Associate Professor
University of Pittsburgh
Douglas Weber, Ph.D. is an Associate Professor in the Department of Bioengineering at the University of Pittsburgh. He recently completed a 4-year term (2013-2017) as a Program Manager at the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) where he was a founding member of DARPA’s Biological Technologies Office. During his time at DARPA, Doug created and managed a portfolio of neurotechnology research programs to support the White House BRAIN initiative, including the HAPTIX, ElectRx, and TNT programs. These programs were aimed at developing implantable, injectable, and wearable neurotechnologies that restore natural motor and sensory functions for amputees, enable novel and drug-free therapies for treating inflammatory disease and mental health disorders, and promote plasticity in the brain to enhance learning of complex cognitive skills. Doug is broadly interested in understanding the role of sensory feedback in supporting and regulating a wide range of perceptual, motor, cognitive, and autonomic functions. His research combines fundamental neuroscience and engineering research to understand physiological mechanisms underlying sensory perception, feedback control of movement, and neuroplasticity in sensorimotor systems. Knowledge gained from these studies is being applied to invent new technologies and therapies for enhancing sensory and motor functions after stroke, spinal cord injury, or limb loss. These principles are also being applied to develop wearable devices for enhancing sensory, motor, and cognitive functions in healthy humans.