Rate My Professor Cristin Welle

Welle's research centers on the interactions between neurological medical devices and the nervous system, with emphasis on neuromodulation, cortical plasticity, motor control, and translational neurotechnology. Her BIOElectrics Lab employs optogenetics, chronic electrophysiology, and longitudinal in vivo imaging in animal models to examine circuit-level effects of neuromodulatory and brain-computer interface devices during motor skill learning. Prominent investigations include vagus nerve stimulation to induce plasticity through inhibitory interneurons and promote remyelination for motor recovery, the role of myelination in cortical circuit function and skilled movement, and development of 3D-FAST optical interfaces for volumetric neural sensing and modulation. As principal or co-principal investigator, she has received multiple NIH grants, such as R01NS137560 (Vagus nerve stimulation drives plasticity through inhibitory interneurons, 2024-2029), R01NS115975 (The role of myelination in cortical circuit function and motor behavior, 2020-2029), and R21EY029458 (3D-Fast Optical Interface for Rapid Volumetric Neural Sensing and Modulation, 2018-2021). Her influential publications feature "Vagus nerve stimulation drives selective circuit modulation through cholinergic reinforcement" (Neuron, 2022), "Motor learning promotes remyelination via new and surviving oligodendrocytes" (Nature Neuroscience, 2020), "Development and characterization of a chronic implant mouse model for vagus nerve stimulation" (eLife, 2021), and "Myelin Supports Cortical Circuit Function Underlying Skilled Movement" (bioRxiv, 2025). Welle earned the Boettcher Webb-Waring Biomedical Research Award in 2016 for developing high-density neural sensors for bioelectronics therapeutics.