I am a Professor of Biomedical Engineering and Otolaryngology at the University of Minnesota. I am also an Institute for Translational Neuroscience Scholar, the Endowed Lions Professor in Otolaryngology, and Co-Director for the Center for Neural Engineering.
Beyond my academic activities, I am involved with two start-up companies, serving as the Chief Scientific Officer of Neuromod Devices (developing a tinnitus treatment device) and the Chief Scientific Officer of SecondWave Systems (developing a wearable phased-array ultrasound device for various health conditions).
Expertise
My research focus areas are neural engineering, neuromodulation technologies, sensory neuroscience, neural plasticity, neuro-immune physiology, and integrative health approaches with the aim of developing new stimulation treatments for hearing disorders, pain and inflammatory conditions in collaboration with multiple clinicians and companies.
Education
Undergrad: B.S.E. in Bioengineering at UC-San Diego
Grad School: Masters in Biomedical Engineering; Masters in Electrical Engineering & Computer Science; Ph.D. in Biomedical Engineering all at the University of Michigan.
Awards and Recognitions
- The Peter and Patricia Gruber International Research Award in Neuroscience from the Society for Neuroscience
- The Center for Educational Innovation's Thank a Teacher Program Award
- The Institute for Engineering in Medicine Faculty Career Development Award
- The Institute for Engineering in Medicine Outstanding Service Award
- Award for Excellence in Academic Unit Service from the University of Minnesota
Professional Associations
- National Academy of Engineering Frontiers of Engineering Program
- Lions Club International
- American Auditory Society
- Biomedical Engineering Society
- IEEE and IEEE EMB
- Society for Neuroscience
- Association for Research in Otolaryngology
Research Summary
I have a deep passion for translational research and commercialization and have dedicated my academic career since graduate school to push novel and challenging neurotechnologies to significantly help patients across a diverse range of health conditions (e.g., deafness, tinnitus, pain, immune disorders). Even though such a translational/commercialization pathway is not common in academia, I have found the journey to be extremely rewarding to witness the clinical impact new medical devices can have on patients suffering from nervous system disorders.
Since starting my faculty position at the University of Minnesota in 2009, my lab has focused on medical device translational research, in which we identify important clinical problems, and pursue proof-of-concept animal experiments and computational analyses followed by appropriate safety studies to move to human pilot studies as soon as possible. Considering the complexity of health disorders and diseases associated with the nervous system, and our limited knowledge of how they manifest themselves in humans (i.e., there is a major knowledge gap from animals to human models), the goal of the lab has been to move to human studies quickly and safely based on the initial animal findings. These discoveries in humans then feed back into further animal and computational research to fine-tune hypotheses and treatment parameters moving towards large scale controlled trials with transparency and rigor. In addition to neural prostheses, a major thrust of the lab has been to develop a wide range of non-invasive stimulation technologies, such as electrical and ultrasound energy modalities, combined with methods to alter affective states to be able to probe and modulate the nervous system and body to treat various health disorders. My lab also works closely with companies, as well as transitioning my own innovations into start-ups out of the university, to quickly move the scientific research and technologies from the lab to the clinic towards treating many patients across socioeconomic disparities.
Publications
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Gloeckner CD, Nocon JC, Lim HH (2022) Topographic and widespread auditory modulation of the somatosensory cortex: Potential for bimodal sound and body stimulation for pain treatment. Journal of Neural Engineering 19.
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Conlon B, Langguth B, Hamilton C, Hughes S, Meade E, Connor CO, Schecklmann M, Hall DA, Vanneste S, Leong SL, Subramaniam T, D'Arcy S, Lim HH. Bimodal neuromodulation combining sound and tongue stimulation reduces tinnitus symptoms in a large randomized clinical study. Science Translational Medicine. 12(564). doi: 10.1126/scitranslmed.abb2830. (article)
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Zachs D., Offutt S., Graham R., Kim Y., Mueller J., Auger J., Schuldt N., Kaiser C., Heiller A., Dutta R., Guo H., Alford J., Binstadt B., Lim H. (2019) Noninvasive ultrasound stimulation of the spleen to treat inflammatory arthritis. Nature Communications (10). (article)
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Guo H, Hamilton M, Offutt SJ, Gloeckner CD, Li T, Kim Y, Legon W, Alford JK, Lim HH. "Ultrasound produces extensive brain activation via a cochlear pathway." Neuron, 2018. (article)
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Lim HH, Lenarz T. "Auditory Midbrain Implant: Research and development towards a second clinical trial." Hearing Research 322: 212-223, 2015. (abstract)
