People
Director, Professor André van Schaik
André van Schaik is a Research Professor in Bioelectronics and Neuroscience. He received the M.Sc. degree in electrical engineering from the University of Twente, Enschede, The Netherlands, in 1990 and the Ph.D. degree in electrical engineering from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (EPFL), Lausanne, Switzerland, in 1998. In 1998 he was a postdoctoral research fellow in the Department of Physiology at the University of Sydney, funded by fellowship from the Garnett Passe and Rodney Williams memorial foundation. In 1999 he became a Senior Lecturer in the School of Electrical and Information Engineering at the University of Sydney and promoted to Reader in 2004. In 2011 André became a research professor at UWS.
His research focuses on three main areas: neuromorphic engineering, bioelectronics, and neuroscience. He was identified as a world leader in neuromorphic engineering research in May 2006 by an independent article in IEEE Spectrum, the IEEE largest circulation magazine. He has authored more than 100 papers and is an inventor of more than 30 patents. He is a founder of three start-up companies: VAST Audio, Personal Audio, and Heard Systems.
Research staff
Professor Vaughan Macefield
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Vaughan Macefield is Foundation Chair of Integrative Physiology at the School of Medicine, University of Western Sydney, and a Conjoint Principal Research Fellow at Neuroscience Research Australia. A former NMHRC Senior Research Fellow, he completed his PhD at UNSW in 1986, then undertook advanced training in human neurophysiology in Sweden and the USA. In 1994 he established his own laboratories at POWMRI, prior to joining UWS in 2006.
Vaughan specializes in recording from single nerve fibres via tungsten microelectrodes inserted into the peripheral nerves of awake human subjects, and is known internationally as a world expert in recording the firing properties of human sympathetic neurones in health and disease, and as a leading investigator in human sensorimotor control. He has active collaborations with many groups in Australia, Sweden and the USA, and has attracted postdoctoral scientists from Sweden, Denmark, Canada and Australia.
Professor John Morley
John Morley is the Foundation Chair in Anatomy & Cell Biology in the UWS School of Medicine.
His research has been mainly in the area of sensory neuroscience, in which he has investigated issues of neural coding in the somatosensory, visuomotor, and visual systems. He has substantial experience with in vivo electrophysiological recording, including multichannel data acquisition, and in vitro sharp electrode and patch clamp recording. Most recently research in his laboratory has investigated the development of cortical and retinal visual neuroprostheses, functional plasticity in the cerebral cortex following disruption of sensory input, and the role of the protein dystrophin in CNS neurones (the protein that is absent in the condition Duchenne muscular dystrophy). His research has attracted substantial funding support, and he is a chief investigator (with Professor Vaughan Macefield) on an ARC/NHMRC Thinking Systems program grant, and is a chief investigator on the recently awarded $42 million grant from the Federal Government to Bionic Vision Australia to develop a retinal prosthesis.
Professor Jonathan Tapson
Jonathan Tapson is a Professor in Electrical Engineering in the School of Engineering at the University of Western Sydney. He received a B.Sc in Physics in 1986, a B.Sc in Electrical Engineering in 1988, and his Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering in 1994, all from the University of Cape Town, South Africa. Since 1997 he has been a professor of Electrical Engineering at the University of Cape Town, before joining the University of Western Sydney in 2011.
Jon's area of expertise is in the field of sensors, bio-inspired systems, and instrumentation. He has published more than 100 papers on his research and holds 10 patents. He is a co-founder of two start-up companies and one not for profit organisation.
Professor Philip de Chazal
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Philip de Chazal is a research professor in Biomedical Signal Processing and an ARC Future Fellow. He has a B.E. (1988), M.Biomed.E (1995) and Ph.D. (1999) from University of New South Wales. In his last post he was a founder, director and chief technical officer of the Irish company BiancaMed for 9 years. BiancaMed is a world leader in providing non-contact sleep monitoring solutions and was acquired by ResMed Inc. in 2011. Previous to this he was a research fellow at University College Dublin and an experimental scientist with Ultrasonic Institute, CSIRO, Sydney.
