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BCI Atlas Lab brief North America

University of Pennsylvania — BCI & neurotechnology ecosystem

Penn is a full-stack BCI ecosystem spanning clinic-facing implantable systems, decoding/methods, and biohybrid interface biology (including ‘living electrode’ concepts).

The University of Pennsylvania (Penn / UPenn) is one of the stronger “full-stack” BCI ecosystems in the U.S., with credible depth across:

  • implantable / clinical-facing brain–machine interface (BMI) work (neurosurgery + neurology + engineering),
  • neural decoding + machine learning (methods that generalize beyond a single dataset), and
  • interface biology + biohybrid constructs (the “living electrode” direction).

A useful way to map Penn is: (1) clinical neuroengineering & implantable systems, (2) decoding/methods, (3) tissue-engineered interfaces.

1) Richardson Lab (Neurosurgery) — clinic-facing brain–machine interfaces

  • Lab site: 01
  • Research page: 02

Penn’s neurosurgery-facing BMI work matters because it is forced to care about the practical constraints that dominate translation (implants, materials, workflow, and long-term function).

2) Pesaran Lab — brain–machine interfaces and motor-system signals

  • Penn Medicine BMI page: 03
  • Lab site: 04

3) Penn Center for Neuroengineering and Therapeutics (CNT) + Litt Lab — translational neuroengineering

  • Penn Neurology “Translational Centers of Excellence” page (mentions CNT): 05
  • Litt Lab: 06

CNT/Litt is a Penn signature: device + data + clinical workflow under one umbrella.

4) Kording Lab — decoding and ML methods (BCI-enabling infrastructure)

A lot of usable BCI progress is methods progress: robustness, generalization, calibration reduction, and evaluation.

5) Cullen Lab — biohybrid interfaces and “living electrodes”

Penn’s “interface biology” thread is a real differentiator. One representative, directly relevant paper on engineered axonal tracts as “living electrodes”:

  • Serruya MD, et al. Engineered Axonal Tracts as “Living Electrodes” for Synaptic-Based Modulation of Neural Circuitry. PubMed: 09

Clean claims you can make (with sources)

  1. Penn has multiple labs explicitly describing brain–machine interface / BCI research aims (e.g., Richardson, Pesaran).
  2. Penn has an institutional translation push via CNT, bridging Perelman School of Medicine and Penn Engineering. 05
  3. Penn has a serious biohybrid / living electrode thread targeting chronic interface biology constraints. 09

Source index

References, research and institutional reports.

  1. med.upenn.edu Reference

    Lab site
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  2. med.upenn.edu Reference

    Research page
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  3. med.upenn.edu Reference

    Penn Medicine BMI page
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  4. pesaranlab.org Reference

    Lab site
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  5. med.upenn.edu Reference

    Penn Neurology “Translational Centers of Excellence” page (mentions CNT)
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  6. littlab.seas.upenn.edu Reference

    Litt Lab
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  7. kordinglab.com Reference

    Lab
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  8. med.upenn.edu Reference

    Lab
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  9. pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov Reference

    Serruya MD, et al. Engineered Axonal Tracts as “Living Electrodes” for Synaptic-Based Modulation of Neural Circuitry. PubMed
    Back to section