Using Math, Science, and Cutting-Edge Technology to Restore Vision and Improve Lives by Carrie Fogel
“
S
ome meetings change your life”, says Ryad Benosman, PhD, one of the newest faculty members in the Department of Ophthalmology at the University of Pittsburgh. For Dr. Benosman, a 2008 meeting in Paris, altered the trajectory of his career as a researcher in mathematics and engineering. As a Professor in the Robotics Institute at the Universite Pierre et Marie Curie in Paris for many years, he was comfortable in the stable academic setting that was afforded. During his time in Paris, Dr. Benosman began to question how the brain works together with mathematics, which, he notes are two areas of research that typically do not intersect or work together, as no mathematical theory could explain the brain. He had a feeling that computers could do better in mimicking how the brain works, and that an understanding of this process could improve the way that computers function. “They speak two different languages, but ultimately could be working toward the same end,” according to Dr. Benosman. Dr. Benosman knew that to make these connections, he needed to become wellversed in other scientific disciplines, so he
Ryad Benosman, PhD 4
began studying with his Paris colleagues in biology, neurosciences, physiology, and other fields to put everything together. This task, what Dr. Benosman labeled, ‘crossing the desert’, was not one he went about quickly; in fact, it took approximately ten years to merge concepts from mathematics and engineering to be able to mimic neurological and biological patterns and architectures to create a new field called neuromorphic event driven computation. “Everything was a concept until 2007; I had pieces of the puzzle, but I needed to be able to put them all together in an application. Then, I met with José [Sahel] in 2008, where I shared some of those ideas that I wanted to accomplish and what I would need to achieve success. Dr. Benosman remembers Dr. Sahel listening carefully, and after he finished sharing his big picture goals, Dr. Sahel offered him the chance to pursue them in the context of Ophthalmology. Dr. Benosman began assembling his team, and they set to work building cameras, retinal prosthetics, and other neurovisual stimulation devices. By 2015, Dr. Benosman’s research team expanded from 6 scientists to 45, and would be responsible for many of the therapeutic devices that are currently in clinical trials in Paris. “We built generations of implants from the technology spun out from my laboratory, and started work in optogenetic stimulation, in which some of the DNA in cells are replaced and activated through light.” Most importantly, Dr. Benosman said, was his ability to formulate a new method of computing information using time as a key component. His multidisciplinary background helped him to see that the way traditional engineering understood the functions of the brain was not, for many reasons, biologically plausible. Being uniquely positioned at the intersection of many different scientific fields has allowed Dr. Benosman to achieve success in applying mathematical concepts to solve human problems. The attention that Dr. Benosman and his laboratory attracted during this period of
exploration with Dr. Sahel resulted in three or four offers to move his work to universities in the United States, but none were tempting enough until 2016, when Dr. Benosman learned that Dr. Sahel was planning to move to the United States. Intrigued, he agreed to visit Pittsburgh on the way home to Paris from a conference in Telluride, Colorado, to determine if it would be a good fit for his work and the direction in which he wanted to go. Little did he know that his visit was actually an interview, and he had to acquire a new suit in one day in rural Colorado. But, Dr. Benosman was impressed by the breadth of resources offered at the University of Pittsburgh and neighboring Carnegie Mellon University, where he is now jointly appointed as a faculty member. “My natural terrain is to be between mathematics and robotics, which fit with CMU, but I needed the medical connection offered by the University of Pittsburgh to bridge the gap between science and medicine. The science and the opportunity to work together with medical colleagues in Pittsburgh is so good, I knew I wanted to be here,” stated Dr. Benosman. Already, Dr. Benosman is taking advantage of new opportunities available to him in Pittsburgh, collaborating with experts in other areas of science, such as Neurobiology and Pediatric Ophthalmology. He recently received an award from the Shear Foundation to support his work in Machine Learning, with the hope that these funds will allow him to investigate the ability that computers can have to process large amounts of patient data to aid in formulating precise medical diagnoses. That support, Dr. Benosman said, is very valuable in funding high-risk research, which is often based on intuition and not certain deliverables that are promised. “It just takes one idea to make everything fall into place, and I think I know what the next step is.” To learn more about Dr. Benosman’s research, contact Carrie Fogel at 412-864-1451 or carrie@eyeandear.org.