2018 News

Below is the news out of the pNEURO Lab from 2018.

May, 2018

A new lab paper was published at Bioelectronic Medicine journal by PhD student Ahmad Jiman. This was an MCubed-supported collaboration with Malcolm Low of Molecular & Integrative Physiology, Randy Seeley of Surgery, and Paul Cederna of Plastic Surgery. This study investigated renal nerve stimulation to modulate kidney filtration of glucose.

UROP students Nikolas Barrera and Morgan Dechter did a great job presenting their research projects at the UROP symposium.

Our recent work on nerve stimulation for female sexual dysfunction was featured in an article at The Daily Michigan, a UM student-led paper.
A new paper was published at the Journal of Neural Engineeringby PhD student Zach Sperry and involving collaborations with UM Electrical Engineers Euisik Yoon, John Seymour, and Kyounghwan Na, and Case Western Reserve University Biologist Hillel Chiel. Our paper explores the use of a novel flexible electrode for recording from the surface of neural ganglia. This project is part of the NIH SPARC program.
Nikolas Barrera was accepted as a scholar in the NSF-supported International Program for the Advancement of Neurotechnology (IPAN) to do research in South Korea during the upcoming summer.

A new lab paper was published by PhD student Lauren Zimmerman. This paper at the Journal of Sexual Medicine, including former lab undergrad Indie Rice and OB/G collaborator Mitchell Berger, showed that electrical stimulation of the tibial nerve in anesthetized rats can lead to increases in vaginal blood flow. This work supports that stimulation approach as a potential treatment for some types of female sexual dysfunction.
Dr. Bruns and Lauren Zimmerman each gave research talks at the International Society for the Study of Women’s Sexual Health (ISSWSH) meeting, in San Diego.
The Fall BME newsletter (finally) came out in print and featured the December article on our research on the front cover!
Our recent paper in J Sex Med caught the eye of the press, leading to some sensationalized articles in several tabloids (The Sun, Daily Mail, NY Post) as well as a longer article in the Daily Mail.
Lauren Zimmerman received a Notice of Award for an F31 Predoctoral Fellowship from the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD), through the NIH.
Dr. Bruns was recognized by the Journal of Neural Engineering as an Outstanding Reviewer for 2017.

The lab received news that our sub-contract collaboration on a new NIH SPARC OT2 project with Margot Damaser of the Cleveland Clinic, Dennis Bourbeau of the Cleveland VA and others in Cleveland would receive funding for 2018.