Neuropixels Developer James Jun Joins CCB’s Numerical Algorithm Group

Jun will split his time between the Flatiron Institute and Ken Shepard’s lab at Columbia University. He brings expertise on neural spike sorting and probe engineering for electrophysiology. Jun received his Ph.D. in applied physics from the University of Ottawa, where he developed techniques for the reliable and precise measurement of physiological signals from freely behaving animals. By applying these techniques, he uncovered the novel role of active sensing during voluntary movements and spatial navigation.

Prior to joining the Simons Foundation he worked as a postdoctoral associate at the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Janelia Research Campus and participated in the Neuropixels consortium, which developed large-scale, all-integrated silicon probe recording systems. Jun engineered surgical implantation procedures, a recording system and the data-analysis pipeline to guide key design choices in the development of Neuropixels probes.  He is the lead author on the Neuropixels project paper published by Nature in November 2017, which was described in this story from the Simons Collaboration on the Global Brain.