Ernesto Bertarelli, Patrick Aebischer, Sylviane Borel, Daniel Borel at the announcement of EPFL's new Center for Neuroprostheses, Lausanne

Lausanne, Vaud (GenevaLunch) - EPFL is creating five chairs as part of a new “world class” Center for Neuroprostheses. These are devices embedded in the body to repair neurological deficiencies, from hearing and vision problems to a potentially wider range of disabilities. The new centre, which opens in January 2009, will be the first in the world to bring together under one roof a multidisciplinary team from the fields of neuroscience, engineering and information technology, for research in this area.

EPFL’s president, Patrick Aebischer, says the university’s ambition is to make the new centre the world’s leader for research and development of neuroprostheses.

The announcement was made Tuesday afternoon at a press conference that brought together some of the Lake Geneva region’s luminaries in cutting edge research: Ernesto Bertarelli, former owner of Serono Pharmaceuticals and owner of Alinghi, winner of sailing’s America’s Cup; Daniel Borel, founder of Logitech; and Patrick Aebischer of EPFL and Jeffrey Alan Hubbell, professor of regenerative medicine and pharmacobiology laboratory. Hubbell is overseeing the project as it develops. The Bertarelli and Borel families’ foundations will fund three of the chairs; EPFL has just received commitments from the Sandoz Family Foundation and the International foundation for paraplegic research to fund the other two.

The centre pulls together several disciplines for its six main themes:

• vision (retinal implants)
• hearing (cochlear implants)
• mobility (cortical and spinal implants)
• non‐invasive man‐machine interfaces (piloting at a distance, robotics)
• micro‐and nano‐fabrication of implants
• neuronal coding (signal processing, sensors).

Related article: “EPFL pushes frontline research for devices to help disabilities,” GenevaLunch feature, 12 November 2008

You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.