U.S.-Mexico Planning Visit: Collaborative Research on Epilepsy Diagnosis and Therapy

这个美国-墨西哥奖，由国际科学和工程办公室和化学，生物工程，环境和运输系统（CBET）的部门共同资助，将支持一名高级研究员和三名初级同事的指导下，博士沃尔特·贝西奥的罗得岛大学的两个规划访问墨西哥。这些访问的主要目标是探索与两个机构的研究人员的合作，以开发一种新的电极技术（三极同心环电极或TCREs），用作脑机接口，为与脑相关的神经残疾人提供交流和控制的替代方案。 该主题与PI最近从援助残疾人研究计划（CBET-0933596）中获得的资助相关。 两个墨西哥机构的设施（Luisa Rocha-Arrieta博士在CINVESTAV的实验室，在国家理工学院，和Iris Martinez-Juarez博士在国家神经病学和神经外科研究所“Manuel Velasco苏亚雷斯”的临床研究实验室）是URI的补充，将进一步促进Besio的高度评价的研究工作，使他能够扩大他目前项目的范围。 计划进行两次访问。 第一部分将讨论如何研究无创经皮电刺激（TcES）减少癫痫发作的机制，第二部分将讨论使用TCREs减少癫痫发作活动的无创TcES。 在每次访问中，一名学生、一名博士后研究员和一名研究助理将陪同PI前往墨西哥进行讨论和规划。这一潜在的合作研究计划将在基础科学和临床科学之间架起桥梁，帮助加速技术从实验室到应用的过渡，提高脑刺激和脑电图（EEG）领域的知识水平，为理解癫痫和其他复杂的神经系统疾病提供了强大的工具，并增加了帮助神经系统疾病患者的技术。 它还将使美国学生和年轻科学家接触到潜在的独特和充满活力的国际研究经验，这是国际科学与工程办公室的优先事项。

This U.S.-Mexico award,jointly funded by the Office of International Science and Engineering and the Division of Chemical, Bioengineering, Environmental, and Transport Systems (CBET), will support one senior researcher and three junior colleagues under the direction of Dr. Walter Besio of the University of Rhode Island on two planning visits to Mexico. The primary goal of these visits is to explore collaborations with researchers at two institutions in order to develop a new electrode technology (tripolar concentric ring electrodes, or TCREs) for use as a brain-computer interface that provides an alternative for communication and control to persons with seizure-related neural disabilities. This topic is related to the PI's recently awarded grant from the Research to Aid the Disabled Program, CBET-0933596. The facilities at the two Mexican institutions (Dr. Luisa Rocha-Arrieta's laboratory at CINVESTAV, at the National Polytechnic Institute, and Dr. Iris Martinez-Juarez'clinical research laboratory at the National Institute of Neurology and Neurosurgery "Manuel Velasco Suarez") are complementary to those at URI and will further Besio's highly rated research efforts, allowing him to extend the scope of his current project. Two visits are planned. The first will discuss ways to study mechanisms of noninvasive transcutaneous electrical stimulation (TcES) to reduce seizures, and the second will discuss noninvasive TcES using TCREs to reduce seizure activity. On each visit a student, a postdoctoral researcher, and a research assistant will accompany the PI to Mexico for discussions and planning.This potential collaborative research program will bridge basic and clinical sciences, help accelerate the transition of technology from laboratory to application, enhance the state of knowledge in the field of brain stimulation and electroencephalography (EEG), provide a powerful tool for understanding epilepsy and other complex neurological disorders, and add to technologies that aid persons with neurological diseases. It will also expose U.S. students and young scientists to a potentially unique and vibrant international research experience, which is a priority for the Office of International Science and Engineering.