McGovern Institute Special Seminar with Alan Mardinly & Murat Günel

Seminar with Alan Mardinly & Murat Günel Date: Tuesday, November 10, 2026Time: 3:00pmLocation: Seminar Room 3189, Building 46This is an in-person event Talk Title: Towards dopaminergic biohybrid implants for Parkinson's disease Abstract: Neural interfaces traditionally stimulate the brain with electric fields, but the brain mostly talks to itself using chemical neurotransmitters. Optogenetics approaches to brain modulations are widespread in research, but have not translated to the clinic because of challenges in opsin sensitivity, gene delivery, and immunogenicity. However, allogeneic cell therapies have recently made the jump to the clinic. Here, we describe an approach to neural interfacing leveraging these advances to combine optogenetics with immune-evasive cell therapy. First we developed an ultrasensitve microbial opsin using modern protein language models and high throughput patch clamp screening. Then we engineered the genome of iPSCs to express the opsin and evade the immune system, and show that they fail to elicit an immune response in humanized mice. We differentiated these iPSC into midbrain dopamine neuron progenitors and engraft the cells in a thin-film micro-LED implant, and demonstrate rescue of a mouse model of Parkinson's disease. Additionally, we explore the applications of this technology for a high bandwidth general purpose cortical BCI. Together these advances define a new therapeutic modality in which engrafted cells and be controlled by a neuromodulatory device, allowing us to direct the spatiotemporal release of specific neurotransmitters in the brain for therapeutic applications. Bios: Alan Mardinly, PhD; Co-Founder, Chief Scientific Officer Dr. Alan Mardinly is Chief Scientific Officer at Science Corp., and is a cofounder of the company. He leads Science’s biohybrid project. His focus is on optogenetic therapies for vision restoration and biohybrid brain implants. Alan has more than 15 years of experience in neuroscience research, working across biology and neuroscience from stem cells to brain implants. He received his BA in Biology from the University of Chicago in 2006 and his PhD in neurobiology from Harvard University in 2013, where he studied how experience-induced transcriptional programs control synaptic plasticity in inhibitory neurons. Alan then went to UC Berkeley where he developed holographic optogenetic approaches to stimulate the brain with spatial and temporal precision. In 2019 he joined the leadership team at Neuralink before eventually departing in 2021 when he left to co-found Science. Murat Günel, MD; Medical Director for BCI Mural Günel MD, FACS, FAHA, FAANS, is Science’s Medical Director for Brain-Computer Interfaces. He is the Sterling Professor of Neurosurgery and Professor of Neuroscience and Genetics, and Chair of the Department of Neurosurgery, at Yale School of Medicine; Neurosurgeon-in-Chief of the Yale New Haven Health System; and Chair of the Yale Medicine Board. Dr. Günel is recognized for his work in cortical development and the genetics of brain disorders, and his research has helped define the field of neurosurgery for three decades. He is also the Co-Director of the Yale Program on Neurogenetics and Director of the Yale Program in Brain Tumor Research. He received his medical degree from Istanbul University and completed his internship and neurosurgical residency at Yale New Haven Hospital. He is a Member of the National Academy of Medicine, and has received numerous distinctions for his contributions to neuroscience and neurosurgery, including the Ralph G. Dacey Medal for Outstanding Cerebrovascular Research from the American Association of Neurological Surgeons and Congress of Neurological Surgeons.