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Prof. Patrick Degenaar

@patrickdegenaar.bsky.social
46 followers 4 following 46 posts

I am a professor of neuroprosthetics at Newcastle University. I specialise in making implantable brain devices to restore sight to the blind

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Prof. Patrick Degenaar @patrickdegenaar.bsky.social · 26/09/2026
Zero sum thinking means assumes a winner and a loser, but typically both lose. If NI communities came together to make its rich culture of parades on both sides a tourist attraction, both could win. www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
bbc.co.uk
Orange Orderparade along Garvaghy Road halted after injuction granted
Portadown District Orange Lodge had declined a request from Judge Patricia Smyth to postpone the parade along the Garvaghy Road
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Prof. Patrick Degenaar @patrickdegenaar.bsky.social · 06/09/2026
I used to wonder why there was such a vibrant outdoor scene in China, with granny dancing communities being ubiquitous. The contrast with the UK is profound! As is the potential health impact. Now I know why! Come on UK! We can do better! www.theguardian.com/society/2026...
theguardian.com
Councils in England and Wales accused of excessive fees to run outdoor classes
Report documents use of commercial licensing for free or donation-based exercise classes in parks and on beaches
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Prof. Patrick Degenaar @patrickdegenaar.bsky.social · 15/08/2026
Very sad. It is up to Cambridge to determine if there was misconduct. But top universities can be very high pressure at the best of times. My advice would be no matter how bad things get. There is always a light at the end of the tunnel! It is always possible to pick yourself up and renew! RIP 😪
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Prof. Patrick Degenaar @patrickdegenaar.bsky.social · 01/08/2026
Apparently a Chinese team took shortcuts on AAV viri for gene editing to cure disease - with tragic results. Apparently injecting too much AAV in the blood will result in accumulation in the bladder, causing an immune reaction. Safety testing is there for a reason! youtube.com/shorts/Xay4z...
youtube.com
Exclusive: Death of girl in Chinese gene-editing trial was never made public
YouTube video by Science Magazine
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Prof. Patrick Degenaar @patrickdegenaar.bsky.social · 26/07/2026
This is a fun video literature review: If current AI keeps growing at current rates without improvements in computational efficiency, then fossil fuels will be depleted in a decade, and the sea will boil in 67 years www.youtube.com/watch?v=YSjd.... We need renewables AND better compute!
youtube.com
Why Advanced Aliens Probably Don’t Build Dyson Spheres
YouTube video by Anton Petrov
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Prof. Patrick Degenaar @patrickdegenaar.bsky.social · 26/07/2026
Great to see progress on wheelchair control with Neuralik. It is very invasive - implant in the brain, and expensive. But the patient indicates that it seems to provide real benefit. www.youtube.com/shorts/V06QX...
youtube.com
Controlling A Wheelchair With Your Mind
YouTube video by Neuralink
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Prof. Patrick Degenaar @patrickdegenaar.bsky.social · 22/07/2026
Merging science into innovate UK then merging it into a bigger dept that also does business is NOT a correct direction. Science absolutely needs to connect to development. But we need strong blue sky research that can lead to the really big breakthroughs. And 0.7% GDP doesn't cut it!
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Prof. Patrick Degenaar @patrickdegenaar.bsky.social · 20/07/2026
This is quite impressive: www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xtgg... All robots are the same, and control is only part autonomous. But individual moves (e.g. flying kicks) styled from KungFu movies combine control theory, advanced AI, and user skill on the gamepad. The objective is to develop the software.
youtube.com
Best Moments | Highlights from the EngineAI URKL Unveiling Night
YouTube video by Engineai Robot
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Prof. Patrick Degenaar @patrickdegenaar.bsky.social · 16/07/2026
Always great to to see advances in Neurotechnology: www.theguardian.com/science/2026...
theguardian.com
Brain implant helps paralysed man to feed himself and drink from cup
Keith Thomas can move arms and hands, and feel sensation of touch after ‘double neural bypass’ and months of training
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Prof. Patrick Degenaar @patrickdegenaar.bsky.social · 16/07/2026
It has now been announced that the North East Universities are coming together to jointly create the Great Northeast NanoFab facility - co-funded by the UKRI and also supported by local industry: www.ncl.ac.uk/press/articl.... Many congrats to my other investigators: Toby Hallam and Johannes Gausden
ncl.ac.uk
Great Northeast Nanofab to strengthen the region’s economy
A new regional facility to support advanced microfabrication activities across the region’s universities and high-tech industries is being established by Newcastle University.
