TK (Takashi DY) Kozai

🧠 From NIH-funded discovery → game-changing brain implants → NEW science that was impossible before.
This loop = cures, jobs & American tech leadership 🇺🇸

Join me MONDAY 12/8, 1pm ET:

"Next-Gen Neural Interfaces → Next Scientific Revolution”

🚀 #NeuroTech #BCI #NIH #BrainTech #TaxpayerWin

Sigh

Is it worth rebutting this complaining mischaracterization of how NIH review works?

The peer review NIH does is incredibly valuable and constructive. Compare the NIH BRAIN initiative to the European Brain initiative — which added peer review after an open letter of serious complaints.

🇺🇸 Better models, better implants, stronger American neurotechnology.

Link: iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1...

#NIHResearch #BrainTech #ResearchMatters #BasicScience #AmericanHealth #NeuralEngineering #AmericaFirst #BCI #TaxpayerValue #PittEngineering #ResearchFunding #NeuroTech #neuroprosthetics

This was driven by taxpayer-funded (#NIH) science. The return is clear: longer lasting implants, lower lifetime care costs, stronger rehab options for injured service members, and more U.S. jobs in high-tech biomedical engineering. #AmericanJobs #NIH #NSF

Using a physics-based finite element model, we identified how small brain–electrode shifts create strain fields that correspond to future recording quality. This reveals mechanical failure in real-world scenarios before they appear clinically.

📉 The core problem: even the best brain–computer interface electrodes slowly lose signal quality. This limits prosthetic control for veterans with limb loss, communication for people with paralysis, and long-term independence for many Americans.

📰 New paper from the University of Pittsburgh Neural Engineering Cross-Translation (UP NExT) program: our team mapped how micromotion-driven strain around Utah arrays predicts real world long-term performance in humans and NHPs. JNE 2025. #Pitt

🇺🇲 Taxpayers fund research discussed at SfN 2025 & Bloodfest VI, advancing neurovascular & glial science, neural engineering, and next-gen brain tech. This work trains scientists, improves health outcomes, and keeps the U.S. #1 in biomedical innovation. #UPNExT #SfN25 #NeuralEngineering #UCSD

Honored to be appointed the Ernest E. Roth Professor at Pitt. Grateful for the trainees, collaborators, and colleagues advancing neural engineering and glial biology. Thank you to the Dean for supporting our UP NExT vision, engineering fundamental neuroscience discovery to improve lives.

Check out University of Pittsburgh Neural Engineering Cross-Translation (UP NExT) program at #SfN25

Bonus presentation from our new postdoc. Check out her PhD work and ask her what she's working on now. stim.bioniclab.org

B.I.O.N.I.C. Lab - University of Pittsburgh Neural Engineering Cross-Translation @SfN2025 University of Pittsburgh Neural Engineering Cross-Translation (UP NExT) @SfN2025

Visit us to see: #Oligodendrocyte Ca²⁺ dynamics, hypermyelination & FusOLcKO effects on hippocampal signaling, #Microglia responses to implants, vasomotor impairments, #NeuralGlider insertion metrics, & age-related laminar connectivity loss. Details: www.bioniclab.org/news/univers...

🚀 Discover cutting-edge neural engineering & glial biology at #SFN! Our lab (UP NExT) presents 8 posters linking neurons & non-neuronal cells to circuit stability & recovery using #electrophysiology, #TwoPhotonImaging, #microstimulation, #ultrasound #neuromodulation & single-cell transcriptomics.

NIH posted 14 executive leadership jobs with only 2-week windows.
SES roles normally stay open 30–45 days for real competition. Two weeks is far below standard practice and often signals a preselected candidate or rushed appointment.
Taxpayers deserve transparency. www.instagram.com/reel/DQ-xWIe...

Parvalbumin interneurons drive depth-dependent vascular responses Understanding how neurons regulate cerebral blood flow (CBF) is crucial for interpreting brain hemodynamic imaging signals. Although parvalbumin (PV) interneurons strongly influence network activity, ...

www.cell.com/iscience/ful...
#TaxpayerWin #BrainHealth #BrainTech #neurotech
#AmericanInnovation #NIHResearch

NIH-funded science that:
🇺🇸 Builds foundational knowledge for brain disease diagnostics
🎓 Trains next-gen neuroengineers
⚙️ Keeps the U.S. leading in neurotechnology innovation

#Neuroengineering #fMRI #NeurovascularCoupling #NIH #BrainResearch #ScienceForAmerica

