Dominique Durand has dedicated his career to solving problems in the nervous system
While Dominique Durand trained as an electrical engineer as an undergraduate student in his home country France, he has devoted his career to neural engineering. The transition makes sense to Durand, a professor in the Case Western Reserve University Department of Biomedical Engineering, Department of Neurosciences and Department of Physiology and Biophysics.
“I like circuits of any kind, and the brain is a circuit,” says Durand, who also serves as director of the Neural Engineering Center in the Case School of Engineering School of Medicine. “When I started working in the lab at the Playfair Neuroscience Unit at Toronto Western Hospital, it was the first time we were able to put an electrode directly into a single neuron for intracellular recordings. We could see the resting potential, the action potential – it was fascinating.”
Durand’s work as a research associate at the hospital and a scientist in the Neurology Program at the Addiction Research Foundation in Toronto influenced his decision to study at the Institute of Biomedical Engineering within the Department of Electrical Engineering at the University of Toronto. After earning his doctorate degree, he joined Case Western Reserve University as an associate professor of biomedical engineering in 1983.
Research Aimed at Controlling Epilepsy
Durand initially planned to remain in Toronto after earning his PhD.
“I was going to stay there as a biomedical engineer. But I was walking down the halls at University of Toronto and saw an ad for an assistant professor position in Cleveland,” he recalls. “My wife is from Cleveland, so it was an easy decision.”
Leaving the northwestern shore of Lake Ontario for the banks of Lake Erie represented a return home not only for Durand’s wife, but in part for him, too. He earned a master’s degree in biomedical engineering from Case in 1975.
During his 42 years as a faculty member in the department, Durand has combined neuroscience, engineering and electrophysiology to solve problems in both the central and peripheral nervous systems. His research findings have been published in more than 450 journal articles. The most recent article in the March-April 2025 issue of Brain Stimulation is related to Durand’s lifelong research in epilepsy.
Durand and his peers shared results of a study indicating that the generation and propagation of epileptic events – such as spikes and seizures – can be completely suppressed by controlling the extracellular voltage within the focus with small amounts of current. The researchers investigated the mechanisms that explain the suppression.
“Communication between neurons across the brain can occur through ephaptic coupling, where electric fields are generated by neurons that activate their neighboring neurons,” says Durand. “We took advantage of that phenomenon and examined what happens if we generate an electric field of our own that is exactly opposite of what the brain generates during a seizure.”
While the team doesn’t yet fully understand the mechanism of action and the results in this study were limited to a small focal region, the technology shows potential as a therapy for controlling focal epilepsy.
Breakthrough Technology for Neural Interfacing
For decades, Durand’s research on the peripheral nervous system has focused on recording neural activity in fascicles, which are only approximately 200 microns in diameter. The team initially experimented with cuff electrodes for neural interfacing.
“It turns out that works great for electrical stimulation, but it’s much more difficult for recording because the signals are very low amplitude and not very selective,” says Durand. “I figured the only way to extract signals was to put an extremely flexible electrode inside the fascicles.”
He developed a flexible yarn electrode made of carbon nanotubes (CNTs) with axon-like dimensions – only about 10 microns in diameter – facilitating a direct interface with the peripheral nervous system. The research team has conducted in vivo studies and successfully implanted a probe made of CNTs in several nerves, including the glossopharyngeal nerve and sciatic nerve.
“We were able to record for the first time ever from the vagus nerve in a rat,” says Durand. “We were never able to do this before because all of the previous probes were too big and too stiff.”
The technology offers promise for robotic prosthetic devices that can be controlled by the nervous system. Most user-controlled devices rely on electromyography (EMG) pads that attach to the skin, record electric activity in muscles and generate signals that provide direction to the prosthetic limb to move.
“However, those muscles are only above the amputation, while the nerves are still there to carry all the necessary signals from the brain,” says Durand. “We are trying to extract those signals and control the prosthetic device.”
A Passion for Learning and Teaching
Durand is equally committed to instructing and mentoring the next generation. He teaches undergraduate courses in bioelectric phenomenon and instrumentation and analysis.
“I am passionate about understanding concepts,” says Durand. “For me, this material is really cool. Every time I go through it, I find something I didn’t completely understand, and I try to dig into it with my students.”
Durand also helped launch Case Western Reserve University’s online master’s in biomedical engineering program and serves as its director. The program retains the same emphasis on projects and problem-solving as the in-person program.
“We’re using software that simulates nearly exactly what it would be like in the lab,” says Durand. “We can actually decide what problems we want to solve ahead of time and teach those skills in a better way. Problem-solving in the field is what excites me, and it’s possible to do that online.”
The online option provides opportunities for many students that might not otherwise be able to pursue an advanced degree, such as Ciera McCrary. She was a Navy lieutenant on active duty aboard the USS Howard out of San Diego while enrolled in the online master’s program in 2020.
An Enduring Impact on Students
Durand began his career in biomedical engineering 50 years ago as a clinical engineer at a hospital in Quebec, Canada. His drive to continue researching and teaching stems from a desire to contribute more to the field.
“What have I done? Yes, I published a lot of papers, but it’s not clear the impact those have,” muses Durand. “A better impact is the people who came through the lab that now have amazing careers. Perhaps I have had something to do with that.”
Former students say Durand has most certainly contributed to their careers.
“Durand’s mentorship profoundly impacted my own practice as a professor in every possible way, from the subjects I research and how I approach problems to how I manage the lab and support students,” says Marom Bikson, professor of biomedical engineering at the City College of New York.
Bikson conducted research on the mechanisms of direct current brain stimulation in Durand’s lab while earning his doctorate degree at Case Western Reserve University from 1996 to 2000.
“Durand’s office door was always open, and he was ready to carefully listen to concerns and progress and provide great insight on the next steps,” says Bikson. “I had confidence that if anyone could point me in the right direction, it was Durand.