The 2016 MedTech Boston 40 Under 40 Healthcare Innovators

Rikky Muller, PhD
Co-Founder at Cortera Neurotechnologies Inc., Assistant Professor of EECS at UC Berkeley
Dr. Rikky Muller didn’t discover neurotechnology until after she’d graduated from MIT with her Bachelors and Masters degrees. But once she began to learn about it, she realized the promise it had for treating neurological conditions and improving overall understanding of the brain. Inspired, she decided to pursue her PhD at the University of California, Berkeley with the hope of applying her knowledge of microelectronics to her newfound passion in neurotech.

Her work as the co-founder and CTO of Cortera Neurotechnologies originally focused on commercializing the work she developed as PhD student at Berkeley. Since then, Cortera has released several products, including arrays for subdural or epidural neural recordings and has developed systems that can be used to treat neuropsychiatric disorders such as Major Depressive Disorder and PTSD. But Cortera is looking to expand even further in the future. “We have been developing a medical device for neurological interfacing, but with a new clinical application,” says Muller. “We are looking forward to releasing our first clinical product and growing in that market.”

Muller, who is also an Assistant Professor of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science at the UC Berkeley, says that she’s excited to move Cortera into clinical technology. When asked about the most rewarding part of her job and work, she stated, “knowing that our device will transform patient care and improve quality of life for people with debilitating conditions and few options available to them today.”