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Mijail Serruya, 29
Connects brains directly to computers int he hope of helping paralyzed people communicate and control robotic aids
Cyberkinetics
It takes incredible patience to interview people so severely paralyzed they can communicate only with the blink of an eye or the twitch of a brow. But it was partly impatience that inspired Mijail Serruya to do just that. The Brown University medical student and PhD was helping to develop a “brain-machine interface,” and he was eager to put it to work helping profoundly disabled people. Talking to them about their needs was an important step. Brain-machine interfaces could potentially allow paralyzed people to communicate through computers and to control robotic wheelchairs and aids. Serruya started by fine-tuning algorithms that allow signals recorded by electrode arrays implanted in the brain to change the position of a cursor on a computer screen. He says his colleagues were planning to explore human applications “one day”, but to him the question was, What are they waiting for? Aiming to move the interface into human trials, Serruya, Brown neuroscientist John Donoghue, and two others founded Foxborough, MA-based Cyberkinetics in 2001. They have hurdles to clear before they can begin human tests, Serruya says, but one gets the sense that all they need is a little patience.
2003 TR35 Winners
Guillermo Ameer
Synthesized "biorubbers" that could replace damaged heart and lung tissue and rebuild blood vessels
Helene Andersson
Produces portable, inexpensive, microprocessor-size labs for research and industry
Sangeeta Bhatia
Uses microchip-manufacturing tools to build artificial livers
Alexis Borisy
Believes that combining different drugs could yield better ways to fight disease
Eugene Chan
Aims to speed genome sequencing with a machine that reads DNA letter by letter
Bassil Dahiyat
Designs proteins from scratch to create new medicine
Benjamin G. Davis
Manipulates biological sugars for more precise drug delivery
Christophe Echeverri
Develops fast, automated processes for figuring out genes functions
Michael E. Gertner
Set out to improve the tiny devices that keep once blocked arteries open
Jay Groves
Patented a lab-on-a-chip to investigate call proteins that cause diseases
Justin Hanes
Creates systems for delivering drugs to where theyre needed in the body
Andre Koltermann
Speeds protein evolution to improve detergents, medicines, and foods
Erin Lavik
Helped paralyzed rats walk again and aims to do the same for people
Xiangjun Liu
Maps gene variations that could warn of future disease
Anthony Lowman
Packs insulin into gel pills that could replace injections for diabetes patients
Gavin Macbeath
Unravels complex biological systems in his search for new drugs
Nimmi Ramanujam
Uses light to help make diagnosing breast cancer and cervical cancer faster, more accurate and less invasive
Shuvo Roy
Builds tiny machines that can warn of impending heart attack and monitor healing after surgery
Ram Samudrala
Wrote algorithms that can predict the functions of proteins from the sequence of a genome
Christophe Schilling
Transforms microbes into fine-tuned manufacturing machines
Mark Schnitzer
Sheds light on the functioning of individual brain cells
Mijail Serruya
Connects brains directly to computers int he hope of helping paralyzed people communicate and control robotic aids
Micah Siegel
Transforms research from universities and national labs into successful startups
Giovanni Traverso
Came up with a noninvasive alternative to colonoscopy
Rita Vanbever
Wants to make treating diabetes as easy as breathing
Ron Weiss
Programs living cells to sense toxins ot create replacement tissues
Jennifer West
Synthesizes blood vessels that could reduce the trauma of heart surgery
Daphne Zohar
Spots promising biotech work and helps build new companies to commercialize it