Warren M. Grill

Edmund T. Pratt, Jr. School Distinguished Professor of Biomedical Engineering

Our research employs engineering approaches to understand and control neural function. We work on fundamental questions and applied development in electrical stimulation of the nervous system to restore function to individuals with neurological impairment or injury.

Current projects include:
• understanding the mechanisms of and developing advanced approaches to deep brain stimulation to treat movement disorders,
• developing novel approaches to peripheral nerve electrical stimulation for restoration of bladder function, 
• understanding the mechanisms of and developing advanced approaches to spinal cord stimulation to treat chronic pain,
• understanding and controlling the cellular effects of transcranial magnetic stimulation, and
• design of novel electrodes and waveforms for selective stimulation of the nervous system.

Appointments and Affiliations

  • Edmund T. Pratt, Jr. School Distinguished Professor of Biomedical Engineering
  • Bass Fellow
  • Professor in Neurobiology
  • Professor in Neurosurgery
  • Core Faculty in Innovation & Entrepreneurship
  • Professor in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering
  • Faculty Network Member of the Duke Institute for Brain Sciences
  • Associate of the Duke Initiative for Science & Society
  • Professor of Biomedical Engineering

Contact Information

Education

  • B.S. Boston University, 1989
  • M.S. Case Western Reserve University, 1992
  • Ph.D. Case Western Reserve University, 1995

Research Interests

Neural engineering and neural prostheses and include design and testing of electrodes and stimulation techniques, the electrical properties of tissues and cells, and computational neuroscience with applications in restoration of bladder function, treatment of movement disorders with deep brain stimulation, and treatment of chronic pain.

Courses Taught

  • BME 301L: Bioelectricity (AC or GE)
  • BME 394: Projects in Biomedical Engineering (GE)
  • BME 493: Projects in Biomedical Engineering (GE)
  • BME 494: Projects in Biomedical Engineering (GE)
  • BME 504: Fundamentals of Electrical Stimulation of the Nervous System (EL, GE)
  • BME 515: Neural Prosthetic Systems (GE, EL, IM)
  • BME 791: Graduate Independent Study
  • BME 804: Developments in Neural Engineering
  • NEUROBIO 393: Research Independent Study
  • NEUROBIO 793: Research in Neurobiology
  • NEUROSCI 301L: Bioelectricity (AC or GE)
  • NEUROSCI 493: Research Independent Study 1
  • NEUROSCI 504: Fundamentals of Electrical Stimulation of the Nervous System (EL, GE)
  • NEUROSCI 515: Neural Prosthetic Systems (GE, EL, IM)

In the News

Representative Publications

  • Blanz, Stephan L., Eric D. Musselman, Megan L. Settell, Bruce E. Knudsen, Evan N. Nicolai, James K. Trevathan, Ryan S. Verner, et al. “Spatially selective stimulation of the pig vagus nerve to modulate target effect versus side effect.” Journal of Neural Engineering 20, no. 1 (February 2023). https://doi.org/10.1088/1741-2552/acb3fd.
  • Huffman, William J., Eric D. Musselman, Nicole A. Pelot, and Warren M. Grill. “Measuring and modeling the effects of vagus nerve stimulation on heart rate and laryngeal muscles.” Bioelectronic Medicine 9, no. 1 (February 2023): 3. https://doi.org/10.1186/s42234-023-00107-4.
  • Wang, Boshuo, Aman S. Aberra, Warren M. Grill, and Angel V. Peterchev. “Responses of model cortical neurons to temporal interference stimulation and related transcranial alternating current stimulation modalities.” J Neural Eng 19, no. 6 (January 3, 2023). https://doi.org/10.1088/1741-2552/acab30.
  • Thio, Brandon J., Aman S. Aberra, Grace E. Dessert, and Warren M. Grill. “Ideal current dipoles are appropriate source representations for simulating neurons for intracranial recordings.” Clinical Neurophysiology : Official Journal of the International Federation of Clinical Neurophysiology 145 (January 2023): 26–35. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.clinph.2022.11.002.
  • Upadhye, Aniruddha R., Chaitanya Kolluru, Lindsey Druschel, Luna Al Lababidi, Sami S. Ahmad, Dhariyat M. Menendez, Ozge N. Buyukcelik, et al. “Fascicles split or merge every ∼560 microns within the human cervical vagus nerve.” Journal of Neural Engineering 19, no. 5 (November 2022). https://doi.org/10.1088/1741-2552/ac9643.