Life Sciences eNewsletter
An innovation at the 2013 IEEE Life Sciences Grand Challenges Conference (LSGCC 2013) was a “NeuroNight” session, where bioengineering experts working in applications of neural research and rehabilitation were invited to discuss their research projects. We are happy to bring you three articles and an interview from speakers at that session. Dr. Nigel Lovell is interviewed on his two-decade-long work on visual prosthetics. Dr. Nitish Thakor tells us of his development of a microfabricated chip which allows the in vitro study of neural cell processes. Dr. Jose Millán describes a closed control loop including Brain-Machine Interface (BMI) in the design of inteligent neuroprostheses. And Dr. Cuntai Guan and associates report on the use of BMI in patient rehabilitation.
Nitish V. Thakor (F'1994) is a Professor of Biomedical Engineering at Johns Hopkins University, Provost Chair Professor at National University of Singapore, and also the Director of the Singapore Institute for Neurotechnology (SINAPSE) at the National University of Singapore. His expertise is in the field of Neurotechnology and Medical Instrumentation. 
Nigel Lovell is Scientia Professor at the Graduate School of Biomedical Engineering, University of New South Wales (UNSW), Sydney, Australia. 
José del R. Millán the Defitech Professor at the Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL) where he explores the use of brain signals for multimodal interaction and, in particular, the development of non-invasive brain-controlled robots and neuroprostheses. In this multidisciplinary research effort, Dr. Millán is bringing together his pioneering work on the two fields of brain-machine interfaces and adaptive intelligent robotics. He received his Ph.D. in computer science from the Univ. Politècnica de Catalunya (Barcelona, Spain) in 1992. 
Dr Cuntai Guan received his Ph.D. degree in Electrical and Electronic Engineering from Southeast University in 1993. He is currently Principal Scientist and Department Head at the Institute for Infocomm Research, Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR), Singapore. His current research interests include neural and biomedical signal processing; neural and cognitive process and its clinical application; brain-computer interface algorithms, systems and its applications. 
Dr Kai Keng Ang received his Ph.D. degree in computer engineering from Nanyang Technological University, Singapore. He is currently the Head of Brain-Computer Interface Laboratory and a Scientist with the Institute for Infocomm Research, Agency for Science, Technology and Research, Singapore. His current research interests include brain-computer interfaces, computational intelligence, machine learning, pattern recognition, and signal processing. 
Mr. Christopher Kuah is a Principal Occupational Therapist currently holding the post of Allied Health Coordinator at the Centre for Advanced Rehabilitation Therapeutics at Tan Tock Seng Hospital. He received his professional qualification in 1995 and attained the Master of Science in Neurorehabilitation from Brunel University (UK) in 2002. His key neurorehabilitation interests include management of clients with hemiplegia and those with complex neuro-disability as a result of stroke and acquired brain injuries. The current focus of his clinical and research work involves development of clinical programs incorporating rehabilitation technologies encompassing robotics, brain-computer interface, and sensor technologies for post-stroke upper limb recovery. 
Dr. Effie Chew is Senior Consultant in Rehabilitation Medicine, Division of Neurology, University Medicine Cluster, National University Hospital (NUH), Singapore. She received her MBBS from the University of Melbourne, Australia and her Membership to the Royal College of Physicians (Edinburgh, UK). She completed her Advanced Specialist Training in Rehabilitation Medicine in Singapore and went on to complete a Fellowship in Clinical Neurorehabilitation at Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital, Harvard Medical School, where she worked in the areas of noninvasive brain stimulation for neuromodulation and neurorecovery, as well as neuropharmacology for cognitive recovery in traumatic brain injury and robotics and motor learning in recovery post-stroke. These continue to be her current areas of research interests. 
Dr Karen Sui Geok Chua, MBBS (Singapore), FRCP (Edin), FAMS, is currently senior consultant rehabilitation physician practicing at the Tan Tock Seng Hospital Rehabilitation Centre, Singapore. Her special interests include Neurorehabilitation, Spasticity management, including Botulinum toxin therapy, neurolytic blocks and rehabilitation robotics and technology translation.