Dr. Miguel Nicolelis is the Anne W. Deane Professor of Neuroscience and Professor of Neurobiology, Biomedical Engineering and Psychology at Duke University. He is also Co-Director of Duke Center for Neuroengineering and Co-Founder and Scientific Director of the Edmond and Lily Safra International Institute for Neuroscience of Natal (ELS-IINN). Dr. Nicolelis is a native of Sao Paulo, Brazil where he received his M.D. and Ph.D. in Neurophysiology from the University of Sao Paulo.

Dr. Nicolelis is best known for his study of Brain Machine Interfaces (BMI) for neuroprosthetics, and he is also developing an integrative approach to studying neurological and psychiatric disorders by recording neuronal ensemble activity across the brain in genetically modified mice.

Dr. Nicolelis is deeply committed to using scientific enterprise as a catalyst for social and economic change in disadvantaged communities. For example, the ELS-IINN provides a cutting edge neuroscience research facility, a school for disadvantaged children, mental health clinic, an athletic complex, a science museum and a conservation park in one of the poorest regions of Brazil.

Honors include: named as Scientific American’s Top 50 Technology Leaders in America(2004); the DARPA Award for Sustained Excellence by a Performer;, the Whitehead Scholar Award; Ruth and Morris Williams, Jr. Faculty Research Prize; Whitehall Foundation Award; McDonnell-Pew Foundation Award; Duke University Thomas Langford Lectureship Award; the Ramon y Cajal Chair at the University of Mexico; the Santiago Grisolia Chair at Catedra Santiago Grisolia; and invited speaker at the Nobel Forum, Stockholm, Sweden and at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. He has authored more than 135 manuscripts, edited numerous books and special journal issues, and holds three U.S. patents.