John Krakauer

John Krakauer is a John C. Malone Professor and Professor of Neurology, Neuroscience, and Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation at Johns Hopkins University, where he directs the Brain, Learning, Animation, and Movement Lab (BLAM Lab). He is also an External Professor at the Santa Fe Institute.

After more than a decade contributing to research at the Champalimaud Foundation (CF) as a visiting scientist in motor control and motor learning, John is now Director of the Centre for Restorative Neurotechnology (CRN).

In this interview, John shares the story and vision of this ambitious project, a space where futuristic discoveries and treatments are already in motion.
 

Can you tell us how it all started?

Well, the project's progress was very organic and actually its initial conception predates me. 
Joe [Paton] had written a white paper with a plan focusing on the roles of artificial intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML) in driving the next scientific discoveries and the opportunity these tools represented for CF. His vision was to expand the Champalimaud Neuroscience Programme to a new space hosting scientists and engineers to improve computational models and explore new experimental and clinical applications.

When Joe became Director of Champalimaud Research, I had already been coming to CF for ten years as a visiting scientist and fairly early Joe wanted me to get involved in this project. So, I suggested a kind of pivot towards human neuroscience with digital therapeutics, tracking and treating behaviour through technology. Having done behavioural neuroscience in humans, and knowing that behaviour is another way to have an effect on the nervous system, I believed this new direction was important. This addition not only enriched the initial concept, but it was also well aligned with CF's medical mission.

After lots and lots of discussions, we conceived a place that unites basic neuroscience, technology, and medicine. This unique environment makes it possible to add the human dimension to the neuroscience being conducted in animals.
 

The project has taken different shapes. What is the CRN today? 

The Centre for Restorative Neurotechnology (CRN) is an ecosystem of three programmes that work together, each representing a key activity: a research division, an R&D hub, and a clinical practice.

The Neuroscience of Disease Programme is dedicated to the study of human behaviour in health and disease. This is an academic division, which mirrors and was inspired by the very successful Champalimaud Neuroscience Programme, and is composed of scientists, engineers and clinicians.    

The Neurotechnology Warehouse is a behaviour and technology-focused innovation space for developing new research, instruments for making discoveries, and ultimately, novel therapies. We envisage a symbiotic relationship between animal and human-based research, creating a testing ground to ask questions like: “Can we make robotic twins of model organisms?”, “How can we use generative AI and 3D motion tracking to build new immersive exergames for neurological disease?", or  “How can we use VR to build new therapies for psychiatric illness?” 

Finally, the Digital Neurotherapeutics Clinic is where patients will take part in pilot studies, enter clinical trials, and receive digital therapies. Both the Clinic and the Warehouse function as laboratories for conducting human neuroscience. The Warehouse provides a setting for invention and investigation, while the Clinic offers a space for trials and patient treatment.
 

What are Digital Therapeutics (DTx) ?

DTx is not a term we invented. It's been around for a while with differing usage but the basic idea was to have an evidence-based digital approach to medicine. In simple words, a digital drug. 
My interest in DTx resides in its ability to be a treatment: “Wouldn't it be great if there were a place dedicated to behavioural assessment, and to treatments that are as good as pharmacological ones?” This means that we need trials to gather evidence and ensure regulatory compliance for prescribability. So, DTx really is a non-pharmacological approach to treatment.
 

What is your own experience with them?

When I moved from Columbia to Johns Hopkins University (Hopkins), I got an important grant from the McDonnell Foundation to conduct a double study. The first was to explore multiple modalities to track recovery after stroke, using brain imaging, non-invasive brain stimulation, psychophysics, and clinical measures. Once this was done, the second phase was coming up with a new treatment, and this is when the Bandit – a simulated dolphin used in a rehabilitative game – was created.

This new technology led to an entrepreneurial journey, with the formation of a company at Hopkins, declaration of IP, spin-out, and acquisition by Mindmaze, a Swiss-based unicorn, while still based in Baltimore off-site from Hopkins. We have done a number of trials, and scaled it. It's actually being used as a clinical tool now. It was an interesting sequence of experiences, navigating from an idea, to the science, to the startup, to the acquisition.
 

