Last year, neuroengineer Dr Clarissa Whitmire joined the Queensland Brain Institute as a senior research fellow and is the Institute’s newest group leader. Originally from the United States, Clarissa arrived at UQ following a postdoctoral appointment at the Max Dellbruck Center for Molecular Medicine in Berlin.  

In a joint appointment with UQ’s School of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, Clarissa seeks to combine her expertise in biomedical engineering with the next phase of neuroscience. Here at QBI, Dr Whitmire and her team are working to improve the human condition by developing tools and technologies to interface with our bodies.   

Neuroscientists call this technology Brain Computer Interfaces – devices that establish a direct connection between the brain and a computer, allowing information to be transferred and translated from or even back to the brain.  

In this episode of A Grey Matter, Clarissa discusses:

🧬 The rapidly emerging field of biomedical engineering (BME).

💻 Neuroengineering and where Brain Computer Interfaces sit within this.

🎬 Whether popular media influences neuroengineering technologies.

👩‍⚕️ Her background and what drew her to neuroscience.

🤔 What the future holds for neuroengineering.