Bioelectronics Group

Welcome to the Bioelectronics Group at MIT.

Our lab works at the interface of materials science, electronics, and neurobiology with the goal of advancing the understanding and treatment of disorders of the nervous system. We design, synthesize, and fabricate optoelectronic and magnetic devices that manipulate and record neuronal activity and development.

Commitment to Diversity

Our group’s philosophy is that a team diverse in racial, socioeconomic, cultural, and gender identity can achieve far more than one that lacks diversity. Each member of our group has a responsibility in upholding diversity:

  • Professor Anikeeva is committed to reducing bias in hiring practices and protecting the voices of each member of our group.
  • Graduate students and postdoctoral scholars are expected to build diverse collaborations both within and beyond our group. They are also expected to develop opportunities for the mentorship of diverse undergraduate scholars.
  • Undergraduates are encouraged to actively contribute to the scientific and cultural diversity of our group.

Every member of our group is required to respect each other’s perspectives with patience and understanding.

Group members are prohibited from discriminating against any other member on the basis of sex, color, religion, race, sexual orientation, gender identity, disability, or age. Group members are required to follow the nondiscrimination policy outlined in the MIT Handbook.

Polina Anikeeva

Polina Anikeeva

Professor in Materials Science and Engineering
Professor in Brain and Cognitive Sciences
Associate Director, Research Laboratory of Electronics

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Polina was born in Leningrad, USSR but grew up in St. Petersburg, Russia. She got her BS in Physics from St. Petersburg State Polytechnic University in 2003, and then spent a year as a researcher at the Los Alamos National Lab working on solar cells composed of semiconductor nanocrystals. She completed her PhD in Materials Science at MIT in 2009 with her thesis dedicated to physics-driven design of light-emitting devices based on organic materials and quantum dots. The curiosity towards biology led her to a postdoctoral fellowship in Neuroscience and Bioengineering at Stanford, where she began creating optoelectronic devices for recording and stimulation of neural activity. In 2011, Polina returned to MIT to start Bioelectronics group. The remarkable efforts of the group members have led to her tenure in 2017. In addition to the neural interface research, she is passionate about superheroes, and she uses their superpowers to help with teaching of undergraduate and graduate classes in the fields of electronics, photonics, and magnetism. Outside work, Polina is a committed distance runner and an enthusiastic rock climber.

Interests

  • Biomaterials
  • Photonic Materials
  • Magnetic Materials

Education

  • Ph.D in Materials Science and Engineering, 2009

    Massachusetts Institute of Technology

  • B.S. in Biophysics, 2003

    St. Petersburg State Polytechnic University

Meet the Team

Staff

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Cindy Higgins

Administrative Assistant

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Emmanuel Vargas

Research Support Associate

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Rebecca Leomi

Laboratory Operations Manager

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Scott Machen

Research Support Associate

Postdoctoral Associates & Fellows

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Marc-Joseph Antonini

Postdoctoral Associate

Multifunctional Neural Probes

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Marie Manthey

Postdoctoral Associate

Neurodevelopmental Disorders, Gut to Brain Axis

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Nicolette Driscoll

Postdoctoral Associate

Multifunctional Neural Probes, Addiction Neuroscience

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Noah Kent

Postdoctoral Associate

Structured (3D) Nanomagnets, Hybrid Nanomagnetic Systems, Topological Solitons

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Sharmelee Selvaraji

Postdoctoral Associate

Neurodegenerative diseases, Epigenetics, Gut-brain axis

Graduate Students

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Florian Koehler

Graduate Student

Neural Modulation, Electrophysiology, Molecular Biology

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Atharva Sahasrabudhe

Graduate Student

Flexible Optoelectronics, Neural Probes, Gut-Brain

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Indie Garwood

Graduate Student

Multifunctional Neural Probes, Anesthesia, Electrophysiology, Statistics

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Keisuke Nagao

Graduate Student

Magnetic Nanoparticles, Surface Chemistry, Delivery

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Anthony Tabet

Graduate Student

Cancer Neuroscience, Neuro-immunology

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Beth Whittier

Graduate Student

Neural Modulation, Magnetic Nanoparticles, Solid State Devices

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Diana Grass

Graduate Student

Neural Modulation, Magnetic Nanoparticles, Neuro-imaging, Neuro-immunology

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Elian Malkin

Graduate Student

Noninvasive neural modulation, Molecular Biology

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Gari Eberly

Graduate Student

Gut-brain axis, Satiety, Multi-functional neural probes

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Karen Ka Lam Pang

Graduate Student

Gut-Brain Axis, Interoception, Neural Modulation

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Pema Maretich

Graduate Student

Addiction, Gut-Brain Axis, Magnetic Nanoparticles, Immune Dysregulation

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Rajib Mondal

Graduate Student

Gut-Brain Axis, Parkinson’s Disease, Neuro-immunology

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Ye Ji Kim

Graduate Student

Neural Modulation, Magnetoelectric and Magnetothermal Transduction, Nanoparticle Synthesis and Characterization

