Tulane professor to lead NIH group developing advances in brain science

Michael J. Moore, a professor of biomedical engineering at Tulane University, has been named chairperson of a National Institutes for Health study section.

Moore’s one-year appointment as chair of the Bioengineering of Neuroscience, Vision and Low Vision Technologies (BNVT) Study Section of the Center for Scientific Review runs through June 30, 2022.

Moore has served as a member of the BNVT study section for the past four years. The group reviews applications to develop and utilize bioengineering, materials engineering and computational approaches for studying the development, structure, function or pathology of the nervous system. BNVT covers a wide range of technologies as applied to neural systems and to all tissues of the eye.

Membership on a study section represents a major commitment of time and an opportunity to contribute to the national biomedical research effort. Members are selected on the basis of their achievement in their scientific discipline as evidenced by the quality of their research accomplishments, publications in scientific journals and other significant scientific activities, achievement and honors.

“Our study section reviews virtually all proposals that feature some technological advance applied to the nervous system or visual system,” Moore said.  “We review proposals ranging from neural prostheses and brain-machine interfaces, electrical simulation for treatment of neurological disorders, to stem cell therapies applied to the brain, spinal cord, retina, or peripheral nerves.”

The study section also reviews proposals related to neural microphysiological systems or living-cell-based models of nervous system disorders in a petri dish, which is Moore’s area of expertise.

Moore’s lab at the Tulane School of Science and Engineering works on developing in vitro models of neural growth, physiology and disease by manipulating the chemical and physical extracellular microenvironment. Moore and his team use a variety of microengineering technologies such as microscale tissue engineering, novel nanomaterials, microfabrication, and digital light projection microscopy.

He has received numerous honors including the Weiss Presidential Undergraduate Teaching Fellowship in 2019, the Tulane Innovation Fund Award in 2018, the Insight Into Diversity magazine Inspiring Leaders in STEM Award in 2017 and the Tulane Brain Institute Marko Spark Fund Award in 2016.

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