Camille Gontier | University of Pittsburgh

About Me

I am currently a Postdoctoral Associate at the University of Pittsburgh (US), working on human Brain-Computer Interfaces (BCIs) at the RNEL, on a Postdoc.Mobility grant from the Swiss National Science Foundation.

In 2025, I will start a tenured faculty position (ISFP) at the INRIA in Strasbourg (FR), working on closed-loop non-invasive neurostimulation.

I obtained my PhD in the Theoretical Neuroscience Lab of the University of Bern (CH): my main research topic was the development of statistical inference and Bayesian Active Learning methods, and their application to synaptic recordings.

In my previous life, I was an engineer in the space industry: I am currently the Chief Scientist of LIDE Space (a non-profit organizing parabolic flights for microgravity research), and successfully failed twice to become an astronaut. I remain fascinated by anything that flies and makes a lot of noise (to this, someone once answered “so you study, like, seagulls?” This question still haunts me).

I sometimes write on Stack Exchange, especially about statistics and academia.

My most up-to-date CV, code, and list of publications are available via the widgets on your left, under the photograph taken by Murphy Moschetta during a BCI demonstration in Pittsburgh.

Research Interests

I would define myself as a theoretical neuroscientist, with a keen interest for developing quantative solutions to biological problems. My main research interest is optimal closed-loop control, and its application to neuroscience:

I developed an efficient algorithm for closed-loop Bayesian Active Learning and applied it to synaptic inference during my PhD project (PLoS CB paper);
My current postdoc project is about the detection and correction on-the-fly of errors during motor control tasks with BCIs (COSYNE 2024 Poster);
Our INRIA team will work on efficient closed-loop neurostimulation and its application to cognitive disorders (INRIA team description).

On my free time, I also enjoy studying space sciences, and help with the organization of microgravity experiments (MGST paper on parabolic flights with gliders).

Teaching

University of Bern

Physiologie : Synapsen und Regelkreise
Physiologie-Praktikum : Okulomotorik und Vestibularapparat
Introduction to biological and computational learning