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

这项美国-墨西哥奖由国际科学与工程办公室和化学、生物工程、环境和运输系统司（CBET）共同资助，将支持罗德岛大学Walter Besio博士指导下的一名高级研究员和三名初级同事计划对墨西哥进行两次访问。这些访问的主要目标是探索与两个机构的研究人员合作，以开发一种新的电极技术（三极同心圆电极，或TCREs），作为脑机接口，为癫痫相关神经障碍患者提供另一种通信和控制方式。这个主题与PI最近获得的研究援助残疾人项目（CBET-0933596）的资助有关。两家墨西哥机构的设施（国家理工学院CINVESTAV的Luisa Rocha-Arrieta博士实验室和国家神经病学和神经外科研究所“Manuel Velasco Suarez”的Iris Martinez-Juarez博士临床研究实验室）是URI的补充，将进一步推动Besio高度评价的研究工作，使他能够扩展他当前项目的范围。计划进行两次访问。第一篇将讨论如何研究无创经皮电刺激（TcES）减少癫痫发作的机制，第二篇将讨论使用TcES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项目将连接基础科学和临床科学，帮助加速技术从实验室到应用的转变，提高脑刺激和脑电图（EEG）领域的知识水平，为了解癫痫和其他复杂的神经系统疾病提供强大的工具，并增加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.