Professor Deblina Sarkar, head of the Nano-Cybernetic Biotrek research group and AT&T Career Development Chair Professor at the MIT Media Lab, has been selected for a 2023 Maximizing Innovation in Neuroscience Discovery (MIND) Prize. This prize funds cutting-edge research that revolutionizes prediction, prevention, and treatment for neurodegenerative diseases (NDDs).

The MIND Prize supports and empowers early-to-mid-career investigators to rethink conventional paradigms around NDDs, through projects ranging from the invention of novel tools, techniques, and technologies for mapping and analyzing the brain, to bold approaches that demonstrate therapeutic potential. Five to seven prizes are awarded annually, and award winners each receive $250,000/year for three years, becoming part of a unique network of researchers. 

"Professor Sarkar's research offers the potential to unlock a radically new approach to treating brain diseases. Her vision is exceptionally bold and far-reaching! " said Pattie Maes, professor in the Media Lab's Program in Media Arts and Sciences and until recently the chair of the Media Lab's executive committee. 

Dr. Sarkar’s work brings together nanoelectronics, applied physics, bioengineering, and neuroscience. She and her lab aim to develop wireless nanoelectronic brain stimulators as novel therapeutics to slow down and even prevent Alzheimer’s disease development. The proposed technology is a radical departure from all existing bioelectronic interfaces and can modify the course of the diseases of aging—going beyond symptomatic benefits and potentially can reverse the process of aging.