Matthew S Willsey, MD, PhD

Matt Willsey
Assistant Professor of Neurosurgery, Medical School
Assistant Professor of Biomedical Engineering, Medical School and College of Engineering
Office:
NCRC B10 - Office A175, 2800 Plymouth Road
Ann Arbor, MI 48109-2800
Email:
[email protected]
Available to mentor
Matthew S Willsey, MD, PhD
Matt Willsey
Assistant Professor
  • About
  • Links
  • Qualifications
  • Center Memberships
  • Research Overview
  • Recent Publications
  • Manage Your Profile

  • About

    Matthew attended MIT where he received B.S. and M.Eng. degrees in Electrical Engineering with a research focus in digital signal processing. He later attended medical school at Baylor College of Medicine and completed his neurosurgery residency at the University of Michigan in 2022. He completed a PhD in Biomedical Engineering during his 2-year resident research time plus an additional leave-of-absence year. His research focused on intracortical brain-computer interfaces, computational neuroscience, and neuromodulation. After graduation, he completed a one-year, post-graduate appointment as a clinical instructor stereotactic/functional neurosurgery and epilepsy at Stanford University where he conducted research in the Neural Prosthetics Translational Lab directed by Dr. Jaimie Henderson.

    He is currently an assistant professor of neurosurgery and biomedical engineering at the University of Michigan and is core faculty in the neural engineering cluster of the Biointerfaces Institute and Michigan Neuroscience Institute Affiliate.

    Links

    • Lab Website
    • twitter
    • linkedin

    Qualifications

    • Functional Neurosurgery Fellowship
      Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, United States
      2022 - 2023
      Postdoctoral Fellowship
    • Residency
      University of Michigan Medical School, Department of Neurosurgery, Ann Arbor, United States
      2020 - 2022
      Residency
    • Residency
      University of Michigan Medical School, Department of Neurosurgery, Ann Arbor, United States
      2014 - 2019
      Residency
    • Committee on Advanced Subspecialty Training (CAST) Fellowship
      University of Michigan Medical School, Department of Neurosurgery, Ann Arbor, United States
      2018 - 2019
      Postdoctoral Fellowship
    • PhD, Biomedical Engineering
      University of Michigan–Ann Arbor, Ann Arbor, United States
      2019 - 2020
    • MD
      Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, United States
      2010 - 2014
    • ME, Electrical Engineering and Computer Science
      Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, United States
      2005 - 2006
    • BS, Electrical Science and Engineering
      Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, United States
      2003 - 2005

    Center Memberships

    • Center Member
      Biointerfaces Institute

    Research Overview

    My research focuses on developing multi-effector control for fine motor movements and digital interfaces using non-linear decoding algorithms and novel approaches to account for neural instability.

    Recent Publications

    See All Publications
    • Journal Article
      Functional electrical stimulation and brain-machine interfaces for simultaneous control of wrist and finger flexion
      Mender MJ, Ward AL, Cubillos LH, Kelberman MM, Costello JT, Temmar H, Wallace DM, Lin ET, Lam JLW, Willsey MS, Ganesh Kumar N, Kung TA, Patil PG, Chestek CA. Journal of NeuroEngineering and Rehabilitation, 2026 Aug 6; DOI:10.1186/s12984-026-02091-7
    • Journal Article
      Exploring Synergies in Brain-Machine Interfaces: Compression vs. Performance
      Cubillos LH, Kelberman MM, Mender MJ, Hite A, Temmar H, Willsey M, Kumar NG, Kung TA, Patil PG, Chestek C, Krishnan C. Restorative Neurology and Neuroscience, 2026 Aug 1; 44 (3): 374 - 389. DOI:10.1177/09226028261457824
      PMID: 42328775
    • Journal Article
      2147 Stable Intracortical Brain-Computer Interfaces in People With Motor Disabilities
      Mender M, Costello J, Willsey M. Neurosurgery, 2026 Mar 17; 72 (Supplement_1): 286 - 286. DOI:10.1227/neu.0000000000003964_2147
    • Journal Article
      430 Development and Multimodal Validation of the Smallest-Diameter Electrode Intracortical Array to Date in a Large Animal Model for Brain-Computer Interfaces
      Lam J, Letner J, Copenhaver M, Ward A, Slosar N, Isbrecht M, Simons J, Hite A, De La Lama Flores A, Liu H, Walker L, Patel P, Patil PG, Cai D, Willsey M, Chestek C. Neurosurgery, 2026 Mar 17; 72 (Supplement_1): 123 - 123. DOI:10.1227/neu.0000000000003964_430
    • Journal Article
      Long-term Intracortical Neural activity and Kinematics (LINK): An intracortical neural dataset for chronic brain-machine interfaces, neuroscience, and machine learning
      Temmar H, Wang Y, Gill N, Mellon N, Liu C, Cubillos L, Parsons R, Costello J, Ceradini M, Kelberman M, Mender M, Hite A, Wallace D, Nason-Tomaszewski S, Patil P, Willsey M, Draelos A, Chestek C. NeurIPS, 2026 May 4;
    • Journal Article
      Investigating the benefits of artificial neural networks over linear approaches to BMI decoding
      Temmar H, Willsey MS, Costello JT, Mender MJ, Cubillos LH, DeMatteo JC, Lam JLW, Wallace DM, Kelberman MM, Patil PG, Chestek CA. Journal of Neural Engineering, 2025 Jun 1; 22 (3): DOI:10.1088/1741-2552/ade568
      PMID: 40527337
    • Journal Article
      Multinuclear thalamic targeting with human stereotactic electroencephalography: surgical technique and nuances
      Jamiolkowski RM, Datta A, Willsey MS, Parvizi J, Buch VP. Journal of Neurosurgery, 2025 Apr 1; 142 (4): 936 - 944. DOI:10.3171/2024.7.JNS24452
      PMID: 39576976
    • Preprint
      Exploring Synergies in Brain-Machine Interfaces: Compression vs. Performance.
      Cubillos LH, Kelberman MM, Mender MJ, Hite A, Temmar H, Willsey M, Kumar NG, Kung TA, Patil PG, Chestek C, Krishnan C. 2025 Feb 3; DOI:10.1101/2025.02.03.636273
      PMID: 39975237

    Featured News & Stories

    A team of medical professionals in surgical attire performs a procedure in an operating room. They are surrounded by medical equipment, including a robotic arm and various monitors.
    News Release

    University of Michigan implants first-in-human Paradromics wireless brain-computer interface, designed to restore communication

    Neurosurgeons at University of Michigan Health completed the first-in-human implantation of a Paradromics Inc., wireless brain-computer interface, or BCI, as part of a national clinical trial for patients with difficulty speaking.
    Technology used to perform histotripsy, a revolutionary non-invasive cancer treatment recently made available at the University of Michigan Health-West - Isaac Ritchey
    Research News

    University of Michigan opens brain-computer interface clinic in Ann Arbor

    University of Michigan Health opened its clinic to patients with severe motor and speech impairments on Tuesday, Dec. 16, led by MNI member Dr. Matthew Willsey, professor of neurosurgery and biomedical engineering
    BCI Implant at University of Michigan
    News Release

    University of Michigan Health opens brain-computer interface clinic, among first in nation

    University of Michigan Health has launched a brain-computer interface clinic for patients with motor and speech disabilities. The advanced technology has potential to recover functionality loss that occurs due to injury or disease.
    News Release

    University of Michigan team leads first in-human recording with new wireless brain-computer interface

    A research team at University of Michigan completed the first in-human recording from a novel, wireless brain-computer interface. The technology aims to restore essential functions lost due to injury or disease.