Conference Chairs

Dr. Hubert Lim is a Professor in the Biomedical Engineering and Otolaryngology Departments at the University of Minnesota and was hired as an Institute for Translational Neuroscience Scholar. He currently holds the Endowed Lions Professorship in Otolaryngology and is also a Co-Director for the Center for Neural Engineering. He completed a B.S.E. in Bioengineering at UC-San Diego, followed by a dual Masters in Biomedical Engineering and Electrical Engineering & Computer Science and then a Ph.D. in Biomedical Engineering at the University of Michigan. At the University of Minnesota, his lab’s research focuses on neural engineering, neuromodulation technologies, sensory neuroscience, neural plasticity, and neuro-immune physiology with the aim of developing new electrical and ultrasound stimulation treatments for hearing disorders, pain and inflammatory conditions in collaboration with multiple clinicians and companies. Outside his academic activities, he is involved with two start-up companies, serving as the Chief Scientific Officer of Neuromod Devices (developing a tinnitus treatment device) and as the Chief Scientific Officer of SecondWave Systems (developing a wearable phased-array ultrasound device for treating various immune and pain conditions). Further information can be found at his lab website: http://soniclab.umn.edu.

Email: znahas@umn.edu

Ziad Nahas, MD, MSCR

Co-Chair| Minnesota Neuromodulation Symposium Conference

Professor & Executive Vice Chair for Clinical Affairs

Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences

Researcher | MnDRIVE Brain Conditions

University of Minnesota

Dr Nahas is a Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at the University of Minnesota. Dr Nahas scientific interests lie in translational research of mood dysregulation and depressive disorders. His unique expertise is in functional neuroimaging and brain stimulation across various modalities [Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS), Vagus Nerve Stimulation (VNS), Prefrontal Cortical Stimulation (PCS), Deep Brain Stimulation (DBS), Electroconvulsive Therapy (ECT) and Focally Electrically Administered Seizure Therapy (FEAST)]. He is an MPI on the recently awarded NCCIH SPARC grant investigating the effects of VNS on peripheral organ systems.

Email: tnetoff@umn.edu

Théoden I. Netoff, PhD

Director | Minnesota Neuromodulation Symposium Conference

Professor | Department of Biomedical Engineering

Co-Director | Center for Neuroengineering

Co-Director | Minnesota Neuroimaging Postdoctoral Fellowship

Steering Committee Member & Researcher | MnDRIVE Brain Conditions

University of Minnesota

Dr. Theoden Netoff is the Co-Director of the University of Minnesota's Center for Neuroengineering with Dr. Hubert Lim. He has chaired the Neuromodulation conference 3 times and is serving as the Conference Director this year. His research focuses on closed-loop and optimization of neuromodulation therapies for epilepsy, Parkinson's disease, spinal cord injury, and depression.

Email: osbor003@umn.edu

John Osborn, PhD

Co-Chair | Minnesota Neuromodulation Symposium Conference

Professor | Department of Surgery

Director | Minnesota Consortium for Autonomic Neuromodulation

Researcher | MnDRIVE Brain Conditions

University of Minnesota

Dr. Osborn received his Ph.D. in 1986 in physiology from the Medical College of Wisconsin, where he studied the neurohumoral mechanisms of hypertension. He then went to Johns Hopkins School of Medicine for a post-doctoral fellowship in biomedical engineering, where he focused on spinal level control of the sympathetic nervous system. While at Johns Hopkins, he received a 5-year NIH R29 grant (FIRST award) to study mechanisms and treatment of autonomic hyperreflexia in spinal cord injury. Dr. Osborn joined the faculty at the University of Minnesota in 1988, was promoted to Professor in 1997, and was appointed the Marvin and Hadassah Bacaner Endowed Chair in Cardiovascular Physiology in 2002. In 2019, Dr. Osborn moved to the Department of Surgery to establish the Minnesota Consortium for Autonomic Neuromodulation (MCAN). Dr. Osborn has studied the relationship between sympathetic nervous system activity and hypertension throughout his career. His earlier studies focused on central nervous system pathways and hypertension. More recently, he has shifted his focus tounderstanding the role of peripheral organ-specific sympathetic pathways in the pathogenesis of cardiometabolic disease, with the long-term goal of developing device-based neuromodulation therapies. He served on the 2019 National, Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute Task Force “Hypertension: Barriers to Translation.” He has published 120 papers and his research has been continuously funded by the National Institutes of Health. In 2022, Dr. Osborn, along with UMN faculty Hubert Lim (ENT, BME), Ziad Nahas (Psychiatry), Sayeed Ikramuddin (Surgery), Lynne Eberly (Public Health), and Monash University faculty (Melbourne, AUS) Vaughan Macefield, was awarded an NIH U54 grant “Research Evaluating Vagal Excitation and Anatomical Linkages (REVEAL)” to conduct a global clinical study on the physiological responses to vagal nerve stimulation in humans.