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Dr Monzurul Alam
PolyU Scholars Hub

Dr Monzurul Alam

Research Assistant Professor

Finds cure for paralysis via neuromodulatory or neuroengineering approaches

Biography

Dr. Monzurul Alam is a biomedical researcher with interdisciplinary background in neuroscience and engineering. He received his Masters in Bioengineering from Miguel Hernandez University of Elche, and PhD in Rehabilitation Sciences from The Hong Kong Polytechnic University. He also received his postdoctoral training in neuroscience from Prof. Edgerton’s lab at University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). Both his PhD and postdoctoral research had been focused on Spinal Cord Injury (SCI) rehabilitation in rodent models. He applied both Brain-machine Interfaces and Neuromodulation techniques to develop novel neuromotor-prostheses and neurorehabilitation therapy for the restoration of sensorimotor functional after paralyzing injuries of the nervous system.

Dr. Alam’s research is grounded in fundamentals in the field of system neuroscience with applications to prosthetics and rehabilitation following injuries in the central and/or peripheral nervous system. His major research interest is on sensory and motor control of movements. Dr. Alam’s key research aim is to understand the neural mechanisms underlying the function and recovery after injuries of the sensorimotor system. Electrophysiology, pharmacology and electrical stimulation are the common techniques applied in his research. He also applies modern engineering techniques to utilize this neural system for prosthetic applications.

Research Interests

  • Neurorehabilitation
  • Neuroprosthetics
  • Biomedical Devices

Academic and Professional Experience

  • Research Assistant Professor, Department of Biomedical Engineering, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University,  Oct 2019 - Current
  • Research Fellow, Department of Biomedical Engineering, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University,  Aug 2016 - Oct 2019  
  • Research Fellow, Singapore Institute for Neurotechnology, National University of Singapore,  Jan 2016 - Aug 2016  
  • Postdoctoral Fellow, Department of Integrative Biology and Physiology University of California - Los Angeles,  Oct 2013 - Dec 2015 

Research Output

  • Alam M, Chen X, Zhang Z, Li Y, He J: A Brain-Machine-Muscle Interface for Restoring Hindlimb Locomotion after Complete Spinal Transection in Rats. PLOS ONE 2014, 9(8):e103764.
  • Alam M, Garcia-Alias G, Shah PK, Gerasimenko Y, Zhong H, Roy RR, Edgerton VR: Evaluation of optimal electrode configurations for epidural spinal cord stimulation in cervical spinal cord injured rats. Journal of Neuroscience Methods 2015, 247:50-57.
  • Alam M, Rodrigues W, Pham BN, Thakor NV: Brain-machine interface facilitated neurorehabilitation via spinal stimulation after spinal cord injury: Recent progress and future perspectives. Brain Research 2016, 1646:25-33.
  • Alam M, Garcia-Alias G, Jin B, Keyes J, Zhong H, Roy RR, Gerasimenko Y, Lu DC, Edgerton VR: Electrical neuromodulation of the cervical spinal cord facilitates forelimb skilled function recovery in spinal cord injured rats. Experimental Neurology 2017, 291:141-150.
  • Alam M, Ahmed G, Ling YT, Zheng YP: Measurement of neurovascular coupling in human motor cortex using simultaneous transcranial Doppler and electroencephalography. Physiological measurement 2018, 39(6):065005.
  • Ahmed RU, Alam M*, Zheng Y-P: Experimental spinal cord injury and behavioral tests in laboratory rats. Heliyon 2019, 5(3):e01324. *Co-first author
  • Alam M, Li S, Ahmed RU, Yam YM, Thakur S, Wang XY, Tang D, Ng S, Zheng YP: Development of a battery-free ultrasonically powered functional electrical stimulator for movement restoration after paralyzing spinal cord injury. Journal of NeuroEngineering and Rehabilitation 2019, 16(1):36.
  • Ling YT, Alam M*, Zheng YP: Spinal Cord Injury: Lessons about Neuroplasticity from Paired Associative Stimulation. The Neuroscientist: a review journal bringing neurobiology, neurology and psychiatry 2019:1073858419895461.*Co-first and corresponding author
  • Alam M*, Ling YT, Wong AYL, Zhong H, Edgerton VR, Zheng YP: Reversing 21 years of chronic paralysis via non-invasive spinal cord neuromodulation: a case study. Annals of Clinical and Translational Neurology 2020, 7(5):829-38. *Corresponding author
  • Li S, Alam M*, Ahmed RU, Zhong H, Wang X-Y, Ng S, Zheng Y-P: Ultrasound-driven piezoelectric current activates spinal cord neurocircuits and restores locomotion in rats with spinal cord injury. Bioelectron Med 2020, 6:13. *Co-first author

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