Alik Widge
,
Credentials
MD, PhD
Credentials
MD, PhD
Associate Professor with award of tenure
Biography
Bio
I am a psychiatrist and biomedical engineer. Clinically, I provide brain stimulation treatments for mood, anxiety, and substance disorders. These include deep brain stimulation, cortical stimulation, and transcranial magnetic stimulation.
My research focuses on developing these treatments further, particularly the creation of new "closed loop" devices. These devices sense brain signals in real-time and deliver energy in a planned and rational fashion, compensating for each patient's specific brain network abnormalities. My laboratory (TNE Lab) prototypes new stimulation paradigms and targets in rodent models, conducts clinical trials of these new technologies, and searches for biomarkers of illness and recovery to guide next-generation therapies.
To inquire about being part of our neurostimulation trials or about existing clinical treatments, please contact my clinical office at 952-525-4500.
Expertise
- Neuromodulation for mental illness
- OCD
Administrative Assistant
(for academic support only)
Natasha Hampton-Anderson
nhampton@umn.edu
In the Media
- 2023: Featured in this WCCO TV piece titled, “New research at U of M measures brain waves to detect depression, suicide warnings.”
- 2023: Featured in this StarTribune article titled, “University of Minnesota studies brain's electrical signals as warnings for depression, suicide,” and in this WCCO interview titled, “ Can brain signals indicate thoughts about suicide and severe depression?”
- 2023: Dr. Widge and his research team are featured in this article titled, “Can we do a better job of detecting suicidality? U of M team using a DARPA award to test the possibility.”
- 2022: Featured in a video titled "Tackling Psychiatric Illness Using Translational Models and Computations", shot as part of the American Psychiatric Association's Conference TV with funding from NeuroPRSMH (NeuroPlasticity Research in Support of Mental Health), the U’s multidisciplinary neuroscience research group
- 2022: Featured in this Psychiatric Times article titled, “Assessing Gaps and Opportunities in ECT, rTMS, and DBS Guidelines”.
- 2021: Spotlighted in The Medical Progress in a piece titled, “Merging AI with targeted electrical brain stimulation to improve specific human brain functions”.
- 2021: Interviewed for this MINNPOST piece titled, “As Minnesota considers qualifying anxiety for its medical cannabis program, psychiatrists raise concerns.
- U of M research team hopes to develop an implantable device to treat mental illness — thanks to a $6.6 million grant”. Features exciting work led by Dr. Alik Widge
Research Summary
Our laboratory develops new ways of modifying brain circuits to treat mental illness. We take a "dimensional" approach, breaking mental disorders into their core components that cut across diagnoses. We use a variety of tools, including electrical, magnetic, and optical stimulation, to change those circuits in a way we hope will translate to humans.
Education
MD,
Alpha Omega Alpha,
University of Pittsburgh
Major: Medical Scientist Training Program
PhD,
Carnegie Mellon University
Major: Robotics
BA,
Summa Cum Laude, Phi, Beta Kappa, High Honors,
Dartmouth College
Major: Science
Fellowships, Residencies, and Visiting Engagements
Research Fellowship,
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Postdoctoral Researcher,
University of Washington
Research Fellowship,
Massachusetts General Hospital
Residency Training,
University of Washington, Psychiatry
Licensures and Certifications
Board Certification in General Psychiatry
DATA Waiver for Office-Based Opiate Substitution Therapy
Minnesota Full Medical License
Honors and Recognition
Young Investigator Award, Sage Bionetworks
Biobehavioral Research Awards for Innovative New Scientists (BRAINS), National Institute of Mental Health
Rising Star Translational Research Award, OneMind Institute/Janssen
Associate Membership, American College of Neuropsychopharmacology
Outstanding Resident Award, National Institute of Mental Health
Travel Award, American College of Neuropsychopharmacology
Career Development Leadership Program, Anxiety and Depression Association of America
A.E. Bennett Young Investigator, Society of Biological Psychiatry
Resident Recognition Award, American Psychiatric Association
Career Development Institute for Psychiatry, NIMH/Stanford University/University of Pittsburgh
BRAIN Scholar, American Association of Directors of Psychiatric Residency Training
Research Colloquium for Junior Investigators, American Psychiatric Association
Brain Camp Scholar, National Institute of Mental Health
McKnight Land-Grant Professorship, University of Minnesota
Travel Award, Society for Biological Psychiatry
Krishna Kumar New Investigator, North American Neuromodulation Society
Clinical Research Day Team Award, Massachusetts General Hospital
Top Doctors: Rising Stars, Minneapolis/St. Paul Magazine
Eagle Scout, Boy Scouts of America
Professional Memberships
American College of Neuropsychopharmacology
Society for Neuroscience
Society for Biological Psychiatry
American Association for the Advancement of Science
Selected Publications
Selected Publications
Shin, U., Ding, C., Woods, V., Widge, A. S., Shoaran, M.,
2023.
A 16-Channel Low-Power Neural Connectivity Extraction and Phase-Locked Deep Brain Stimulation SoC.
IEEE Journal of Solid-State Circuits,
6
21-24.
doi: https://doi.org/10.1109/lssc.2023.3238797
PubMed ID: 36909935.
Widge, A. S.,
2023.
Closed-Loop Deep Brain Stimulation for Psychiatric Disorders.
Harvard Review of Psychiatry,
31
(3):
162-171.
doi: https://doi.org/10.1097/hrp.0000000000000367
PubMed ID: 37171475.
Versalovic, E., Klein, E., Goering, S., Ngo, Q., Gliske, K., Boulicault, M., Specker Sullivan, L., Thomas, M., Widge, A. S.,
2023.
