People: Senior Staff
The TCNL leadership team has a combined 65 years of experience in the fields of tactile communication, sensory substitution, engineering, and neuroscience. The TCNL uses a shared leadership model.
Inquiries should be directed to the TCNL director in your area of interest; please see our contact page, which includes address, phone, and e-mail information.
- Yuri Danilov, Neuroscience, Neuromodulation, Rehabilitation
- Kurt Kaczmarek, Tactile Communication, TCNL Administrative Director
- Mitchell Tyler, Sensory Substitution and Clinical Studies
Yuri P. Danilov is a neuroscientist with over 25 years experience in research on brain function and the special senses, including vision, taste, hearing and balance. Dr. Danilov is the lead discoverer of the balance retention effect, lead development of the specific training regimens, and continues to identify potential clinical and non-clinical application of neuromodulation and sensory substitution technology. Dr. Danilov received the M.S. degree in biophysics, in 1978, from St. Petersburg University in Russia and the Ph.D. degree in neuroscience, in 1984, from the Pavlov Instititute of Physiology, Russian Acadamy of Science. Dr. Danilov was Senior Scientist (11/00 – 12/04) and Director of Clinical Research at Wicab, Inc., where he oversaw both conceptual development for the BrainPort system as well as its clinical testing. His interest areas are neuroplasticity, neurorehabilitation, human performance, human performance, and human sensory systems.
- Danilov CV and Publications as Word doc
- Danilov Community of Science Profile
- Danilov UW Center for Neuroscience Profile
- Danilov UW AHABS Profile
Kurt A. Kaczmarek is an electrical and biomedical engineer and scientist with over 20 years experience in developing haptic displays and both vibro- and electro-tactile interfaces for sensory substitution. He is a recognized expert and NIH-funded researcher in electrotactile stimulation, and is the co-inventor (with Dr. Bach-y-Rita) of the core tongue display technology on which the CN-NINM and BrainPort systems are based. He designed, developed and tested the first version of both the tongue display and electrotactile stimulation system for vision applications. He received the B.S. degree from the University of Illinois, Urbana, in 1982, and the M.S. and Ph.D. degrees from the University of Wisconsin, Madison, in 1984 and 1991, all in electrical engineering. His doctoral thesis concerned developing optimal methods for communicating information using controlled electrical stimulation of touch (electrotactile or electrocutaneous stimulation) and this remains his core research area today. His other interest areas are tactile displays, substitution and augmentation, sensory aids, neuromodulation, and instrumentation design. He is a Senior Scientist in the UW Department of Orthopedics and Rehabilitation Medicine, and has been with TCNL since 1991.
- Kaczmarek CV (CV in Word .doc)
- Kaczmarek Publications (Pubs in Word .doc)
- Downloadable Kaczmarek Publications
- Kaczmarek Community of Science Profile
- Kaczmarek UW Rehabilitation Medicine Profile
- Kaczmarek Wisconsin Discovery Portal Profile
Mitchell E. Tyler Mitchell E. Tyler is a mechanical and biomedical engineer and scientist with over 20 years of experience in research & development of visual and tactile displays for human-machine interfaces, and has been with TCNL since 1992. Mr. Tyler was co-founder of Wicab, Inc., (with Dr. Paul Bach-y-Rita), and Vice-President of Research and Development. He is the lead inventor of the BrainPort™ Balance device, and co-discoverer of the retention effect and the neurorehabilitation potential of tongue electrotactile stimulation. He was Principal Investigator on NIH SBIR grants developing balance, vision, and auditory substitution applications, and on a DARPA contract for an underwater navigation & orientation systems. Mr. Tyler received the B.S. degree in mechanical engineering from San Jose State University, San Jose, CA, in 1980, and the M.S. degree in biomedical engineering from the University of California, Berkeley, in 1985. He is a Researcher in the UW Department of Orthopedics and Rehabilitation Medicine and a Senior Lecturer in the UW Department of Biomedical Engineering, where he teaches biomedical engineering design, biomechanics, bioinstrumentation, and neuromotor control. His research interests include cutaneous and tongue-based electrotactile displays, human-machine interaction, and in clinical applications of non-invasive neuromodulation for rehabilitation. He is a Registered Professional Engineer in both California and Wisconsin.