MD/PhD candidate from Miller School of Medicine, University of Miami
Bio: Kevin Davis received his BS degree in Neuroscience from BYU in 2015. As an undergraduate student, he worked in Dr. Steven K. Charles' Neuromechanics lab and participated as a summer research fellow at the Center for Sensorimotor Neural Engineering at the University of Washington Seattle. Following graduation, he spent three years researching neuropharmacology
at the University of Iowa School of Medicine. In 2018 he matriculated into the Medical Scientist
Training Program (MD/PhD) at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine. He will enter
his 3rd year of his PhD dissertation work in the Department of Biomedical Engineering this fall.
Abstract: Brain‐computer interfaces offer promising prospects for patients suffering from
paralysis by circumventing the neurological level of injury or disease. By studying the signals
obtained from microelectrode arrays, implanted neural devices, or non‐invasive neural sensing
devices, we can better understand how these signals correlate with observed and intended
motor behavior. In this talk, Kevin will briefly review his academic path and discuss his current
work in brain‐computer interfaces for upper‐limb motor restoration. This will include the
development of a portable system he developed using software engineering, signal processing,
neural decoding that employs statistical, machine, and deep learning techniques, as well as
important user considerations for assistive devices. Understanding correlations between neural
potentials and motor behavior is an important endeavor to better develop neural engineering
solutions for patients who suffer from neuromotor disabilities.