Qi Wang directs the Laboratory for Neural Engineering and Control to develop new technologies for restoring and enhancing brain functions through brain-machine interfaces (BMI). He has been working on cracking neural codes underlying our perception and cognition, and has been developing new strategies for selectively activating neural circuitry. He is particularly interested in how sensory information is processed in the brain that leads to the formation of perception and optimal decision making, and how this process is modulated by behavioral states such as attention and arousal. He utilizes experimental and computational approaches to tackle these questions, including single-unit electrophysiology, optogenetic manipulation, calcium imaging, patterned microstimulation and finite element modeling.
Dr. Wang received a PhD in Robotics from Harbin Institute of Technology in 1998, and a PhD in Electrical and Computer Engineering from McGill University in 2006, respectively. He finished his postdoc training in neuroscience at Harvard University from 2006 to 2008. He is the recipient of numerous awards, including the NSF CAREER award in 2019, the Sackler Convergence Award in 2015, the IEEE EMBS Early Career Achievement in 2014, the NARSAD Young Investigator award in 2014, and the Best Paper Award at 14th IEEE Haptics Symposium in 2006.