Deep Brain Stimulation for Substance Use Disorders? An Exploratory Qualitative Study of Perspectives of People Currently in Treatment.
Journal of Addiction Medicine,
doi: https://doi.org/10.1097/adm.0000000000001150
PubMed ID: 36877146.
Hitti, F., Widge, A. S., Riva-Posse, P., Malone, D., Okun, M., Shanechi, M., Foote, K., Lisanby, S., Ankudowich, E., Chivukula, S., Chang, E., Gunduz, A., Hamani, C., Feinsinger, A., Kubu, C., Chiong, W., Chandler, J., Carbunaru, R., Cheeran, B., et al.,
2023.
Future directions in psychiatric neurosurgery: Proceedings of the 2022 American Society for Stereotactic and Functional Neurosurgery meeting on surgical neuromodulation for psychiatric disorders.
Brain Stimulation,
16
(3):
867-878.
doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.brs.2023.05.011
PubMed ID: 37217075.
Widge, A. S., Jordan, A., Kraguljac, N., Sullivan, C., Wilson, S., Benton, T., Alpert, J., Carpenter, L., Krystal, J., Nemeroff, C., Dzirasa, K.,
2023.
Structural Racism in Psychiatric Research Careers: Eradicating Barriers to a More Diverse Workforce.
American Journal of Psychiatry,
doi: https://doi.org/10.1176/appi.ajp.20220685
PubMed ID: 37073513.
Boulicault, M., Klein, K., Goering, S., Dougherty, D., Widge, A. S.,
2023.
The Role of Family Members in Psychiatric Deep Brain Stimulation Trials: More Than Psychosocial Support.
Neuroethics,
16
(2):
14.
doi: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12152-023-09520-7
PubMed ID: 37250273.
Webler, R., Oathes, D., van Rooji, S., Gewirtz, J., Nahas, Z., Lissek, S., Widge, A. S.,
2023.
Causally mapping human threat extinction circuits with depolarization methods.
Neuroscience and Biobehavioral Reviews,
doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neubiorev.2022.105005
PubMed ID: 36549377.
Nagrale, S., Yousefi, A., Netoff, T., Widge, A. S.,
2023.
In silico development and validation of Bayesian methods for optimizing deep brain stimulation to enhance cognitive control.
Journal of Neural Engineering,
20
(3):
036015.
doi: https://doi.org/10.1088/1741-2552/acd0d5
PubMed ID: 37105164.
Wickramasuriva, D., Crawford, L., Widge, A. S., Faghih, R.,
2023.
Hybrid Decoders for Marked Point Process Observations and External Influences.
70
(1):
343-353.
doi: https://doi.org/10.1109/tbme.2022.3191243
PubMed ID: 35839187.
Parellada, M., Andreu-Bernabeu, Á., Burdeus, M., San José Cáceres, A., Urbiola, E., Carpenter, L., Kragulijac, N., McDonald, W., Nemeroff, C., Rodriguez, C., Widge, A. S., State, M., Sanders, S.,
2023.
In Search of Biomarkers to Guide Interventions in Autism Spectrum Disorder: A Systematic Review.
Am J Psychiatry,
180
(1):
23-40.
doi: https://doi.org/10.1176/appi.ajp.21100992
PubMed ID: 36475375.
Selected Presentations
Selected Presentations
Widge, A. S.
"Engineering Brain Circuits to Treat Mental Disorders",
New York University Psychiatry Grand Rounds,
May 05, 2023.
Widge, A. S.
"Engineering Brain Circuits to Treat Mental Disorders",
University of Washington Biomedical Engineering Seminar,
May 04, 2023.
Widge, A. S.
"Direct Electrical/Magnetic Brain Stimulation for Mood Disorders",
Anxiety & Depression Association of America, Washington, District of Columbia,
Washington,
District of Columbia,
April 16, 2023.
Widge, A. S.
"Translational Brain Circuit Engineering to Treat Mood & Anxiety Disorders",
Anxiety & Depression Association of America,
Washington,
District of Columbia,
April 15, 2023.
McInnes, A. S., Albott, C., Camsari, G., Cooper, D., Herman, A., Nahas, Z., Olsen, S., Sullivan, C., Wilson, S., Widge, A. S.
"Inefficient decision-making processes predict non-response to TMS for depression.",
2022 Society for Neuroscience Annual Meeting,
San Diego,
California,
November 12, 2022.
Iacobucci, F., Cooper, D., Dastin-van Rjin, E., Widge, A. S.
"DBS disrupts reinforcement-based decision making in rats.",
2022 Society for Neuroscience Annual Meeting,
San Diego,
California,
November 12, 2022.
Drahos, K. S., Younk, R., Yadav, S., Nagrale, S., Widge, A. S.
"State dependence of connectivity alterations from closed loop phase locked stimulation",
2022 Society for Neuroscience Annual Meeting,
San Diego,
California,
November 12, 2022.
Widge, A. S.
"Quantifying defensive behavior and threat response through integrated headstage accelerometry.",
2022 Society for Neuroscience Annual Meeting,
San Diego,
California,
November 12, 2022.
Titus, D., Li, C., Drahos, K., Olson, S., Nagrale, S., Widge, A. S.
"Pre-frontal Cortex and Amygdala Interactions during approach and avoidance task",
2022 Society for Neuroscience Annual Meeting,
San Diego,
California,
November 12, 2022.
Widge, A. S.
"Controlling Oscillatory Brain Networks With Targeted Neuromodulation",
University of Minnesota Non-Invasive Brain Stimulation (NIBS) Conference, Minneapolis, Minnesota,
June 10, 2022.
Contact