Pulliam, Christopher, PhD

Dr. Christopher Pulliam is a biomedical engineer with a combined academic and industry career spanning wearable sensing, movement disorder assessment, and neural engineering.

His current research focuses on wearable technologies for objective assessment of Parkinson’s disease and stroke, including generative AI methods for synthetic data augmentation to address limited clinical training datasets, and multimodal sensing approaches fusing eye tracking and inertial data to improve detection of freezing of gait. He also collaborates with Dr. Ajiboye on a VA Merit Review project exploring how wearable technologies can complement invasive brain sensing to support home deployment of BCI-FES systems.

Dr. Pulliam as serves as the FES Center’s primary contact for industrial relations, working to strengthen and forge new relationships with groups outside the center to build the Center’s visibility and impact. The objective is to connect FES investigators with industry researchers and organizations working in adjacent spaces, where the combination of these efforts may result in a unique value.

He also founded the Center’s NeuroTech Talks summer seminar series, which has drawn several hundred attendees across its first two years.

Previously, Dr. Pulliam led the development of sensor-based assessment tools for Parkinson’s disease and essential tremor at Great Lakes NeuroTechnologies, and developed sensing algorithms for next-generation deep brain stimulation and spinal cord stimulation systems at Medtronic — accumulating over 25 issued U.S. patents in neuromodulation.

RESEARCH PROGRAMS

• Wearable sensing for objective motor symptom monitoring in Parkinson’s disease and stroke
• Generative AI and synthetic data augmentation for neurorehabilitation machine learning
• Multimodal sensing (eye tracking + inertial) for freezing of gait detection
• Automated DBS programming and closed-loop neuromodulation
• Wearable assessment of arm movement and rehabilitation outcomes

MAJOR PROJECTS & FUNDING

• VA Merit Review-Funded Research, collaborating investigator with Dr. Ajiboye exploring wearable technologies for home deployment of BCI-FES system
• U.S. Patent, Automated DBS programming — developed motion sensor-based mapping software for optimizing DBS parameters; translated into commercial product

HONORS & RECOGNITION

• Star of Excellence Award in Innovation, Medtronic Restorative Therapies Group, 2020
• Star of Excellence Award in Innovation, Medtronic Restorative Therapies Group, 2019
• NIH-Funded Ruth L. Kirschstein Predoctoral Individual National Research Service Award, 2011–2013
• NIH Ruth L. Kirschstein Institutional National Research Service Award Trainee, 2006–2009
• National Merit Scholar, Dow Chemical / National Merit Scholarship Foundation, 2002