Undergraduate Students

Alumni

Gabriela Romero

Assistant Professor at University of Texas San Antonio

Jimin Park

Assistant Professor at KAIST

Youngbin Lee

Postdoctoral Fellow at MIT w/ Yoel Fink

Georgios Varnavides

Postdoctoral Fellow, UC Berkeley

Dekel Rosenfeld

Zuckerman Faculty Scholar, Tel Aviv University

Hannah Field

Graduate Student at Stanford University

Caroline Apra

Assistant Professor of Neurosurgery at the Universite Paris Est Creteil

Junsang Moon

Process Engineer, Applied Materials

Seongjun Park

Assistant Professor at KAIST

Andres Canales

Researcher at Advanced Silicon Group

Mehmet Kanik

Senior Scientist on Advanced Materials, Impossible Foods

Dena Shahriari

Assistant Professor at University of British Columbia/ICORD

James A Frank

Assistant Professor at Vollum Institute, OHSU

Pohan Chiang

Assistant Professor at National Chiao Tung University

Alexander W Senko

Data scientist at Livongo

Danijela Gregurec

Assistant Professor at Friedrich Alexander University

Francisco Garcia

PhD student at MIT BCS

Pooja Reddy

PhD student at Stanford MSE

Michael G Christiansen

Postdoc at ETH Zurich (w/ Simone Schuerle)

Siyuan Rao

Assistant Professor at UMass Amherst

Xiaoting Jia

Assistant Professor at Virginia Tech

Yuanyuan Guo

Assistant Professor at Tohoku University

Cindy H Shi

PhD student at Stanford MSE

Ritchie Chen

Postodoc at Stanford (w/ Karl Deisseroth)

Sirma Orguc

Postdoc at MIT BCS (w/ Emery Brown)

Ulrich P Froriep

Project Director at Fraunhofer Institute

Chi Lu

Engineer at Applied Materials

Ryan A Koppes

Assistant Professor at Northeastern University

Colleen N Loynachan

Postdoc at EPFL (w/ Francesco Stellaci)

Christina Tringides

PhD student at Harvard/MIT HST program

Jennifer Selvidge

PhD student at UCSB MSE

Elizabeth Canovic

Research Engineer at Spiden

Jonathan Aritzi

PhD student at Harvard/MIT HST program

Broad Strokes

Neuroscience

Magnetic Nanomaterials

fiber-drawing

Multifunctional Fibers

Neuromodulation

Materials Chemistry

modeling-3d

Physical Modeling

Research Topics

Magnetic Nanotransducers

Minimally invasive neural stimulation

Multifunctional Fibers

Recording and manipulation of neural activity

Fiber-based Devices

Tissue repair and replacement

Available Positions

We invite all researchers, and especially those from backgrounds underrepresented in academia, to apply for the positions listed below. Underrepresented groups include, but are not limited to: African Americans, Latinos, Native Americans, Pacific Islanders, Filipinos, those with disabilities or from disadvantaged backgrounds, and those underrepresented on the basis of gender identity or expression or sexual orientation.

RESEARCH SUPPORT ASSOCIATE/LABORATORY TECHNICIAN

We are looking for a research support associate who will be responsible for connecting back-end hardware and testing the functionality of fiber-based neural probes for the lab as well as for its collaborators, and maintaining supplies and the organization of the fiber fabrication lab space. The position may evolve to include performing routine animal surgeries to implant the neural probes and post-operative care. The position offers an excellent opportunity to facilitate exciting research projects and learn new research skills. Please apply here.

Postdoctoral Rearchers

We are looking to hire recent PhD graduates (or graduating students) with training in Neuroscience, Physiology, Molecular Biology, Immunology, or Gastroenterology interested in postdoctoral positions in our group. Please contact Polina directly, attaching your CV, most important paper, and a few sentences on what you are looking to accompish and learn during your postdoctoral training.

Graduate Students

Graduate students admitted to MIT Materials Science, Electrical Engineering, Chemistry, Chemical Engineering, Biological Engineering, Brain and Cognitive Sciences, Medical Engineering and Medical Physics, Physics, and Biology should contact Polina and lab members directly.

Students seeking admission to MIT please reach out to the appropriate departments with the links above and apply to MIT. We’ll be thrilled to talk to you following your formal admission. Individual faculty members at MIT do not make admission decisions.

Undergraduate Students

MIT and Wellesley undergraduates should check the MIT Undergraduate Research Opportunities (UROP) website for the available positions or reach out to Bioelectronics graduate students and postdocs.

Non-MIT/Wellesley undergraduates – we encourage you to apply into one of the excellent summer programs available at MIT (e.g. Center for Materials Science and Engineering (CMSE) REU, MIT Summer Research Program (MSRP), Amgen Scholars). Following your admission, you can indicate us as a potential summer home.

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