Meet Blue Sky Fellows at Cambridge NeuroWorks

Meet Jonathan Fisher – Blue Sky Fellow at Cambridge NeuroWorks 

After witnessing his father’s struggle with Parkinson’s Disease, Jonathan Fisher was inspired to develop Peter — a wearable biomedical device designed to help people with Parkinson’s walk again. An award-winning designer with a background in consumer electronics, Jonathan holds a BSc in Product Design from Brunel University London and an MPhil in Industrial Systems, Manufacture and Management from the University of Cambridge.

Now a Blue Sky Fellow, Jonathan is working on a non-invasive and automatic treatment to improve mobility for people with Parkinson’s. His work focuses on detecting and overcoming Freezing of Gait using real-time gait monitoring to enhance quality of life for people like his father. He's also exploring whether gait markers could help uncover more about neurological conditions - and asking, what if the real solution lies somewhere unexpected?

“The fellowship gives me the space, support and structure to test those big unknowns. I’ve spent the past six months developing Peter, and this next phase will help me rapidly test, adapt, and keep moving forward. I’m incredibly grateful for the opportunity to push this idea further and see where it leads.”

Meet Liam Collins-Jones – Blue Sky Fellow at Cambridge NeuroWorks 

Liam was inspired into neurotechnology research by his fascination with the physics behind how it all works. His previous research as a PhD student and Research Fellow at University College London focused on developing methods to study the baby brain. This got him interested in times of life when the brain undergoes substantial changes in structure and how it works, and he now wants to apply his skills to support those with dementia.

As a Blue Sky Fellow, Liam is exploring an ambitious idea: to develop a wearable brain imaging device capable of measuring key dementia biomarkers in point-of-care settings. Currently, there is no quantitative, portable, and easy-to-implement method to diagnose and monitor the progression of Alzheimer’s disease. Using principles of biomedical optics, Liam aims to change that - and is asking what if physics and engineering can be pushed even further to transform dementia care?

“I’m motivated to push physics and engineering principles to their absolute limit to improve quality of care for patients, which is highly aligned to the ethos of Cambridge NeuroWorks. I want to explore ambitious ideas that can have a huge positive impact for society but which are more speculative than what’s typically funded in the current academic landscape. I want to try, I want to fail, I want to learn from how I fail, and I want my work to benefit society.”

Meet Kamila Jozwik – Blue Sky Fellow at Cambridge NeuroWorks

Kamila is a cognitive computational neuroscientist whose work has focused on visuo-semantic representations of vision, contributing to our understanding of face and object recognition. She combines experimental approaches - including behavioural tasks, brain imaging (fMRI and M/EEG), and electrophysiology (through collaborations) - with computational modelling, with a special interest in biologically-inspired deep learning. She plans to extend her research in vision to mental health and integrate focused ultrasound stimulation into her work. In earlier research, Kamila used genomics, proteomics, and molecular biology techniques.

As a Blue Sky Fellow, Kamila is exploring two ideas: using topographical AI models to test predictions in neurotechnology, and applying generative AI to support exposure therapy in mental health. 

“I wanted to explore and challenge my ideas, benefiting from the expertise of clinical, engineering, industry, and the wider neurotech communities. I also wanted to form interesting collaborations along the way.”

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