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Prof. Patrick Degenaar @patrickdegenaar.bsky.social · 04/06/2026
Despite assurances, it turns out that Palantir has full backdoor access to individual patient data prior to anonymisation! Let's put pressure on the government to trigger the break clause: actionnetwork.org/petitions/94...
actionnetwork.org
Health Secretary James Murray: Trigger the break clause and get Palantir out of the NHS
https://www.foxglove.org.uk/campaigns/wes-streeting-trigger-the-break-clause-and-get-palantir-out-of-the-nhs/
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Prof. Patrick Degenaar @patrickdegenaar.bsky.social · 02/04/2026
nopalantir.org.uk A few years back, someone in the UK government thought it would be a good idea to hand over our hospital data to a company that specialises in providing the US government with information on targets for assassination.
nopalantir.org.uk
No Palantir in our NHS
Add your name now to call for US data company Palantir to be dropped from the NHS – and for the future of health data to keep faith with patient trust.
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Prof. Patrick Degenaar @patrickdegenaar.bsky.social · 16/12/2025
The scariest moment in a microelectronics PhD is when the Chip comes back from the fab. 2 years of design then the moment of truth! Some people are so scared, they wait months before testing.. But my PhD student Emad got stuck in and his visual prosthesis chip works! 😁 @nclengineering.bsky.social
Emad testing his latest visual prosthesis chip
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Prof. Patrick Degenaar @patrickdegenaar.bsky.social · 15/12/2025
www.newcastle-hospitals.nhs.uk/news/newcast... Great to see this new Centre for Neurotechnology coming together here in Newcastle. It is an excellent initiative for the North East and builds on Newcastle University's rich history in the field @nclengineering.bsky.social #neuroprosthetics #bionics
newcastle-hospitals.nhs.uk
Newcastle experts establish the UK's new National Centre for Neurotechnology and Neurorestoration - Newcastle Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
The National Centre for Neurotechnology and Neurorestoration is hosted by Newcastle Hospitals and, in collaboration with Newcastle University, supports research and delivery of the latest neurotechnol...
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Prof. Patrick Degenaar @patrickdegenaar.bsky.social · 10/12/2025
@newcastleuni.bsky.social turned on its #christmas tree today. It always goes exponentially crazy just before Christmas, but with the lights on, the Christmas break is starting to get real 😀 @nclengineering.bsky.social
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Prof. Patrick Degenaar @patrickdegenaar.bsky.social · 05/12/2025
Funded #PhD opportunity for UK home students to do exciting research into #VisualProsthetics to restore sight tot he blind. Students should be 1st class in Engineering/Physics. www.findaphd.com/phds/project... #VisionRestoration, #Neuroprosthetics, #NeuralEngineering, #Bioelectronics
An image showing a concept visual prosthesis to restore sight to the blind.
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Prof. Patrick Degenaar @patrickdegenaar.bsky.social · 04/12/2025
It was wonderful to give a talk today on Engineering the Brain at the Banerjee lab Christmas Symposium in Oxford University. @nclengineering.bsky.social
Patrick gives talk on brain engineering
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Prof. Patrick Degenaar @patrickdegenaar.bsky.social · 29/11/2025
Really proud that our (heavily delayed by COVID) groundbreaking method to improve the lifetime of optoelectronic implants by 100-fold has been published in IEEE Transactions on Biomedical Engineering. eprints.ncl.ac.uk/308760 ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/112... @nclengineering.bsky.social
This image shows the concept of implantable optoelectronic devices for epilepsy and visual prosthesis. A sub-image shows the electric fields between key sub-components of the brain interface within the encapsulation layer. It is these electric fields that are responsible for degradation mechanisms.
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Prof. Patrick Degenaar @patrickdegenaar.bsky.social · 24/11/2025
It is wonderful to see gene therapy in action. In this case, a boy's stem cells were modified to carry a missing gene, enabling them to produce an essential enzyme. It is further evidence for exciting frontier treatments such as optogenetic neural prostheses. www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
bbc.co.uk
Hunter syndrome: Boy with rare condition amazes doctors after world-first gene therapy
Oliver has an inherited condition called Hunter syndrome, which causes progressive damage to the body and brain.
