Inter-pulse interval and motor evoked potential variability: Bridging insights from healthy adults to post-stroke TMS protocols.

Dr. Peterchev directs the Brain Stimulation Engineering Lab (BSEL) which focuses on the development, modeling, and application of devices and paradigms for transcranial brain stimulation. Transcranial brain stimulation involves non-invasive delivery of fields (e.g., electric and magnetic) to the brain that modulate neural activity. It is widely used as a tool for research and a therapeutic intervention in neurology and psychiatry, including several FDA-cleared indications. BSEL develops devices for transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) and other forms of magnetic stimulation such as magnetogenetics that leverage design techniques from power electronics and computational electromagnetics to enable more flexible stimulus control, focal stimulation, and quiet operation. We also deploy these devices in experimental studies to characterize and optimize the brain response to TMS. Another line of work is multi-scale computational models that couple simulations of the electromagnetic fields, single neuron responses, and neural population modulation induced by electric and magnetic brain stimulation. These models are calibrated and validated with experimental neural recordings through various collaborations. Apart from understanding of mechanisms, we develop modeling, algorithmic, and targeting tools for response estimation, dose individualization, and precise localization of transcranial brain stimulation using advanced techniques such as artificial neural networks and machine learning. Moreover, BSEL is involved in the integration of transcranial brain stimulation with robotics, neuronavigation, intracranial electrophysiology recordings, and imaging modalities such as functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) and electroencephalography (EEG), as well as the evaluation of the safety of device–device interactions, for example between transcranial stimulators and implants. Importantly, we collaborate widely with neuroscientists and clinicians at Duke and other institutions to translate developments from the lab to research and clinical applications. For over 18 years, BSEL has been continuously supported with multiple NIH grants as well as funding by DARPA, NSF, Brain & Behavior Research Foundation, Coulter Foundation, Duke Institute for Brain Sciences, MEDx, Duke University Energy Initiative, industry, and philanthropic gifts. Further, some of our technology has been commercialized, for example as ElevateTMS cTMS, or incorporated in free software packages, such as SimNIBS and SAMT. Dr. Peterchev received the John Rothwell Award in 2024 for “excellence in non-invasive brain stimulation research that stimulates further work at a higher scientific level” and was elevated to IEEE Fellow in 2026.

Since October 2023, I have been a Medical Instructor in the Division of Stroke and Vascular Neurology, Department of Neurology at the Duke University School of Medicine. I hold a BS and MS in Kinesiology from the California State University Northridge, an MS in Biokinesiology from the University of Southern California, and a PhD in Health and Rehabilitation Sciences from the Medical University of South Carolina. Before my current academic position, I completed three postdoctoral fellowships at the University of Delaware in Movement Science and Behavioral Neuroscience (1/2016-1/2018), the New York University Grossman School of Medicine in TMS Neurophysiology and Post-Stroke Motor Recovery (2/2018-12/20019), and University of Nicosia Medical School in Neuroscience (12/2019-9/2023). I am a motor neuroscientist with an emphasis on the neuro-physio-biomechanical and behavioral mechanisms of motor recovery and rehabilitation. The overarching aim of my research is to understand the plasticity of the descending motor pathways as it relates to the sensorimotor function of walking and how to harness that plasticity to promote walking recovery in neurological cohorts. My research vision is to seek fundamental knowledge on the role of the central nervous system (e.g., brain-muscle connection via the motor descending tracts) in human walking and subsequently to use this knowledge to progress and develop mechanism-driven strategies for reducing the walking burden and restoring walking function in individuals with neurological disorders (e.g., stroke) for living longer and healthier lives. My two current lines of research are to systematically examine (1) how descending motor pathways contribute to sensorimotor control in both neurotypical adults and clinical cohorts, and (2) how non-invasive brain stimulation strategies can modulate these pathways to improve the sensorimotor control after stroke.

Wayne Feng is the Chief of Division of Stroke & Vascular Neurology, Medical Director of Duke Comprehensive Stroke Center, and Tenured Profess of Neurology and Biomedical Engineering at Duke University School of Medicine. Dr. Feng is a board-certified vascular neurologist as well as a physician scientist. His research portfolios include developing imaging biomarker for post-stroke motor outcomes prediction, and use of non-invasive brain stimulation tools, such as, transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS), vagus nerve stimulation, low intensity focused ultrasound and transcranial light stimulation to enhance post-stroke recovery. His research has been actively funded by the National Institute of Health (NIH), the American Heart Association/American Stroke Association (AHA/ASA) and other various sources.  He is currently leading an NIH funded 8.9 million U01 12-center, phase II study called TRANSPORT 2 (TRANScranial direct current stimulation for POst-stroke motor Recovery – a phase II sTudy) – on the NINDS funded stroke trial network.

Dr. Feng has published over 150 peer reviewed manuscripts (H index of 36), including two manuscripts featured on the cover page of brain stimulation journal, and one manuscript featured on Journal of Neuroscience. He co-edited - “Cerebral Venous System in Acute and Chronic Brain Injuries” book. He served as the associate editor for Translational Stroke Research from 2019 to 2021(IF=7.0). Dr. Feng received several prestigious awards for his research work in stroke and stroke recovery including the FIRST “Rehabilitation Award” from the American Heart Association/American Stroke Association in 2015, “Franz Gerstenbrand Award” from World Federation of Neurorehabilitation (WFNR) in 2016, Arthur Guyton New Investigator Award, Consortium for Southeastern Hypertension Control (COSEHC) in 2016 and “Clinical Investigator Award” from the Society of Chinese American Physician Entrepreneur (SCAPE). Currently, he is the Section Chair of Neural Repair & Rehabilitation, the American Academy of Neurology. He leads the global mentoring program for the WFNR.