Philip's research is focused on understanding breathing and sleeping physiology and also on developing automated diagnostic devices for monitoring of sleep and the cardiorespiratory system. In addition, he has extensive experience in transforming university research into commercial reality. He has published over 100 articles including 23 journal publications and 60 conference papers. He is an inventor on 9 patents.
Dr Tara Julia Hamilton
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Tara Julia Hamilton is a Senior Research Lecturer in Neuromorphic Engineering. She completed a BE (Electrical) Hons I and BCom (Economics and Marketing) in 2000 from the University of Sydney. During this time Tara was an Energy Australia Scholar. In 2000 Tara began working at Cochlear Ltd. first as a Quality Engineer and then as an Integrated Circuit (IC) Design Engineer. During this time Tara completed a MEngSc (Biomedical) from the University of New South Wales. In 2004 Tara began a PhD at the University of Sydney. During this time Tara lectured Digital Integrated Circuit Design and Electronics. Tara also worked as a consultant for a number of companies including: Cochlear Ltd., Surgical Diagnostics Pty. Ltd., G2 microsystems and Perceptia Design Services. Tara was awarded a PhD from the University of Sydney in 2008. In 2008 Tara started at the University of Queensland as a lecturer in Electronics. Also in 2008 Tara was awarded an Australian Research Council (ARC) Australian Postdoctoral Fellowship (APD) and an ARC discovery grant for 4 years commencing in 2009. This grant is for research into neuromorphic binaural sensors aimed at solving the "cocktail party problem" in both artificial systems and hearing aid devices. In 2010 Tara started at the University of NSW as a lecturer in digital systems design. She joined the Bioelectronics and Neuroscience team in the MARCS Institute at UWS in 2012.
Along with her ARC discovery grant, Tara's other research activities include low power analogue and digital IC design, neuromorphic engineering (modelling neurons and neural systems), biomedical engineering (medical devices), auditory signal processing and electronics.
Dr Paul Breen
Paul Breen is a Senior Research Lecturer in the Bioelectronics & Neuroscience Research Group, The MARCS Institute, UWS. He received his B.Eng. Degree in Computer Engineering (First Class Honours) in 2003 and his Ph.D. Degree in 2007, both from the University of Limerick. He has worked in at Roessingh Research & Development, Enschede, The Netherlands, Harvard Medical School, Boston, USA, European Space Agency, Nordwick, The Netherlands and School of Medicine, UWS.
Dr. Breen’s research interests centre around the use of electrical stimulation for healthcare applications with a particular interest in woundcare. He is a leading expert in the design and use of neuromuscular electrical stimulation, particularly for improving cardiovascular function. He is also actively investigating the potential of subsensory electrical stimulation as a treatment for the loss of neural functionality where it is impaired through neuropathy.
Dr Ingvars Birznieks
Ingvars Birznieks is a Senior Lecturer in Physiology at the School of Biomedical and Health Sciences, University of Western Sydney. He received his PhD training in the world’s leading laboratories in the field of tactile sensory encoding mechanisms led by Professor R.S. Johansson at the Umeå University in Sweden and Professor A.W. Goodwin at the University of Melbourne, two of the world’s most prominent experts in this field.
Ingvars' research concentrates on the neural mechanisms and encoding of the perception of touch.
Dr Ranjith Liyanapathirana
Ranjith's areas of research expertise are coding and information theory, radio communications & broadcasting, and biomedical engineering. He has primarily contributed to coding and information theory in communication technologies by developing novel algorithms, modulation techniques, and performance evaluation via computer simulation. In the recent past, he has contributed to the development of efficient simulation techniques for trellis modulation codes. In the area of radio communication, Ranjith has expertise in video transmission through error-prone mobile channels, in particular, investigating unequal error protection codes for mobile video transmission. In biomedical engineering, his expertise is in cryosurgical process control systems, involving the development of a prototype kit for efficient delivery of liquid nitrogen for cryosurgery.
Dr David Mahns
David Mahns is a Senior Lecturer in Integrative Physiology at the School of Medicine, University of Western Sydney. After completing his doctoral work in Cardiovascular Physiology (1999) David undertook post-doctoral work in sensory physiology under the direction of Professor Mark Rowe as a NHMRC research officer. In 2003 he was appointed as Lecturer & Course coordinator (2003-2006). In 2007 David was appointed as a senior lecturer in Integrative Physiology at the University of Western Sydney.
