Nikunj has a PhD in Electrical Engineering from the University of Houston, USA with a specialization in Neural Engineering. Prior to pursuing a post-graduate degree, he pursued a master’s degree in Control Systems from IIT Bombay and a Bachelors in Electronics from Mumbai University. Before coming IIT Kanpur in 2023, Nikunj worked as a postdoctoral researcher and engineer in various institutions, including Indian Institute of Science, Feinstein Institute for Medical Research, NY, and the Houston Methodist Research Institute, TX.

The vision of our research program is to develop neuro-technologies that can integrate with our body’s nervous system in order to repair, restore, or replace any damaged neural pathways, resulting from a neurological disease or injury. Broadly, we are interested in two types of problems: First, the forward or decoding problem where we want to understand brain activity and use it to drive external devices such as a robotic limb for restoring movement in a paralyzed person. This technology is sometimes also called an electronic “neural bypass” or a brain-machine interface. Second, is the reverse or encoding problem where we want to study the effect of such a neural bypass on the brain and its ability to repair and restore the damaged neural pathways.

To address these questions, we are focusing on different technologies such as brain-computer/machine interfaces, electrical stimulation, neurorehabilitation, electrophysiology, sensors and instrumentation.