A Conversation with Professor Nanthia Suthana (OHBM 2026 Keynote Interview Series)
Interviewer: Audrey Luo
Editor: Yohan Yee, Ashley Tyrer
For our next interview, we had the pleasure of speaking with Prof. Nanthia Suthana.
Prof. Suthana is a Professor of Neurosurgery, Biomedical Engineering, and Neurobiology at Duke University, where she leads an interdisciplinary research program focused on understanding human cognition in real-world environments. Before joining Duke in 2025, she served as Associate Professor of Psychiatry, Neurosurgery, Bioengineering, and Psychology at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), where she also completed her Ph.D. in Neuroscience and postdoctoral training in Neurosurgery. Her research combines intracranial recordings from implanted devices with advanced neuroimaging and wearable technologies, including high-density EEG, eye-tracking, and AR/VR-based navigation, to investigate the neural mechanisms underlying memory, spatial navigation, and emotion during natural behavior.
Prof. Suthana’s lab develops both invasive and non-invasive technologies aimed at restoring learning and memory function in humans. Her work has been published in journals such as Nature, Neuron, and The New England Journal of Medicine, and has been recognized with several NIH BRAIN Initiative grants, the McKnight Technological Innovations in Neuroscience Award, and the Keck Junior Faculty Award.
We had the privilege of speaking with Prof. Suthana about her groundbreaking research, interdisciplinary career, and the future of ecological neuroscience. You can find the video of the interview below:
