Neurosurgeon and immunologist Kevin Tracey shares the frontiers of a new, hybrid field - bioelectronic medicine.

Online communities have made their diagnoses their identity. https://reason.com/video/2023/03/15/spoonies-the-culture-of-staying-sick/ ______ Those who are sick and extremely online look for a community that understands them—one that accepts them and their various diseases. These individuals are referred to as "spoonies" online, a term that comes from a 2003 blog post by Christine Miserandino. In many cases, spoonies have been sick for a very long time. And since their identity revolves around their sickness, it's hard for them to imagine a world in which they are cured. "The rise of a certain brand of extremely online identitarianism has given the chronically ill not just visibility but a tribe unto themselves, one that commands enormous attention and resources," writes novelist and culture critic Kat Rosenfield in her recent article for Reason. Spoonies have illnesses ranging from Crohn's to lupus to chronic Lyme disease to even long COVID-19. But learning to live with their symptoms, and not actively seeking out a cure, can be a trap. "Social media is primarily focused on awareness raising when it comes to individual spoonie influencers. But also when it comes to patient foundations, their sort of public-facing persona is not so focused on things like pursuing innovative therapies or pushing for a cure, because what plays well on social media oftentimes is misery," says Rosenfield. Produced by Natalie Dowzicky; edited by Regan Taylor; graphics by Isaac Reese, Danielle Thompson, and Nathalie Walker.  Photo Credits: Hellerhoff, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons; Envato Elements. Music Credits: "Rebreather," by Javapsych via Artlist; "Split Soul," by Dan Mayo via Artlist; "Mono No Aware," by Sun Wash via Artlist.

MSRI Workshop for Clinical Translation of Implantable Devices August 27-28, 2020 Sponsored by the National Science Foundation and hosted by University of California San Diego Bioelectronic neuromodulation devices are evolving as the gold standard of care for a variety of diseases in the nervous system and beyond. They are projected to impact millions of people, and their market is expected to reach ~ $16.6B by 2025. Despite research demonstrating the effectiveness of implantable devices being developed at universities and small businesses across the nation, technological advances that could permit safer and more effective interrogation and modulation paradigms are unable to attain FDA clearance due to the uncertified nature of the university labs, thus halting innovation at the bench and reducing the benefit of research to patients and taxpayers. The National Science Foundation’s (NSF’s) Mid-scale Research Infrastructure (MSRI) program offers an opportunity to bridge this gap between academic research and development of implantable bioelectronic devices for clinical translation through the support of an infrastructure for a National Neurotechnology Alliance at UC San Diego. The objective of this workshop is to bring leaders in human neuromodulation devices to discuss the current progress and gaps in the clinical translation of neuromodulation devices developed in universities and startups. This workshop ]outlines the needs for an infrastructure to fill this gap, and help prepare participants for submission of an MSRI proposal to the NSF. One primary objective of the workshop is to outline the needs for a certified good manufacturing practice (CGMP) facility within a university campus that will help accelerate innovative neurotechnology efforts across the country and place the U.S. at the forefront of implantable medical devices. The 2-day workshop sponsored by the NSF and organized by the Qualcomm Institute at UC San Diego and Platt & Associates, Inc. was held virtually. https://sites.google.com/eng.ucsd.edu/msri-workshop/home

Dr. Kevin Tracey, President & CEO of The Feinstein Institutes of Medical research delivers the keynote address at the 2019 Healthcare 50 on September 12, 2019.

Rheumatology Breakout Session at the Inaugural Autoimmune Summit 2021.

Propel a Cure volunteers recently met with Dr. Kevin Tracey of the Feinstein Institutes in New York to discuss his latest work in seeking to discover the potential causes of Crohn's disease.

Dr. Kevin Tracey, world renowned expert and pioneer in the field of neural immune modulation and Karches Family Distinguished Chair in Medical Research at the Feinstein Institutes for Medical Research, presented Autonomic Regulation of the Immune System during the Dysautonomia International 2020 Virtual Conference. If you enjoyed this free video, please consider making a donation to support Dysautonomia International's research, education and advocacy programs at CureDys.org. Sign up for our email list to find out about the latest dysautonomia news, events and research at bit.ly/Dl_Email. Disclaimer: The captions and translations for this video are auto-generated by YouTube and may not be completely accurate.

Kevin Tracey, MD, gives a plenary talk at the 47th Critical Care Congress, “Bioelectronic Medicine: A Jump-Start in Critical Illness.”