Is there a plan to bring the dolphin to CF?

Absolutely! We'd like to bring it into the Clinic and offer it as a treatment. As for the Warehouse, we'd like to build on it and imagine new immersive games, using full-body motion capture. 

Along the same line of technology with motion capture capabilities, we are also building a Smart Kitchen. This is a collaboration with Alexander Mathis, from the Swiss Polytechnical School of Lausanne, to use motion capture for analysing and quantifying everyday movements in a natural setting. The kitchen is a perfect space for this because it’s where people perform so many skilled, real-world tasks. The goal is to measure the quality of movement – almost like a kinematic biopsy of daily life. While occupational therapy focuses on treatment, helping people with neurological injuries reintegrate into life skills, we are using the Smart Kitchen as a tool to assess recovery progress. Right now, we are prioritising measurement, but I can see it evolving into both a treatment and an evaluation system.
 

Earlier you mentioned that the Warehouse is an R&D hub, can you expand on this?

We have designed The Neurotechnology Warehouse to bridge research and development – two distinct but complementary processes. Research will remain curiosity-driven, focused on exploring questions about health and disease. Development, on the other hand, will concentrate on advancing technology itself: improving motion capture systems, refining robotics, and creating tools that can translate research into practical applications.

This work will be led by core teams – specialists in immersive systems, software and hardware, and digital surgery. Their role isn’t about publishing papers but about mastering technology, pushing its limits, and exploring its potential for innovation. The goal is to develop prototypes, refine them, and, when appropriate, collaborate with industry partners to take promising ideas further.

The Warehouse won’t manufacture or sell products directly, but it will serve as a space for testing and collaboration. Companies can bring new technologies – whether VR systems, wearables, or other tools – to be evaluated under real-world conditions, with healthy subjects or in early-phase trials. If something proves viable, it could be licensed or spun out for further development.
Over time, we may also host startups or resident companies within the space, creating a dynamic environment where research, development, and industry can interact. The focus remains on prototyping, refining, and enabling technology to move forward – whether through partnerships, spin-offs, or internal innovation.

What are the different challenges in building such a centre? 

Let me first say that CF offers fertile ground for this kind of work. Smaller institutions have the flexibility to pursue new research directions, and Portugal’s tech talent and culture add to that advantage. Having a dedicated space such as the Warehouse – seven thousand square meters – is a rare opportunity, and I think the Board of the Foundation have been prescient and bold in supporting and believing in this new direction. 

That said, it is always a challenge to bring something “new”, while respecting the “old”. 
With the CRN, the novelty lies not only in its structure, but also in its content: digital therapeutics are still a rather new technology which we need to introduce to our different audiences, and which the scientific community still needs to embrace. What we are trying to do is intrinsically difficult: coming up with disease-modifying or behaviour-changing interventions. 

Then, of course, you have the reality of the financial challenges, also considering the relatively small but growing local philanthropic culture. Beyond renovations and equipment, funding is essential for attracting and hiring the right professionals and building a strong community. For example, we are very happy to be welcoming a new Principal Investigator from Imperial College London to the research division of the CRN!
 

You were recently announced as Director of the CRN, the first groups moved into the Warehouse a few weeks ago, the Clinic is being set up. How do you feel? 

This is just the beginning, but I am very excited. It is great to see the plan in motion and to witness that our perseverance is paying off. I am particularly looking forward to some of our initial projects, to present their first results, and seeing them advance.
For example, we are working on patient studies of freezing of gait in Parkinson’s Disease using our large immersive motion-capture room, on a VR-based treatment of obsessive-compulsive disorder, and on next-gen whole-body video games for neurorehabilitation. We are also developing robotic hand devices for hand paralysis, and trying to synthetically reconstruct the hierarchical organisation of the sensorimotor system to uncover its nested computational principles.

The time has come to crystallise all these ideas, turn the crank, and see what outcomes emerge.

Interview by Thaïs Lindemann, Neurotechnology Liaison Officer in Communication, Events and Outreach team, and in the CRN Coordination team at the Champalimaud Foundation.