Dillan Prasad, a first-year medical student at Feinberg, was recently recognized for outstanding research by the American Association of Neurological Surgeons.
The Philip L. Gildenberg, MD, Resident Award is given annually to the best abstract submitted on the topic of stereotactic and functional neurosurgery. Prasad was presented with the award at the association’s annual meeting in Chicago in May.
Read a Q&A with Prasad below.
Tell us about your research interests.
Our research aims to build bionic arms to restore motor and sensory function for patients with limb loss and spinal cord injury. The field is called brain-computer interfaces; it’s straight out of science fiction, as we’re trying to build human cyborgs to bypass pathologies of the nervous system.
Simply put, we are developing robotic arms which can be installed into a patient’s residual limb and are fully under neurological control. The robotic arms are attached to chips that surgeons implant in the human brain, which are placed in different areas. Two chips are placed in the motor cortex and two in the sensory cortex. We have the chips communicate wirelessly with the arm. By “decoding” recorded motor signals, one set of chips controls the arm by translating neural signals into instructions that the arm’s motors can follow.
On the sensory side, the other set of chips allows users to once again feel sensation through intracortical microstimulation; we stimulate the brain in somatotopically-matched locations when the robotic arm contacts objects. We’re essentially restoring the whole experience of touch, motor control and somatosensation for people who have lost an arm.
You recently won an award for your research. How did that come about?
I was super humbled and surprised to have been given this kind of award as I’m just a first-year medical student, and this was my first scientific conference.
This award is entirely thanks to the amazing work done by the scientists and surgeons in the Cortical Bionics research group. It was a collaborative win, as it was in recognition of the efforts of numerous contributors from Northwestern, UChicago, and Pitt, as well as our amazing human brain-computer interface (BCI) subjects who have undergone implantation in order to advance science forever. Science is a team sport, and I’m deeply humbled to have the opportunity to work on such an exciting and cutting-edge challenge.
The talk itself was a bit nerve-wracking because I had to give a scientific presentation in front of a room of over a hundred neurosurgeons who were all subject matter experts. I put in a lot of time preparing for the talk, and thanks to the valuable guidance of my Feinberg and UChicago mentors, it was ultimately a great experience.
How did you get started in this research area?
I did my undergrad at the University of Chicago, where I studied neuroscience, astrophysics and chemistry. I came across BCI when I took a neuroscience elective on neuroprosthetics, and I immediately loved it: cortical bionics felt like WestWorld meets Black Mirror, but in a beautiful way which will one day help patients everywhere. Over time, my interests grew more developed, and now I’m planning on dedicating my academic career to the exploration and treatment of the brain and nervous system.
This project has been unique because it integrates a whole bunch of different types of science in an exciting way. It’s computer science: machine learning decoders translate information from the brain into action that the motors in the arm can follow. It’s physics because it’s robotics. It’s neuroscience, more than anything else: every day, we learn more about how touch is encoded in the implanted microchips. It’s biology, it’s neurosurgery, it’s just about everything all brought into one.
The scientific paper, which is currently in pre-print, is officially under Charles Greenspon at the University of Chicago, but it’s collaborative with Pitt and Northwestern under Dr. Lee Miller.
The PI for the work was Sliman Bensmaia, who sadly passed away last summer at the age of 49. I dedicated the award and speech to him. I’m really thankful for the chance to have known him. He was a great mentor, but also he was my friend, and he introduced me to a field which is quickly evolving into one of my greatest passions.
Do you plan to continue in this area of research?
Yeah, absolutely. I’m excited about this area: specifically, brain-computer interfaces.
My interests have evolved more towards the implantation of novel brain-computer interfaces, and all the minimally invasive and automated surgical techniques which I believe will eventually come to market. In my future practice, I’m excited about finding new ways to integrate technology with the brain and peripheral nerves to drive meaningful change for diverse patient populations everywhere.
I’ve found some success doing that so far with wonderful mentors at Northwestern; specifically Dr. El Tecle, Dr. Kimchi and Dr. Sonabend, among others. These neurologists and neurosurgeons are really at the top of their game and they’re at the cutting edge of their fields. They’re developing autonomous surgical platforms, using algorithms to detect delirium from EEG, and using ultrasound for neuromodulation, among much more. It’s these super exciting technological innovations which gives me confidence that the future is bright. I’m super thankful that these incredible mentors have included me in their work.
I hope to start working with the many companies who are driving meaningful change in this space as well, such as Neuralink, Precision, Synchron, etc.
You mentioned that Chicago is in your blood. Is that why you chose Feinberg?
I really couldn’t imagine going anywhere other than Feinberg. Chicago is the best city in the world, and anyone who knows me knows that it’s impossible to convince me otherwise.
I’m a Feinberg ambassador and I speak to a lot of young people. Every single applicant I talk to, I sing the praises and virtues of Feinberg, because I really deeply believe it. Obviously, our pre-clinical and clinical education is fantastic, thanks to the physicians who tirelessly work with us every week.
But Feinberg is one of the only places in the world which is truly interdisciplinary and integrative. If you have any interest of any kind, you can flesh it out with someone here through just a cold email. Honestly, there’s a high chance that person is a world expert in that topic, too. But thanks to the unbelievable breadth of work going on within the Northwestern system — from Feinberg, to ShirleyRyan, to the McCormick engineering school up in Evanston — the spirit is super educational and collaborative. People love to mentor, and love to help younger folks explore their interests.
I can’t imagine a better environment in which to train.