Center for Neuroprosthetics

Restoring Speech, Movement and Cognition

DRAFT CASE FOR SUPPORT

Today

Neuroprosthetics — devices that can restore motor, sensory or cognitive functions by interfacing with the brain, spinal circuits and other nerves — have extraordinary potential for the 1 in 3 people worldwide who will be affected by a neurological condition. 

Clinically effective devices are urgently needed, as the best existing treatments often address the disease or condition but leave the functional damage. 

UC Davis is uniquely positioned to lead a revolution that will change neuromedicine as we know it. The UC Davis Center for Neuroprosthetics (CNP) serves as an institutional home and translation engine for neurotechnology — streamlining program management, regulatory and administrative expertise, review and contracting pathways, and clinical trials. This coordinated infrastructure helps scientists, clinicians and venture partners navigate intellectual property, regulatory submissions and clinical collaborations, moving innovations into first- in-human trials faster, more reliably and more safely. CNP uses collaborative, research-driven approaches to create new ways to restore function loss due to neurological injuries, stroke, Parkinson’s disease, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and other conditions. Through our innovations, millions of people who have been affected through loss of function will once again be able to move, perceive and communicate.

We are already making an impact, distinguishing CNP as the best in the world at speech decoding technology and speech brain-computer interfaces (BCI). For example, our team developed a neuroprosthesis for a man who lost his ability to speak due to ALS and enabled him to communicate through a computer with 99% accuracy and speak with his young daughter for the first time. Philanthropic investment will enhance other CNP innovations — from cochlear implants that allow a person to hear after years of silence, to a neuromuscular interface that allows a cancer patient to speak again, to a dexterous prosthesis intuitively controlled by a boy born without an arm, or a person who can begin to walk again after decades of paralysis.

Now, we see an opportunity to expand our impact further than ever before — reducing barriers between scientific discovery and patient access by leveraging both collaborative science and an innovative clinical-trial infrastructure.
 

Tomorrow

CNP will redefine the future for people living with physical or neurological conditions by decoding the brain’s signals to restore function through neurotechnology. To achieve this vision, we will leverage cross-disciplinary research to improve patients’ quality of life through novel treatments, patents and startups.

UC Davis offers a collaborative ecosystem that few public and private institutions can match. The National Biomedical Research Institute — one of only seven NIH- supported primate centers — enables rapid design-test cycles without the logistical delays that hamper peer institutions. Adjacent to it is the nation’s top-ranked Weill School of Veterinary Medicine, which shortens the translational gap from primate prototypes to first- in-human trials and reduces risk for commercial investment. The Center for Mind and Brain and College of Letters and Science provide the theoretical and human electrophysiology
frameworks needed to treat the neural decoding of language and emotion as a fundamental neuroscience. Jointly, the College of Engineering contributes expertise in high-channel-count implants, neuromorphic computing, and real-time AI inference.

CNP integrates these and many other distinctive university strengths to drive transformational, first-in-human innovations for conditions like cancer, paralysis, deafness, epilepsy, limb loss and dementia. More than a dozen UC Davis researchers and over 50 students drive this work forward with purpose and collaboration.

With industry relationships and expertise spanning neural implants, AI, surgery and human-centered design, CNP can move restorative neurotechnologies from discovery to clinical use more quickly and cost-effectively than competitors.

The foundation for CNP has been laid over decades, yet only recently have breakthroughs in AI, neuroscience and clinical care created the ability to restore function to patients. Now is a pivotal moment for philanthropy to advance speech brain-computer interfaces, building on the groundbreaking work of our world-leading team. With donor support, UC Davis can seed key industry collaborations to translate these advances into neuroprosthetic devices that are wireless, portable and cosmetically unobtrusive for patients. This work also holds significant commercial potential, with the neuroprosthetics market currently estimated at $300 billion.
 

Defining the Path Forward

The Center will grow in three sequential stages over five years — launching our operational base, scaling our scientific core and building out our infrastructure for clinical trials.

Anticipated milestones that will guide our metrics for success include three stages.

YEAR 1: LAUNCH CNP

• Recruit business manager and administrative support
• Hire investigational device exemption/regulatory affairs specialist
• Onboard research nurse and clinical research coordinator
• Secure office space within Aggie Square
• Streamline institutional review board pathway

YEARS 2-3: SCALE SCIENTIFIC CORE

• Grow team via four scientific hires
• Expand computational and shared cloud/storage
• Invest in more shared major equipment like wearable brain-imaging technology
• Train core graduate and medical students
• Develop trainee fellowships
• Increase administrative support

YEARS 3-5: EXPAND CLINICAL CAPACITY

• Identify and lease dedicated patient examination space
• Implement pre-clinical verification and validation infrastructure
• Broaden testing capacity for surgical implants

The impact of CNP will ultimately be measured by the widespread adoption of our neuroprosthetic advances and the meaningful improvements they bring to patients’ daily lives.
 

Defined by UC Davis, Refined With You

Many of us has or will have a loved one who could be helped by CNP’s work. Now is the moment for UC Davis to define the future of neurotechnology and grow a self-sustaining cycle of excellence. By seizing this opportunity, UC Davis will strengthen its reputation, attract exceptional faculty, deepen industry relationships, create new opportunities for research and philanthropy, and generate revenue through intellectual property and CNP-led startups.

UC Davis leverages our leadership in research, clinical care and translational infrastructure, giving us the capacity to advance neuroprosthetic devices from discovery to real-world impact — improving the quality of life for patients across communication, movement and cognition. With your strategic philanthropic investment, CNP can expand the university's impact in accurate speech decoding while accelerating broader innovations that bring life-changing advances in communication, mobility, and cognition within reach of more people.

Your engagement and advocacy are valuable as we shape this initiative. We are especially grateful for your feedback now on its appeal and clarity, and for the role you will play as we begin to promote this initiative by helping to raise awareness, inspire interest, and build philanthropic support. Your insights and leadership will be key to advancing CNP.