David specializes in quantifying the contribution of sensory nerves arising from skin and deep structures such as muscle and bone to perception. Recent work has focused on defining how we distinguish between non-painful (e.g. innocuous touch) and painful stimuli. These questions are addressed using psychophysical observations and detailed electrophysiological recordings. In collaboration with Professor Macefield he is examining the contribution of different sensory nerves to the abnormal condition of allodynia where gentle touch is perceived as painful.
Dr Antonio Lauto
Antonio Lauto is a Senior Lecturer in Biomedical Nanotechnology in the School of Biomedical and Health Sciences at the University of Western Sydney. He received his PhD in Biomedical Engineering at the University of New South Wales (Sydney, Australia). He worked for several years as a Research Fellow, at Cornell University and The Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, in New York (USA).
Antonio's multidisciplinary research spans the fields of tissue engineering and biomaterials to medical applications of laser technology and nanophotonics. He has a recognised track record in the development, characterisation and applications of novel laser-activated bioadhesives for nerve and tissue repair.
Dr Carl Parsons
Carl Parsons is a Lecturer in Anatomy and Cell Biology at the School of Medicine, University of Western Sydney. Carl undertook his doctoral studies at the University of New England and received his post-doctoral training in the Laboratory of Physiology, University of Oxford.
The study of the mechanisms of neuronal plasticity has been the dominant theme in Dr Parsons' research. During his doctoral studies he used a combination of pharmacological and behavioural techniques to investigate factors affecting sensitive periods in post-natal development. During his post-doctoral period he studied the capacity and mechanisms of plasticity of auditory representations in juvenile and adult ferrets. More recently Dr Parsons has concentrated on studies of plasticity in whole animal in vivo preparations in the auditory and visual systems using extracellular recording techniques. A major focus of Dr Parsons' current research is the investigation of the mechanisms underlying the pathophysiology of tinnitus.
Dr Klaus Stiefel
Klaus Stiefel is a Postdoctoral Research Fellow in Computational Neuroscience in the MARCS Institute. Klaus received his undergraduate degree (Magister rer. nat.) in microbiology at the University of Vienna in in 1998. He did his undergraduate thesis work, on cold-shock in E. coli, at the Institute of Microbiology and Genetics of the University of Vienna. Klaus then did his doctorate work, on synaptic plasticity, with Wolf Singer at the Max Planck Institute for Brain Research in Frankfurt, Germany. His degree, in zoology, was granted by the University of Vienna, with Friedrich Barth as the head of the thesis comity. He then did a post-doc with Terry Sejnowski at his Computational Neurobiology Lab at the Salk Institute, working on dendritic integration and neural oscillations. From 2006 to 2011 Klaus was at the Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology.
Klaus' research interests are the computational capabilities of nervous systems. In single neurons, he is interested in neuronal excitability and dendritic signal integration. In networks, he is especially interested in synchronous oscillations, reverbaratory activity and concepts like liquid state machines. His methods are theoretical and simulation-based. He aims for an approach which is informed by biology and inspired by dynamical systems; realistic without drowning in detail; empirically meaningful but conceptually groundbreaking at the same time.
A serious side-interest of Klaus' is the biology of fishes, especially the marine family gobiidae (gobies). In 2011 he surveyed a marine region in the central Philippines for gobies down to a depth of 60 meters.
Dr Yossi Buskila
Yossi Buskila is a postdoctoral research fellow in Neurophysiology in the MARCS Institute. He received his PhD degree in neurophysiology from Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Beer-Sheva, Israel, in 2010. Following his PhD he joined the lab of Prof. Graham Ellis-Davies in the Department of Physiology at Drexel University College of Medicine as a postdoctoral research fellow, where he studied the effect of β-amyloid on cortical pyramidal neurons using electrophysiological and 2-photon imaging techniques.
Yossi’s research focuses on signal processing in cortical networks. Yossi use multi-site electrophysiological recordings in brain slices along with imaging techniques to study the adaptation of spike propagation delays in dendrites and also the neuronal-astrocytic interactions in the somatosensory cortex.
