Prof. Polina Olegovna Anikeeva

Professor Polina Anikeeva’s group draws inspiration from neurobiology to create minimally invasive materials and devices to interface with the nervous system. Professor Anikeeva’s Bioelectronics Group develops multifunctional, multimaterial fibers that enable optical, electrical, and chemical interfaces with neurons in the brain, spinal cord, and peripheral organs. These fiber-based probes empower neuroscience research by permitting recording and manipulation of neural activity. Taking advantage of low conductivity and negligible permeability of biological matter to weak magnetic fields, the research group designs and synthesizes a range of magnetic nanomaterials capable of transducing remote magnetic signals to stimuli perceived by biological receptors. To date, magnetic nanomaterials have enabled magnetothermal, magnetomechanical, and chemomagnetic modulation of neurons in vivo. The technologies developed in the Bioelectronics Group are advancing the fundamental neuroscience of brain-organ communication and paving the way to minimally invasive treatments of neurological and psychiatric conditions.

Polina Anikeeva designs, synthesizes, and fabricates optoelectronic and magnetic devices to advance fundamental understanding and treatment of disorders of the nervous system. Anikeeva’s lab designs probes that are compatible with delicate neural tissue, but match the signaling complexity of neural circuits. In addition, her group develops magnetic nanoparticles for non-invasive neural stimulation. Most recently, Anikeeva is exploring the pathways connecting the brain to other body organ systems with the goal of advancing therapies and predictive diagnostics to achieve healthy minds in healthy bodies.