Joseph T. Francis

Joseph T. Francis is a full Professor in the Department of Biomedical Engineering at the University of Houston. He holds a Ph.D. in Neuroscience from The George Washington University and a B.S. in Biology with Honors from SUNY Buffalo. His career spans postdoctoral work at Johns Hopkins University and SUNY Downstate Medical School, followed by faculty roles at SUNY Downstate (2006–2018) and the University of Houston (2015–present).

• Education
  • Ph.D., Neuroscience, The George Washington University
  • B.S., Biology With Honors, State University of New York at Buffalo

His research focuses on Brain-Machine Interfaces (BMIs) and somatosensory neuroprosthetics, aiming to translate neural activity (spiking, LFPs, EEG, fNIRS) into robotic motion and deliver sensory feedback to the brain or periphery. He also investigates sensorimotor learning and neural plasticity.

Dr. Francis has secured significant funding from NIH, NSF, and DARPA for projects such as:

• Regenerative Micro-Electrode Peripheral Nerve Interface (NIH, 2022–2027)
• Multimodal Brain-Computer Interface for Human-Robot Interaction (NSF, 2021)
• Synthetic Brain Through Hybrid Systems (DARPA, 2010–2015)

His work combines computational neuroscience with experimental approaches, emphasizing cortical plasticity, reward expectation mechanisms, and naturalistic BMI control systems.