Duke Institute for Brain Sciences

My principal interest is in neural engineering: using engineering techniques to understand and control neural function. Our research and development activities focus on neural prostheses - devices that use electrical activation of the nervous system to restore function to individuals with neurological impairment – and our activities include design and testing of electrodes and methods for electrical stimulation, development and application of computational approaches to study neural stimulation, and physiological and translational studies of neural control, with applications in peripheral nerve stimulation restoration of bladder function, brain stimulation for treatment of movement disorders, and spinal cord stimulation for treatment of chronic pain.

Postdoctoral Course, Neural Systems and Behavior, Marine Biological Laboratory, Woods Hole, MA, 1995

Ph.D., Case Western Reserve University, Biomedical Engineering, 1995

M.S., Case Western Reserve University, Biomedical Engineering, 1992

B.S., Boston University, Biomedical Engineering, 1989

McConnell GC, So RQ, Hilliard JD, Lopomo P, Grill WM (2012) Effective deep brain stimulation suppresses low frequency network oscillations in the basal ganglia by regularizing neural firing patterns. Journal of Neuroscience 32(45):15657-15668.

Birdno MJ, Dorval AD, Kuncel AM, Turner DA, Gross RE, Grill WM (2012) Stimulus features underlying reduced tremor suppression with temporally patterned deep brain stimulation. Journal of Neurophysiology 107(1):364-383.

Woock JP, Yoo PW, Grill WM (2011) Mechanisms of reflex bladder activation by pudendal afferents. American Journal of Physiology - Regulatory, Integrative and Comparative Physiology 300(2):R398-R407.