Restoring the Brain: Breakthroughs in Recovery and Neuroplasticity

Enhancing Neuroplasticity: Translating Vagus Nerve Stimulation into Human Recovery

Topic: Breakthroughs in neuroscience often feel distant- something happening in research labs far removed from everyday life. But at UT Dallas, a team of neuroscientists, biomedical engineers, and clinicians has spent more than a decade turning a powerful idea into reality: using the body’s own neural systems to drive targeted recovery after injury.

In this talk, Dr. Wigginton will share how the Texas Biomedical Device Center pioneered a new neuroplasticity paradigm called closed-loop vagus nerve stimulation (CLV), a technology that pairs brief bursts of stimulation with specific actions, such as movement or therapeutic exposure, to strengthen the brain’s ability to rewire itself. This approach has now demonstrated meaningful recovery in patients with stroke, spinal cord injury, and PTSD, and was recently highlighted in Nature. She will also provide an inside look at how breakthrough technologies move from concept to clinical use, including the scientific, regulatory, and human challenges along the way, and how this work, happening right here in Richardson, is helping restore function and independence for patients in North Texas.

Bio: Dr. Jane Wigginton is a board-certified physician in both Emergency Medicine and Lifestyle Medicine, with more than 25 years of experience practicing in one of the busiest emergency departments in the country. Her frontline clinical work has shaped her commitment to advancing therapies that not only treat injury, but restore function and independence for patients facing neurological challenges.

As Chief Medical Officer of the Texas Biomedical Device Center at The University of Texas at Dallas, Dr. Wigginton leads the clinical and translational advancement of neuromodulation technologies designed to enhance recovery after stroke, spinal cord injury, and post-traumatic stress disorder. Over the past decade, she has played a central role in translating vagus nerve stimulation (VNS) from laboratory discovery into human clinical trials, helping to pioneer a breakthrough approach known as closed-loop VNS (CLV), which uses the body’s own neural systems to drive targeted recovery after injury.

Dr. Wigginton brings extensive experience as a clinical trialist and regulatory leader, having served as principal investigator or co-investigator on numerous NIH- and DARPA-funded studies and leading multiple FDA investigational device and drug programs. Her work has contributed to a growing body of evidence supporting targeted neuroplasticity as a transformative approach to neurological recovery, including recent findings published in Nature.

An accomplished international speaker and long-standing leader within the American Heart Association, Dr. Wigginton is first author of the 2025 Advanced Life Support Guidelines. She is passionate about bridging scientific innovation with real-world application, ensuring that advances developed in North Texas translate into meaningful improvements in peoples’ lives.

Connect with Jane Wigginton, MD, MSCS on LinkedIn!

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