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Prof. Patrick Degenaar @patrickdegenaar.bsky.social · 20/11/2025
It is great to see Our latest paper from PhD Student Cong Ma on "FEM Optimization of 3D Abiotic Glucose Fuel Cells for Implantable Medical Devices" hit the front cover of the Prosthesis Magazine 😀 www.mdpi.com/journal/pros... @nclengineering.bsky.social
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Prof. Patrick Degenaar @patrickdegenaar.bsky.social · 20/11/2025
Our first snowman for the 2025-2026 academic year @nclengineering.bsky.social
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Prof. Patrick Degenaar @patrickdegenaar.bsky.social · 16/11/2025
Great to see Newcastle involved in this trial: www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
bbc.co.uk
North East epilepsy brain implant trial gives ‘bit of hope’
Adam Atkinson has an implant in his brain which is tracking the seizures he experiences.
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Prof. Patrick Degenaar @patrickdegenaar.bsky.social · 09/11/2025
The Jesmond Dene in Newcastle is lovely at any time of year. But this year, the Autumn leaf fall has been particularly beautiful. Well worth a visit if you are a transient visitor or student in Newcastle city.
Jesmond Dene waterfall in Autumn
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Prof. Patrick Degenaar @patrickdegenaar.bsky.social · 04/11/2025
Super excited to finally get my DGX Spark AI workstationb(Yay 😁)..... only to realise all tge ports are usbc-c and my keyboards are not... Doh.. will have to wait another day or two to play with it..🫩
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Prof. Patrick Degenaar @patrickdegenaar.bsky.social · 31/10/2025
www.ncl.ac.uk/press/articl... Wonderful to be part of this fun project! Body powered implants!! 😀
ncl.ac.uk
New project to transform implantable medical devices
New £2.1 million GLUTRONICS project aims to revolutionise implantable medical devices with a transformative technology that harnesses power from glucose in the body.
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Prof. Patrick Degenaar @patrickdegenaar.bsky.social · 21/10/2025
A PhD opportunity in Trustworthy AI systems for Pervasive Healthcare! Application deadline 14th November www.ncl.ac.uk/postgraduate...
ncl.ac.uk
Search for Postgraduate Scholarships and Other Funding
Search scholarships and funding for postgraduate study at Newcastle University. Find financial support tailored to your course and eligibility.
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Prof. Patrick Degenaar @patrickdegenaar.bsky.social · 21/10/2025
Well done to my PhD student Cong Ma who has published his first paper on "Optimising the Design of Implantable Fuel Cells" www.preprints.org/manuscript/2..., which is part of an EPSRC funded Glutronics project.
An image of implantable fuels and what type of implant they can power - essentially, they are feasible for low-power systems up to and including cardiac pacemakers.
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Prof. Patrick Degenaar @patrickdegenaar.bsky.social · 17/10/2025
It was great to host a fact-finding delegation from South East University, China this week. I was proud to be able to show the standard of our teaching and research here at Newcastle. SEU is a great place. Looking forward to the reciprocal visit.
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Prof. Patrick Degenaar @patrickdegenaar.bsky.social · 14/10/2025
It's great to have a visiting fact-finding delegation from EEE at South-East University China. Proud to show how we do things here at Newcastle.
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Prof. Patrick Degenaar @patrickdegenaar.bsky.social · 09/10/2025
youtube.com/watch?v=gS4r... Great to see progress on robot hands - it's the final piece in the research puzzle before we all get robot butler.
youtube.com
What's in a humanoid hand? | Boston Dynamics
YouTube video by Boston Dynamics
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Prof. Patrick Degenaar @patrickdegenaar.bsky.social · 27/09/2025
Newcastle is a wonderfully friendly and welcoming city. So today I was especially delighted to see thousands of ordinary Geordies show up to prevent a few hundred far-right hooligans from giving the city a bad name.
Image of peaceful counter demonstrators preventing far right thugs from entering the main square.
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Prof. Patrick Degenaar @patrickdegenaar.bsky.social · 25/09/2025
I reviewed this fascinating piece of work today at TU Delft. Dutch PhD vivas are somewhat different in format to here in the UK. But in the end it is the quality of the candidate that matters. And happy to say he passed my thorough grilling. 😁
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Prof. Patrick Degenaar @patrickdegenaar.bsky.social · 25/09/2025
It was wonderful to give my lecture on "Responsible Use of AI for Engineers" to our new MSc cohort today. A great bunch! and we had fun going through the tools together!
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Prof. Patrick Degenaar @patrickdegenaar.bsky.social · 17/06/2025
hoppingsfunfairs.com University life can be fun as well as work! From Friday, Newcastle will host its giant funfair called "The Hoppings", a yearly activity dating back to medieval times.
