For all the medical advances in recent years, neurological and psychiatric disorders— Alzheimer’s Disease, Parkinson’s Disease, autism, and schizophrenia—remain largely a mystery. One reason is the incredibly complex structure of the brain. To encourage exploration of this unknown territory, the National Science Foundation (NSF) awarded Cornell University $9 million over five years to establish a neurotechnology hub, dedicated to developing new technologies for imaging the brain, then disseminating them to the wider neuroscience community. This Cornell Research story explores this neurotechnology hub and its possibilities.
The focus of the Cornell Neurotechnology (NeuroNex) Hub is optical imaging. Chris Xu, Applied and Engineering Physics, who is the lead principal investigator (PI) for the hub, says, “We’re pushing for imaging depth, speed, and volume. We want to image as much of the brain and the nervous system as we can in as short of a time as we can. That will enable us to attack neuroscience problems that are currently impossible.”
Co-PIs include Joseph R. Fetcho, Neurobiology and Behavior; Nilay Yapici, Neurobiology and Behavior; Chris Schaffer, Meinig School of Biomedical Engineering; and Mert R. Sabuncu, Electrical and Computer Engineering/Meinig School of Biomedical Engineering.
Serge Petchenyi/Cornell University
From left, Xi Yang, PhD '10, senior lecturer of finance in the SC Johnson College of Business; Christine Ye; Christine Ye Award recipient Margaret E. Foster, doctoral candidate in communication; Cornelia Ye Award recipient Naman Agrawal, doctoral candidate in neurobiology and behavior; Cornelia Ye; and Derina Samuel, associate director of graduate student development at the Center for Teaching Innovation.
NASA, ESA, CSA, Ralf Crawford (STScI)
Artist concept of the gas giant planet WD 1856 b orbiting a white dwarf star. The planet is 7 times larger than the Earth-sized white dwarf it orbits. WD 1856 b has methane and hazes in its atmosphere, which would give it a similar color to Saturn's moon Titan. The white dwarf formed from a star that died 5 billion years ago, and has been cooling ever since, giving it an orange colour similar to the Sun.
Sreang Hok/Cornell University
Dressed in clean-room suits, the Warrior-Scholar Project’s STEM boot camp cohort toured the Cornell NanoScale Science and Technology Facility.
