Prof. Polina Olegovna Anikeeva

Professor Anikeeva's expertise is in optogenetics and hybrid optoelectronics, and she is particularly engaged with the development of novel devices to treat neural disorders. Anikeeva's work is motivated by the fact that the clinical treatment of many neural disorders is frequently hampered by invasive, cumbersome and sometimes ineffective methods. Examples include the deep brain stimulation in Parkinson's patients, which requires risky surgery to implant an electrode; and heart arrhythmia treatment, which is entirely dependent on the surgical implantation of a pacemaker.

When asked to describe her research interests, Dr. Anikeeva writes, "There is a missing link between laboratory and clinical neuroscience research and industrial medical device development. I intend to bridge the gap between those two worlds by developing hybrid functional materials and devices for clinical applications. My initial research will focus on projects dedicated to the development of hybrid materials and devices that act as interpreters between man-made electronics and neural circuits through the conversion of electromagnetic (EM) field energy in the form of radio-frequency (RF) field or light into a change of the electrochemical potential across cellular membranes." She is enthusiastic about pursuing her research interests at MIT, where collaborations between colleagues, departments, and schools create innovations almost daily.

She explains that, "While research is a very significant part, of my life, I cannot possibly imagine a fulfilling career without teaching. My goal, as a future teacher, is to infect the students with my curiosity for materials science and to inspire them to become future academic and industry leaders in the field." She hopes to create a subject that teaches hybrid organic-nanoparticle optoelectronics, offering students hands-on lab sessions.