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Prof. Patrick Degenaar @patrickdegenaar.bsky.social · 17/06/2025
ugrf.nu.edu.eg My Egyptian friends at Nile University have opened a junior research competition with the theme: “Young Minds, Global Vibes”
ugrf.nu.edu.eg
Home page | UGRF - Undergraduate Research Forum
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Prof. Patrick Degenaar @patrickdegenaar.bsky.social · 17/06/2025
Great to have Jason from Synopsys here in @nclengineering.bsky.social to give a seminar on their RTL Synthesis tool
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Prof. Patrick Degenaar @patrickdegenaar.bsky.social · 06/03/2025
Equality has unfortunately become unfashionable in some quarters these days. But we absolutely need to inspire the next generation. It was wonderful to read about this collection of female engineers and their contributions to our collective wealth. www.electronicdesign.com/resources/in...
electronicdesign.com
Celebrating Women Engineers and Their Lasting Legacies
Discover the women who are shaping the future with groundbreaking innovations and inspiring leadership.
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Prof. Patrick Degenaar @patrickdegenaar.bsky.social · 18/02/2025
We have very exciting job posts as part of a collaboration between Oxford, Bath, Sheffield and Newcastle to build a new type of implantable fuel cell for medical devices. Newcastle: jobs.ncl.ac.uk/job/Newcastl... Bath: www.bath.ac.uk/jobs/FM12468 Sheffield: www.jobs.ac.uk/job/DLJ247/r...
jobs.ncl.ac.uk
Research Assistant/Associate in Biomedical Microsystem Design
Research Assistant/Associate in Biomedical Microsystem Design
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Prof. Patrick Degenaar @patrickdegenaar.bsky.social · 17/02/2025
If you fancy getting involved in developing an implantable fuel cells, we have some opportunities! the first is for excellent chemical engineers at the lab of Mirella Di Lorenzo - my Bath collaborator on our Vampires project. www.bath.ac.uk/jobs/Vacancy...
bath.ac.uk
FM12468 Research Associate in Electrocatalysis for Glucose Fuel Cells - Jobs at Bath
Research Associate
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Prof. Patrick Degenaar @patrickdegenaar.bsky.social · 13/02/2025
It was wonderful to have a visit from Prof. Jong Mo Seo, Seoul National University to here in Newcastle. He gave a great talk on retinal prosthetics and we had lots of fun playing with our femtosecond super-laser!
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Prof. Patrick Degenaar @patrickdegenaar.bsky.social · 02/02/2025
Great to see the Chinese New Year festivities today in Newcastle. It is an interesting image together with the Irish Centre. Both communities actually have historical overlap from the 1840s and co-located in various UK, US cities.
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Prof. Patrick Degenaar @patrickdegenaar.bsky.social · 29/01/2025
www.youtube.com/watch?v=C-k4... Every year, the Chinese have a New Year gala on TV to celebrate the new year. This year, they did a joint show with humans and robots! It is still a few years away, but I'm looking forward to having a robot butler that does the dishes!
youtube.com
Dancing robots take the stage at China’s Spring Festival Gala performance
YouTube video by South China Morning Post
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Prof. Patrick Degenaar @patrickdegenaar.bsky.social · 28/01/2025
Daft panic over Deepseek. Two visions for AI: (1) AI that is operated by one or two cloud monopolies with total undemocratic control of the world's information. (2) Private efficient AI’s running on people’s devices under individual control. I prefer the latter! www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
bbc.co.uk
UK will not be able to resist China's tech dominance
China's AI success has come from policy and Chancellor Rachel Reeves's recent visit to China highlights the importance of a close relationship.
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Prof. Patrick Degenaar @patrickdegenaar.bsky.social · 28/01/2025
Great to see an adaptive DBS system implanted here in Newcastle: www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
bbc.co.uk
Sunderland Parkinson's patient 'feels cured' with new device
Kevin Hill, who has a computer in his chest linked to a brain implant, says he has his life back.
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Prof. Patrick Degenaar @patrickdegenaar.bsky.social · 25/01/2025
The Parkrun is one of the best pro-health institutions in the UK and it is FREE!!!. My local one in the Jesmond Dene is beautiful and the crowd is very supportive. They are all over the UK! www.parkrun.org.uk/events/
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Prof. Patrick Degenaar @patrickdegenaar.bsky.social · 24/01/2025
Holy Moly.. Politicians should not be interfering with science like this. www.nature.com/articles/d41...
nature.com
‘Never seen anything like this’: Trump’s team halts NIH meetings and travel
In an unprecedented move, research-grant reviews have been suspended indefinitely at the world’s largest public funder of biomedical research.
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