Christopher Proctor PhD

Christopher Proctor is an Associate Professor in Bioelectronics and BBSRC David Phillips Fellow. He is also a Tutorial Fellow at Keble College. Chris received a B.Sc. in Interdisciplinary Physics from the University of Michigan. Following two years as a general scientist at the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, he earned a Ph.D. in Materials from the University of California, Santa Barbara where he investigated loss mechanisms in organic photovoltaics.

Subsequently, Chris was awarded a postdoctoral fellowship from Whitaker International to develop implantable bioelectronic devices for treating neurological disorders in the Bioelectronics Department at the Ecole des Mines de St Etienne.

He then joined the University of Cambridge as a Research Associate and Borysiewicz Biomedical Sciences Fellow. In 2020, Chris started as a BBSRC David Phillips Fellow and group leader in the Engineering Department at Cambridge before moving to Oxford in 2022.

My research is focused on developing bioeletronic systems to improve healthcare and advance bioscience. These technologies often take design inspiration from the same biological systems with which they interact while leveraging advances in parallel fields such as biosensors, optoelectronics, soft robotics, machine learning and neuroengineering.

We are commited to having a lasting impact and as such we work along the spectrum of scientific discovery, engineering innovation and clinical translation.

On going project themes include:

• Electronic drug delivery: Targeted drug delivery can focus treatment on the region of the body affected by a given pathology thereby enhancing the effectiveness of the treatment while reducing side effects inherent in systemic treatments. Towards that end, we are leveraging the ion conductivity of polymers to develop implantable devices that can deliver drugs precisely when and where they are needed. We showed this to be a promising method for managing epileptic seizures. We are currently adapting this technology as a research tool to understand the brain as well as for treating pathologies such as chronic pain and Parkinson’s disease.
• Minimally invasive implants: Existing clinical neurostimulation implants often require invasive surgical procedures that limit the eligible patient pool. We are developing novel device architectures and control systems that can allow for key-hole like surgery of large implants.
• Material innovations for new modalities in bioelectronics: Materials such as mixed electronic and ionic conductors and molecularly imprinted polymers have potential to open new possibilities in diagnostics and therapeutics. We are developing such material formulations for a range of applications from biosensing to tissue regeneration.

Our research group offers a wide range of opportunities to lead challenging projects in Bioelectronics from fundamental science to engineering innovation and clinical translation.  Please contact Professor Proctor for enquiries.