Wei Wang, MD, PhD, received his medical degree from Peking University Health Science Center in 1999 and his PhD in biomedical engineering from Washington University in St. Louis in 2006. He is currently an assistant professor in the Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Department of Bioengineering, and Clinical and Translational Science Institute at the University of Pittsburgh. He is also a trainee in the Clinical Research Scholars Program (CRSP) of the ICRE.

Dr. Wang's primary research interests include motor system neurophysiology, brain-computer interface (BCI), and neurorehabilitation. His research recently attracted the attention of the media for a study in which an individual with quadriplegia learned to control a robotic arm with the use of implanted electrodes (see Neergaard L, "Paralyzed man uses mind-powered robot arm to touch," USA Today, October 14, 2011). The study lasted a month, after which the electrodes were explanted in compliance with Food and Drug Administration regulations. One of the novel aspects of the study was that the electrodes sat on the brain's surface, making their presence less invasive than intracortical electrodes. This advance stemmed from Dr. Wang's doctoral research with Daniel W. Moran, PhD, a leading scientist in neuroengineering at Washington University, on understanding the native "language" that the motor cortex uses to represent movement-related information. Dr. Wang made several important findings in decoding BCI control commands from motor cortical activity to control prosthetic limb movement.

After completing his PhD, Dr. Wang worked as a senior scientist at St. Jude Medical, Inc., a leading company in implantable neural and cardiac devices. In taking this position, he was driven by the goal of translating outcomes of basic BCI research into a practical and fully implantable BCI device. At St. Jude Medical, he conducted research to develop and implement biomedical signal-processing algorithms in the company's implantable medical devices, inventing an electrophysiologic signal detection algorithm and a clinician-friendly graphic user interface system, for which two U.S. patents are pending. Dr. Wang says that his industry experience provided him with knowledge about current implantable medical device technology and the process of translating research outcomes into a clinical product. It also stimulated him to enter his current career path: "My industry experience made me realize that translational research was needed to fill the gap between the basic BCI research on which most scientists were focusing and the clinical BCI devices that were ready for industry development."

This realization led Dr. Wang to join the Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation in the School of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences at the University of Pittsburgh in 2007. He was prompted to apply to the CRSP, which he joined in 2010, so he could tie together his academic, industry, and medical experiences and conduct experiments like the one he recently completed. He says, "I wanted to learn how to evaluate objectively and quantitatively the effectiveness of the clinical BCI devices I am developing and to lead multidisciplinary clinical BCI research projects." The CRSP provided Dr. Wang with structured mentoring from researchers with multidisciplinary backgrounds, including Michael Boninger, MD, chair of the Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation and director of UPMC Rehabilitation Institute, and Andrew Schwartz, PhD, a professor of neurobiology and a leading figure in motor system neuroscience and neuroengineering. Almost 18 months into the program, Dr. Wang says, "I have to admit that applying for the CRSP is probably the best decision I have made since I joined Pitt. I feel very fortunate to be supported by the program, to get to interact with the University's leadership in clinical and translational research and education, and to be among a group of exceptional researchers and clinicians who share a similar interest in clinical research."

In a recent presentation to the Multidisciplinary Advisory Committee and the CRSP scholars, the excitement about Dr. Wang's work was palpable. The novelty of his research, combined with the power to improve the lives of many individuals with disabilities, makes it clear that Dr. Wang's research has an important and tangible impact. Speaking about his future goals, Dr. Wang described a clear plan to improve the usage and control of robotic limbs or prostheses. While the first participant in this research was able to control movement of the prosthetic arm in three-dimensional space, future studies will focus on rotation at the wrist and grasping with the fingers. Eventually, Dr. Wang hopes that these three types of motion will be seamlessly combined into a more natural mimicry of human hand and arm usage. Sensory input from prosthetic or robotic limbs may also be added into the finger tips for additional control by individuals with quadriplegia. Dr. Wang expects that these studies will eventually lead to a fully implantable, wireless electrocorticography BCI (ECoG-BCI) device for clinical use in restoring hand function of patients with disabilities caused by spinal cord injury, stroke, and other neurologic disorders.

Dr. Wang's team is currently recruiting participants for future studies. If you know anyone who has paralysis and would like to be involved in this research, please ask him or her to contact Dr. Wang (at wangwei3@pitt.edu) or his research coordinator (Ms. Betsy Harchick at 412-383-1355 or eat18@pitt.edu).

< Top of Page >