Magnetic Platform for Non-Invasive Neuromodulation
Illaria Liedtke · Rye, New York
H. Robert Horvitz Prize for Fundamental Research ($10,000) · Regeneron International Science and Engineering Fair · 2026
Magnetically responsive materials used to alter calcium signalling in astrocytes remotely, tested under conditions designed to mimic brain injury.
Reported reduced cellular stress markers in the injury-mimicking condition.
Remote actuation is the point: the intervention reaches the cells without anything being inserted, which is what would make it translatable. Testing under an injury-mimicking condition rather than in healthy cells is what makes the result relevant.
- Magnetically responsive material synthesis
- Astrocyte cell culture
- Calcium signalling measurement
- Injury-mimicking condition modelling
- Choose the model condition that matches the claim — healthy cells would not have tested anything here
- Fundamental mechanism work does not need a device at the end to be valuable
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