Steven J. Schiff

Steven J. Schiff, MD, PhD
Director, Penn State Center for Neural Engineering
Brush Chair Professor of Engineering
Professor of Neurosurgery
Professor of Engineering Science and Mechanics
Professor of Physics (Courtesy Appointment)

212 Earth-Engineering Sciences Building
University Park, PA 16802
(814) 865-2481 Mary Lee Carns (Center Administration)
(814) 863-4210 Office
(815) 550-2150 Fax
Send E-Mail sschiff@psu.edu

http://www.esm.psu.edu/schiff

See June 2008 article at Technology Review

Research Interests:

I am a Pediatric Neurosurgeon, with particular interests in understanding the physics of dynamical disease of the nervous system and developing smart prosthetics.

Dynamical Diseases are where the predominant symptomatology manifests as disordered interaction between the elements of the organ in question. My focus is on the nervous system, and grew out of my experience in treating Epilepsy as well as the Spasticity of Cerebral Palsy. Our best surgical treatment offerings for such diseases involves destructive resection, and my goals are centered around the science and engineering of alternatives to such therapies.

Finding better treatments to such dynamical disease requires that we understand the underlying physical principles that govern the normal, and disordered, interactions between elements of the nervous system. I have spent considerable time focusing on the cellular interactions which make up pattern formation in seizures, wave mechanics, and oscillatory behaviors of the nervous system. I am also deeply involved in learning how to use electrical stimulation to alter such interactions, so that we can design intelligent control algorithms. In human EEG, I have done fundamental work on the signal processing of seizures, discrimination analysis, real time modulation of stimulation based on EEG, and robotic brain-machine interfaces for wheelchair control. I am also heavily involved in developing safety guidelines for implantable materials, understanding microlesions from depth electrode implantation, and establishing electrical parameters based on the diversity of neuronal vulnerability for future prosthetic interfaces.

Lastly, with support from a Grace Woodward Grant for Collaborative Research in Engineering and Medicine, I have begun a number of projects to work on improving the diagnosis and treatment of neurosurgical diseases in East Africa. Improving medical care with the constraints of limited resources, through better engineering and image analysis, is a goal that is of broad utility in both the developing and industrialized countries.

Penn State Center for Neural Engineering

The new Penn State Center for Neural Engineering, an intercollege center bridging the Colleges of Engineering, Medicine and Science, was Chartered in June, 2007. With Professor Bruce J. Gluckman as the Associate Director, and Professor Corina Drapaca, the Center will occupy 22,000 square feet of space in the new Life Sciences II Building, a structure which will bring together faculty and laboratories from Materials Science and Life Sciences at Penn State.

Schiff lab People.

Teaching and Curricula:

New Course Fall 2008: Neural Control Engineering

New Course Spring 2009: Neuroethics and Neurolaw

New Neural Engineering PhD Track in Engineering Sciences and Mechanics

New MD-PhD Track in Engineering Sciences and Mechanics

Conferences:

Implanting Change: The Ethics of Neural Prosthetics

Publications:

Scientific Articles Published in Refereed Journals | Clinical Medicine Articles Published in Refereed Journals | Invited Contributions and Reviews

Education & Training:

• SB, MIT, 1977
  
• MD, Duke University, 1980
  
• PhD (Physiology, G. Somjen), Duke University, 1985
  
• General Surgery Internship/Duke University, 1981
  
• Neurosurgery Residency, Duke University, 1989
  
• Pediatric Neurosurgery Fellowship, Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, 1990
  

Certification:

• Diplomat of the American Board of Neurological Surgery, 1992
  

Editorial Boards:

• Journal of Computational Neuroscience, Action Editor
  
• Physical Review Letters, Divisional Associate Editor (Biological Physics)
  

Funding:

• National Academies - Keck Futures Initiative, PI
• NIH R01, PI
• NIH, R01, Co-Investigator
• NIH, R01, Co-Investigator
• NIH R01, Co-Investigator, PI on Subcontract to Penn State
• Pennsylvania Department of Health, Tobacco Settement Funds
• Keystone Innovation Zone, Economic Development Council of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
• Grace Woodward Grant for Collaborative Research in Engineering and Medicine

Misc:

• Fellow of the American College of Surgeons, 1994
  
• Independent Scientist Awards, National Institutes of Health, 1997, 2003
  
• Listed in 'Guide to America's Top Physicians', 2nd Edition, 2005, published by the Consumers' Research Council of America.
  
• Listed in 'Guide to America's Top Surgeons', 3rd Edition, 2006, published by the Consumers' Research Council of America.
  
• Fellow of the American Physical Society, 2005
  
  • Citation: ”For his contributions to the physical and biological understanding and control of the dynamics of neural signals in the brain.“
    
• Music
  
  • Nittany Valley Symphony, Viola Section
  • Bach Double Concerto for Viola and Dog
    

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