2014 Paul & Daisy Soros Fellow Ramya Parameswaran is the first author on a new study on optical neuromodulation in Nature Nanotechnology. Ramya is the daughter of immgirants from India and an MD/PhD student at the University of Chicago.
According to a University of Chicago news release on the study:
A team led by Asst. Prof. Bozhi Tian built minuscule wires previously designed for solar cells. These nanowires are so small that hundreds of them could sit side by side on the edge of a sheet of paper—putting them on the same scale as the parts of cells they’re trying to communicate with.
These nanowires combine two types of silicon to create a small electrical current when struck by light. Gold, diffused by a special process onto the surface of the wire, acts as a catalyst to promote electrochemical reactions.
Learn more about the study here.