Warren M. Grill

James B. Duke Distinguished Professor

Our research employs engineering approaches to understand and control neural function. We work on fundamental questions and applied development in electrical stimulation of the nervous system to restore function to individuals with neurological impairment or injury.

Current projects include:
• understanding the mechanisms of and developing advanced approaches to deep brain stimulation to treat movement disorders,
• developing novel approaches to peripheral nerve electrical stimulation for restoration of bladder function, 
• understanding the mechanisms of and developing advanced approaches to spinal cord stimulation to treat chronic pain,
• understanding and controlling the cellular effects of transcranial magnetic stimulation, and
• design of novel electrodes and waveforms for selective stimulation of the nervous system.

Appointments and Affiliations

  • James B. Duke Distinguished Professor
  • Bass Fellow
  • Professor in Neurobiology
  • Professor in Neurosurgery
  • Core Faculty in Innovation & Entrepreneurship
  • Faculty Network Member of the Duke Institute for Brain Sciences
  • Associate of the Duke Initiative for Science & Society
  • Professor of Biomedical Engineering

Contact Information

Education

  • B.S. Boston University, 1989
  • M.S. Case Western Reserve University, 1992
  • Ph.D. Case Western Reserve University, 1995

Research Interests

Neural engineering and neural prostheses and include design and testing of electrodes and stimulation techniques, the electrical properties of tissues and cells, and computational neuroscience with applications in restoration of bladder function, treatment of movement disorders with deep brain stimulation, and treatment of chronic pain.

Awards, Honors, and Distinctions

  • Fellow (NAI). National Academy of Inventors. 2022
  • Capers & Marion McDonald Award for Excellence in Teaching and Research. Pratt School of Engineering. 2018
  • Javits Neuroscience Investigator Award. NIH-NINDS . 2015
  • Scholar / Teacher of the Year Award. Duke University. 2014
  • Outstanding Postdoc Mentor. Duke University. 2013
  • Fellow. Biomedical Engineering Society. 2011
  • Fellow. American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering. 2007

Courses Taught

  • NEUROSCI 515: Neural Prosthetic Systems (GE, EL, IM)
  • NEUROSCI 504: Fundamentals of Electrical Stimulation of the Nervous System (EL, GE)
  • NEUROSCI 494: Research Independent Study 2
  • NEUROSCI 493: Research Independent Study 1
  • BME 804: Developments in Neural Engineering
  • BME 791: Graduate Independent Study
  • BME 515: Neural Prosthetic Systems (GE, EL, IM)
  • BME 504: Fundamentals of Electrical Stimulation of the Nervous System (EL, GE)
  • BME 494: Projects in Biomedical Engineering (GE)
  • BME 493: Projects in Biomedical Engineering (GE)

In the News

Representative Publications

  • Thio, Brandon J., Nishant Sinha, Kathryn A. Davis, Saurabh R. Sinha, and Warren M. Grill. “Stereo-EEG propagating source reconstruction identifies new surgical targets for epilepsy patients.” Brain : A Journal of Neurology 148, no. 3 (March 2025): 764–75. https://doi.org/10.1093/brain/awae297.
  • Pelot, Nicole A., Boshuo Wang, Daniel P. Marshall, Minhaj A. Hussain, Eric D. Musselman, Gene J. Yu, Jahrane Dale, et al. “Guidance for sharing computational models of neural stimulation: from project planning to publication.” Journal of Neural Engineering 22, no. 2 (March 2025). https://doi.org/10.1088/1741-2552/adb997.
  • Martinez-Nunez, Alfonso Enrique, Christopher J. Rozell, Simon Little, Huiling Tan, Stephen L. Schmidt, Warren M. Grill, Miroslav Pajic, et al. “Proceedings of the 12th annual deep brain stimulation think tank: cutting edge technology meets novel applications.” Front Hum Neurosci 19 (2025): 1544994. https://doi.org/10.3389/fnhum.2025.1544994.
  • Yu, Gene J., Federico Ranieri, Vincenzo Di Lazzaro, Marc A. Sommer, Angel V. Peterchev, and Warren M. Grill. “Circuits and mechanisms for TMS-induced corticospinal waves: Connecting sensitivity analysis to the network graph.” PLoS Computational Biology 20, no. 12 (December 2024): e1012640. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pcbi.1012640.
  • Grill, Warren M., and Nicole A. Pelot. “Computational modeling of autonomic nerve stimulation: Vagus et al.” Current Opinion in Biomedical Engineering 32 (December 2024): 100557. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cobme.2024.100557.