Professor Luka Milosevic awarded $1.65 million NSERC CREATE grant to advance neuromodulation training

Professor Luka Milosevic has received a $1.65 million award from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council (NSERC) of Canada through its Collaborative Research and Training Experience program to lead a new graduate training initiative in neuromodulation and neurotechnology. 

The award supports CREATE Graduate Advancement in Neuromodulation and Neurotechnology (GAINN), where trainees will engage with advanced approaches to brain stimulation and neurotechnology while benefiting from exposure to clinical environments and emerging technologies that are shaping the future of brain health research. 

The CREATE GAINN award will directly support graduate students by providing integrated training that bridges both the clinical and engineering dimensions of neuromodulation. Through the program, students will gain balanced exposure to real world clinical challenges alongside advanced engineering methods, enabling them to design solutions that are both technically rigorous and clinically relevant. The initiative will also equip trainees with the skills needed to translate research into practice, including pathways to develop and commercialize neuromodulation technologies and interventions. By fostering collaborative research projects that span universities, hospitals and industry partners, the program will create meaningful opportunities for students to work in interdisciplinary teams, build professional networks and accelerate the impact of their research beyond the laboratory. 

As a faculty member of the Institute of Biomedical Engineering, Milosevic's research research leverages an interdisciplinary foundation in biomedical engineering and neurophysiology to advance data driven methods of neuromodulation and brain stimulation. By examining the complexity of brain biology, his work provides engineering principles that help clinicians more precisely target and influence neural circuits. 

A central focus of his lab is deep brain stimulation, which applies controlled electrical pulses to specific brain regions to help manage neurological conditions such as Parkinson's disease and other neurologic and psychiatric disorders. By integrating human studies with preclinical models, Milosevic’s team develops a comprehensive understanding of brain function that spans single cell activity and large scale neural networks. The lab also specializes in optogenetics, a technique that uses light to selectively activate or inhibit genetically engineered neurons, enabling highly precise investigation of neural pathways involved in neurological disorders. 

“This award is a testament to Luka’s leadership in neuroengineering and his commitment to training the next generation of researchers in neuromodulation and neurotechnology,” says Professor Milos Popovic, director of the Institute of Biomedical Engineering. “We are very proud to see CRANIA efforts being recognized at the national level and look forward to the impact this program will have on graduate education and brain health research at U of T, UHN and beyond.”