Shelley Fried, PhD, is the Director of the Neural Prosthetic Research Laboratory and an Associate Professor in the Department of Neurosurgery at the Massachusetts General Hospital. His research focuses on the interactions between artificial stimulation (delivered mostly by implantable prostheses) and neurons of the CNS. Most of his work focuses on visual prostheses within the retina, thalamus, and primary visual cortex. His work strives to better understand fundamental principles of sensitivity to artificial stimulation with a focus on developing strategies to more effectively stimulate non-working portions of the CNS, i.e., better re-create the patterns of neural signaling that arise naturally in the healthy system. Current projects include visual prostheses efforts in the retina, lateral geniculate nucleus, and primary visual cortex, using stimulation modalities that include conventional microelectrodes, high-frequency stimulation, magnetic stimulation from microcoils, and optoacoustic stimulation. In addition to neural prostheses efforts, the lab also studies the spike initiation mechanism in retinal ganglion cells.