Garrett Stanley, Ph.D.
McCamish Foundation Distinguished Chair
Professor, Department of Biomedical Engineering
Georgia Tech & Emory University
Director, McCamish Program
Co-Director Georgia Tech & Emory
Neural Engineering Centers
In the field of Neuralengineering, Garrett Stanley is a leader in using engineering approaches to control brain function. Specifically, the research in his laboratory focuses on the dynamics and precise control of neural circuits using an array of cutting-edge experimental and computational approaches. For 20+ years, Stanley’s research has focused on circuits in and around the brain structures affected by Parkinson’s disease. The McCamish Foundation Distinguished Chair will enable Stanley’s laboratory to focus efforts on Parkinson’s disease, and pursue risky, engineering-driven innovations that will lead to better understanding and treatment of this complex disease of neural circuits in the brain.
Lena Ting, Ph.D.
McCamish Foundation Distinguished Chair
Professor, Department of Biomedical Engineering
Emory University & Georgia Tech
Co-Director Georgia Tech & Emory
Neural Engineering Centers
Lena Ting’s research focuses on the neuromechanical basis of movement, whole-body functional movement such as standing and walking and seeks to answer basic questions of how we move, using experimental and computational methods in humans and animals. Ting’s work is motivated by the question: What is the fundamental, scientific understanding we are missing that would enable us to better understand and treat movement disorders? Learning about the complexities of Parkinson’s disease has pushed Ting’s lab into new research directions, i.e. assessing the balance control of individuals with Parkinson’s disease participating in adapted tango rehabilitation and launching a new line of research to identify principles of physical interaction in dance that could be leveraged for design of assistive robots. The McCamish Foundation Chair enables Ting to accelerate progress in risky new research areas related to Parkinson’s disease.
James Dahlman, Ph.D.
McCamish Foundation Early Career Professorship
Associate Professor
Wallace H. Coulter Dept. of Biomedical Engineering Georgia Tech & Emory School of Medicine
The laboratory of James Dahlman has developed DNA-barcoded nanoparticles, which allows scientists to perform thousands of gene therapy experiments inside a single animal for the first time. Using DNA-barcoded nanoparticle technology developed by his lab at Georgia Tech, gene therapy scientists studying PD or other diseases can identify safe and effective gene therapies thousands of times more efficiently than before. The McCamish Foundation Early Career Professorship will enable Dahlman to continue to develop cutting-edge gene therapies that safely and effectively improve the lives of patients with PD and other disorders.
Annabelle Singer, Ph.D.
McCamish Foundation Early Career Professorship
Assistant Professor
Wallace H. Coulter Dept. of Biomedical Engineering
Georgia Tech & Emory University
Annabelle Singer’s long-term goal is to understand how neural activity protects brain health. Her laboratory is developing new ways to drive neural activity to manipulate the brain’s immune system and treat or prevent pathological processes. Using novel non-invasive approaches, Singer is translating these discoveries from rodents to humans to develop radically new ways to treat neurodegenerative diseases. The McCamish Foundation Early Career Professorship will enable Singer to develop new neurostimulation approaches to prevent the development and progression of Parkinson’s disease by manipulating immune signaling to protect against cell loss.