New from University of Pittsburgh Neural Engineering Cross-Translation (UP NExT): PV interneurons don’t just control brain rhythms, they fine-tune blood flow too.
2P imaging + optogenetics, we found depth-specific vasoconstriction & dilation shaping both sensory-evoked & resting-state hemodynamics.

iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1...
#NIH #ANSYS #BlackrockNeurotech #Neuroscience #BrainResearch #Neurotech #BCI #NeuralEngineering #MedicalResearch #TaxpayerImpact #PublicScience #ScienceFunding #ScienceForAll #ParalysisRecovery #NeuroRehabilitation #BrainHealth #MedicalInnovation #NIHResearch

Small movements between the brain and the array create stress on tissue differently:
-Outer electrodes: Take the most direct mechanical stress, causing scarring.
-Inner electrodes: Stress on the edges can pinch blood vessels, reducing nutrients to neurons in the center, weakening them over time.

The University of Pittsburgh Neural Engineering Cross-Translation (UP NExT) Program is helping Americans & taxpayers by using Utah arrays to study brain signals. Insights from this work guide better use today and smarter designs for next-gen devices to restore movement & touch. #NIH #TaxpayerImpact

www.hudsonalpha.org/basic-resear...

Basic science is the rebar in brain tech.
From 2019-2022, NIH’s RFA-NS-20-006 funded the why behind implants that last 10 yrs, not 10 wks.
It ended in 2022, not because it failed, but because Academia/ DC grades on headlines, not foundations.
Demos dazzle. Basic science delivers.
#BuildToLast

Subretinal Photovoltaic Implant to Restore Vision in Geographic Atrophy Due to AMD | NEJM Geographic atrophy due to age-related macular degeneration (AMD) is the leading cause of irreversible blindness and affects more than 5 million persons worldwide. No therapies to restore vision in ...

👁️ UPMC Vision Institute is restoring sight! The PRIMA wireless retinal implant + camera glasses helped patients with advanced macular degeneration regain functional vision. Over 80% saw measurable improvement. #VisionRestoration #Neuroprosthetics #UPMC #Pitt www.nejm.org/doi/full/10....

💸 Your tax $ → real lives restored.
Read: iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1...

UP NExT: www.engineering.pitt.edu/departments/...

#AmputeeRehab #NIHImpact #Pittsburgh #NeuralEngineering #AmericaFirst #AmericanInnovation

45% of amputations = trauma (many vets).
This reuses FDA-cleared hardware → fast VA rollout.
↓ Falls ($50K each) = taxpayer ROI. UP NExT: Engineer → Test → Translate → Impact.

Pitt’s UP NExT (NIH-funded) just turned pain-relief SCS into a sensory neuroprosthesis for amputees. Restored phantom foot feel
Cut knee co-contraction
Normalized pelvic motion, even OFF stim #Veterans walk safer, cheaper. NIH: UH3NS100541 #NeuralEngineering #Pitt

Thalamocortical hodology to personalize electrical stimulation for focal epilepsy - Nature Communications Over 50 million people worldwide suffer from epilepsy, and many patients remain resistant to medication. Here, the authors hypothesized that targeting thalamic nuclei with precise anatomical...

🧠🇺🇸 BREAKTHROUGH: 87.5% seizure reduction via personalized thalamic DBS, but only when matched to the patient’s brain network. UP NExT, NIH $$ → real results. No waste. American tech. Taxpayer ROI.
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
#Epilepsy #MAGA #NIH #NeuralEngineering #Pitt #Pittsburgh

Groundbreaking prosthetics that can feel touch In our series "Augmented Humanity," we explore innovative technology giving new hope to people who have lost movement or sensation and are now regaining both through the power of their brains.

www.goodmorningamerica.com/video/126828...
University of Pittsburgh Neural Engineering Cross-Translation (UP NExT) Program
#BCI #Neuroengineering #UPNExT #AugmentedHumanity #NIH #UPMC #Pitt @PittEngineering

The University of Pittsburgh Neural Engineering (UP NExT) Program made history, restoring touch through brain-computer interfaces.
Nathan (longest BCI user) & Angie (newest) can feel again via electrodes in the brain.

NIH-funded science turning thought into movement, and contact into connection. 🧠🤝

Corporate support cannot make up for threats to the NIH budget The privatization of medical research can’t replace what the NIH has provided.

Pharmaceutical industry money can’t replace NIH funding | STAT share.google/iZfAlSgXeIR3...
#BasicScience #NIH #NSF #NASA #JOBS #RESEARCHFUNDING #RESEARCHMATTERS #InnovationNation #AmericaFirst