What if a brain implant could do its job and then dissolve? That is the question Maria Cerezo-Sanchez asked during her PhD at the University of Glasgow, and it became the foundation for Neurobite Technologies.

Current neural implants are made of rigid electronics, essentially a sewing needle left inside a jelly-like organ. The brain fights back with inflammation and scar tissue, degrading the implant’s ability to record and stimulate activity. Maria’s team is developing flexible, dissolvable devices that work with the brain rather than against it, targeting drug-resistant epilepsy and stroke recovery.

This episode follows Maria from setting up a biology lab in an electronics department where nobody wanted to play with cells, through IP negotiations that took two years, to building a team of four on grant funding and preparing for her  ...