Kevin J. Tracey is president and CEO of, and the Karches Family Distinguished Chair in Medical Research at the Feinstein Institutes for Medical Research; professor of Molecular Medicine and Neurosurgery at the Donald and Barbara Zucker School of Medicine at Hofstra/Northwell; and Executive Vice President, Research, at Northwell Health. He is a leader in the scientific fields of inflammation and bioelectronic medicine. He is an expert on vagus nerve signaling and is well known for describing the vagus nerve anti- inflammatory reflex.

ABC News’ Will Carr reports on new, cutting-edge bioelectronic medicine that holds promise for treating diseases like Crohn’s and Parkinson’s. ABC News Live Prime, Weekdays at 7 EST & 9 EST WATCH the ABC News Livestream: https://bit.ly/3rzBHum SUBSCRIBE to ABC News: https://bit.ly/2vZb6yP WATCH MORE on http://abcnews.go.com/ LIKE ABC News on FACEBOOK: https://www.facebook.com/abcnews FOLLOW ABC News on TWITTER: https://twitter.com/abc

The Constellation Forum: Innovation in Action on August 8, 2019 in New York City. Kevin Tracey, President and Chief Executive Officer, Feinstein Institute for Medical Research, Northwell Health Northwell Health is New York state’s largest healthcare provider, with 23 hospitals, 650 outpatient facilities and nearly 15,000 affiliated physicians. We’re here to set the standard of care for our communities—and make the 2 million-plus patients we treat every year not only healthier, but happier. With over 66,000 employees, we have the brainpower to dream up new possibilities, and the manpower to make them a reality. Visit https://www.northwell.edu/ Subscribe to Northwell Health’s YouTube http://bit.ly/2wPz7on or head to our channel https://www.youtube.com/northwellhealth1 The Well - https://thewell.northwell.edu/ Facebook – http://www.facebook.com/northwellhealth Twitter - http://www.twitter.com/northwellhealth Instagram - http://www.instagram.com/northwellhealth LinkedIn - http://www.linkedin/northwellhealth

Dr. Kevin Tracey is the president and CEO of the Feinstein Institutes for Medical Research. He is very well-known and well-cited for his seminal research within the field of neuromodulation, particularly as it relates to the immune response. In this episode, he discusses the current progress being made in the field of bioelectronic medicine, as well as how it compares to pharmaceutical treatments. Top three takeaways: The power in bioelectronic medicine is in the fact that rather than sending out a drug into the body and hoping it affects the target area, the target is identified and the device is designed and manufactured around it. Since testing in mice is an important precursor to human clinical trials, the field of bioelectronic medicine has been greatly slowed down by the lack of available tools for device implantation in mice. The field of bioelectronic medicine is in its early stages with regard to clinical testing; as such, its efficacy relative to pharmaceutical approaches is not yet fully understood. [0:00] Ladan introduces the episode and the guest, Dr. Kevin Tracey [2:00] Tracey discusses his background in research in bioelectronic medicine and neuromodulation in the immune system [6:00] What’s so powerful about bioelectronic medicine is that it’s scalable, replicable, and generates testable hypotheses. The device is designed around the target. [9:00] Side effects are the main limiting factor for drugs. With devices, the side effects are easier to understand and manage since a specific nerve and region are targeted, as opposed to drugs, which have a systemic effect. [12:30] Tracey co-founded SetPoint Medical with Dr. Shaw Warren, and it was founded to establish a mechanism to test the idea of harnessing the inflammatory reflex in human clinical trials [16:45] When stimulating the vagus nerve, several fibers are stimulated. Despite this, controlling the amount of current delivered through stimulation can control which organs (such as the heart or spleen) are affected. [20:30] The field of bioelectronic medicine has been slowed down by the absence of available tools that can be used for mice [23:45] Bioelectronic medicine is still in its early stages and is new in terms of clinical testing and adoption; at this point, we don’t fully know its efficacy relative to pharmaceuticals [27:00] One study found that patients who have not responded to drugs or to vagus nerve stimulation did respond when a combination of the two was used [31:00] The advantage of targeting close to the organ is more localized stimulation, but the disadvantage is that some of these organs are difficult to access [34:00] The mission of the Feinstein Institute for Bioelectronic Medicine is to produce the necessary knowledge in bioelectronic medicine to cure disease [37:00] The new labs the Feinstein Institute is building are investigating the neural control of drug targets, neural information processing, sensory and motor signals to nerves, and previously unrecognized neurons that control aspects of the immune response

