Tim Lucas, M.D.,Ph.D.

K12 Neurosurgery Awardee
Image
photo of Tim Lucas
Institution
University of Pennsylvania- , Philadelphia, PA

Dr. Tim Lucas is an Assistant Professor of Neurosurgery at the University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine. He has a wide range of clinical expertise, including epilepsy, temporal lobectomy, minimally invasive neurosurgery, and neuromodulation. The research focus of Dr. Lucas' lab is to develop devices that interface directly with the brain to repair, replace, or modulate targeted neural pathways. Brain-machine interface (BMI) technology can modulate neural circuits, strengthen weakened pathways, and provide non-native conduits through which paralyzed individuals can interact with the world. His research group strives to advance the clinical viability of this technology and, along the way, to provide new insights about brain physiology. Recent work from his lab utilized intracortical microstimulation to adjust motor strategies in rats toward efficient goal-directed behavior.

After finishing his undergraduate degree at the University of Florida, where he also completed his M.D., Dr. Lucas received his Ph.D. at the University of Washington, where he also completed his residency in neurological surgery and a fellowship in Neurosurgical Oncology & Cerebrovascular Neurosurgery. He completed additional fellowships in Neurosurgical Oncology Brain Mapping and Stereotactic and Functional Neurosurgery at the University of California San Francisco.