Kevin Tracey, president and CEO of the Feinstein Institutes for Medical Research, and Karches Family Distinguished Chair in Medical Research, is setting the pace for advancing medical research and bringing the best medical solutions to patients in our community and around the world – today. Northwell Health is New York state’s largest healthcare provider, with 23 hospitals, 650 outpatient facilities and nearly 15,000 affiliated physicians. We’re here to set the standard of care for our communities—and make the 2 million-plus patients we treat every year not only healthier, but happier. With over 66,000 employees, we have the brainpower to dream up new possibilities, and the manpower to make them a reality. Visit https://www.northwell.edu/ Subscribe to Northwell Health’s YouTube http://bit.ly/2wPz7on or head to our channel https://www.youtube.com/northwellhealth1 The Well - https://thewell.northwell.edu/ Facebook – http://www.facebook.com/northwellhealth Twitter - http://www.twitter.com/northwellhealth Instagram - http://www.instagram.com/northwellhealth LinkedIn - http://www.linkedin/northwellhealth

On August 9, 2018 the 1st Annual Northwell Health Innovation Summit was held at the Time Warner Center in New York City. Northwell Health gathered an elite group of Fortune 500 Executives, Health Luminaries, Public & Private Investors, Leading Philanthropists, and Top Entrepreneurs to form strategic partnerships, drive scientific outcomes, and elevate the field of health innovation. Northwell Health is New York state’s largest healthcare provider, with 23 hospitals, 650 outpatient facilities and nearly 15,000 affiliated physicians. We’re here to set the standard of care for our communities—and make the 2 million-plus patients we treat every year not only healthier, but happier. With over 66,000 employees, we have the brainpower to dream up new possibilities, and the manpower to make them a reality. Visit https://www.northwell.edu/ Subscribe to Northwell Health’s YouTube http://bit.ly/2wPz7on or head to our channel https://www.youtube.com/northwellhealth1 The Well - https://thewell.northwell.edu/ Facebook – http://www.facebook.com/northwellhealth Twitter - http://www.twitter.com/northwellhealth Instagram - http://www.instagram.com/northwellhealth LinkedIn - http://www.linkedin/northwellhealth

Yaakov Levine, PhD; Neurostimulation of the cholinergic anti-inflammatory pathway is a non pharmacological approach to treating chronic inflammatory disease. In this talk we reviewed the results of the first clinical study demonstrating the efficacy and feasibility of this approach as a treatment for rheumatoid arthritis. For more information on bioelectronic medicine and the work being done at the Feinstein Institutes, go to: https://feinstein.northwell.edu/institutes-researchers/bioelectronic-medicine

Peder S. Olofsson, MD, PhD; This presentation describes how therapeutic and diagnostic targets for bioelectronic medicine are discovered by identifying the cellular and molecular mechanisms behind neural reflex control of cytokine release. For more information on bioelectronic medicine and the work being done at the Feinstein Institutes, go to: https://feinstein.northwell.edu/institutes-researchers/bioelectronic-medicine

On August 9, 2018 the 1st Annual Northwell Health Innovation Summit was held at the Time Warner Center in New York City. Northwell Health gathered an elite group of Fortune 500 Executives, Health Luminaries, Public & Private Investors, Leading Philanthropists, and Top Entrepreneurs to form strategic partnerships, drive scientific outcomes, and elevate the field of health innovation. Northwell Health is New York state’s largest healthcare provider, with 23 hospitals, 650 outpatient facilities and nearly 15,000 affiliated physicians. We’re here to set the standard of care for our communities—and make the 2 million-plus patients we treat every year not only healthier, but happier. With over 66,000 employees, we have the brainpower to dream up new possibilities, and the manpower to make them a reality. Visit https://www.northwell.edu/ Subscribe to Northwell Health’s YouTube http://bit.ly/2wPz7on or head to our channel https://www.youtube.com/northwellhealth1 The Well - https://thewell.northwell.edu/ Facebook – http://www.facebook.com/northwellhealth Twitter - http://www.twitter.com/northwellhealth Instagram - http://www.instagram.com/northwellhealth LinkedIn - http://www.linkedin/northwellhealth

At the newly formed Center for bioelectronic medicine at the Feinstein Institutes for Medical Research, investigators are looking at a different approach to curing disease. Instead of using drugs with varying side effects to treat symptoms, these researchers are using targeted nerve-stimulating devices to treat and even cure patients. Harold Silverman works in Dr. Kevin Tracey’s lab studying changes in neural mechanisms in response to inflammation. For more information on bioelectronic medicine and the work being done at the Feinstein Institutes, go to: https://feinstein.northwell.edu/institutes-researchers/bioelectronic-medicine

Jared Huston MD, talks about the impact and practical uses a newly developed neural tourniquet could have in medicine.