The Grainger College of Engineering
Siebel School of Computing and Data Science

Yurii Vlasov

Yurii Vlasov
Yurii Vlasov
Professor, Electrical and Computer Engineering
(217) 300-1870
1250 Nick Holonyak Jr. Micro and Nanotechnology Laboratory

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Education

  • MS (Biophysics) 1988, University of St.-Petersburg, Russia
  • PhD (Physics) 1994, Ioffe Institute of Physics and Technology, St.-Petersburg, Russia

Biography

Dr. Yurii Vlasov is a John Bardeen Endowed Chair in Electrical and Computer Engineering and Physics at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. He is tenured with the departments of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Physics, Materials Science and Engineering, and Bio-Engineering, as well as Carle Illinois College of Medicine. At the UIUC he established the Integrated Neurotechnology lab devoted to development of advanced engineering approaches aimed at reverse engineering of the brain circuits. The major themes include development of silicon-based nanofluidic and nanophotonic neural probes, in-vivo neurobiological experiments with massive recording and manipulation of brain activity, and, lastly, development of machine-learning algorithms to analyze large neural datasets.

Prior to joining the UIUC in 2016, Dr. Vlasov held various research and managerial positions at the IBM T.J. Watson Research Center in N.Y. where he led broad company-wide efforts in integrated silicon nanophotonics and more recently in neuromorphic computing architectures. He initiated the Silicon Nanophotonics project in 2001 and managed it for over 15 years from its early fundamental research stage up to commercial manufacturing of optical transceivers for large-scale datacenters and supercomputers. The technology has been fully qualified and deployed for commercial production at GlobalFoundries.

Prior to joining IBM in 2001, Dr. Vlasov developed semiconductor nanophotonics at the N.E.C. Research Institute in Princeton, N.J. and at the Strasbourg IPCMS Institute in France. For over a decade, he was also a Research Scientist with the Ioffe Institute of Physics and Technology in St. Petersburg, Russia working on optics of nanostructured semiconductors. He received his M.S. from the University of St. Petersburg (1988) and Ph.D from the Ioffe Institute (1994), both in physics.

Dr. Vlasov is a member of the National Academy of Engineering and a Fellow of the APS, the IEEE, and the OSA. He has published over 300 papers, filed over 100 patents, and delivered over 100 invited, plenary and tutorial talks. He received the IBM CEO Corporate Award, the Best of IBM Award, and several IBM Outstanding Technical Achievement Awards, as well as was named Scientist of the Year by the Scientific American journal. Dr. Vlasov and his work has been covered in numerous major newspapers, including New York Times, Forbes, Wall Street Journal, and others. It has been featured on television news programs including The Tonight Show, ABC, CBS, etc. It has also been highlighted in review columns on Science Daily, Scientific American Journal, New Scientist, etc.

Academic Positions

  • 2021- current, John Bardeen Endowed Chair, Electrical Engineering and Physics
  • 2024 - current, Professor, Siebel School of Computer and Data Science
  • 2025-2026 Head of Engineering, Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, BioHub Chicago
  • 2021-2022 Director, Holonyak Micro and Nanotechnology Laboratory
  • 2016 - 2021, GEBI Founder Professor, Electrical and Computer Engineering
  • 2016 - current, Inaugural Professor, Carle Illinois College of Medicine
  • 2016 - current, Professor, Department of BioEngineering
  • 2016 - current, Beckman Institute for Advanced Science and Technology
  • 2016 - current, Professor, Neuroscience Program
  • 2016 - current, Professor, Department of Materials Science and Engineering
  • 2007-2008, Adjunct Professor, ECE Department, Columbia University

Other Professional Employment

  • 2026 - current, visiting Professor, University College London, UK
  • 2013- 2018 Senior Fellow, HHMI Janelia Farm Research Campus, VA
  • 2001-2016 Manager and Principal Research Staff Member, IBM, Yorktown, NY
  • 1998- 2001 Scientist N.E.C. Research Institute, Princeton, NJ
  • 1997-1998 Postdoctoral Scientist, Institute of Materials (IPCMS), Strasburg, France 
  • 1988-1998 Research Scientist, Ioffe Institute of Physics and Technology, Russia

Major Consulting Activities

  • 2017-2020 Scientific Advisory Council, Argonne National Laboratory

Professional Registrations

  • NAE Member 2021
  • IEEE Fellow 2015
  • APS Fellow 2007
  • OSA Fellow 2006

Professional Highlights

Resident Instruction

Course Development

  • ECE421 "Neural Interface Engineering", novel course for engineers, bioengineers, biologists listed across ECE, BioEng, CS, Biology, Neurosci
  • BSE 634 "Clinical Neuroscience", as Engineering Co-Director for newly established Carle Illinois College of Medicine
  • ECE 442 "Silicon Photonics"

Short Courses

  • SC466 Short course Silicon Integrated Photonics CLEO/QELS conference 2018-2021

Research Statement

Research Statement We aim to uncover the basic principles of brain computations that form the basis of perception and guide complex behavior. Our vision is to integrate engineering, systems neuroscience, and data analytics to advance our knowledge of inner working of the brain. Correspondingly, the interdisciplinary projects in the lab can be categorized into three main threads: Neuro-engineering, Neuro-biology, and Neuro-informatics. Neuro-engineering is focused on developing advanced neural probes to interrogate and manipulate the brain using nanotechnology approaches. These novel tools are used in Neuro-biology experiments to record massive datasets of brain activity in live animals during active navigation in virtual reality. Development of machine learning analytical methods in Neuro-informatics thread provides insight into functionality of neural circuits and systems.

Research Interests

  • Neuroengineering, Integrated neural probes, neurophotonics, Brain-machine interface, Virtual Reality systems
  • Neurobiology, Experimental systems neuroscience, Hierarchical information processing in cortical networks
  • Neuroinformatics, Machine learning, dimensionality reduction, network dynamics

Research Areas

Selected Articles in Journals

Articles in Conference Proceedings

  • Talks at conferences and symposia in total > 200 including >100 invited, plenary, tutorials.
  • Capillary electrophoresis mass spectrometry and a localized nanodialysis platform for chemical profiling of a neuromuscular model, Ashley E. Lenhart, Christopher K. Brenden, Hyegi Min, Weihua Shi, Keyin Li, Rashid Bashir, Yurii Vlasov, Jonathan V. Sweedler, ASMS 2026
  • Integrated Photonic Meta Beam-Shaper For Single-Neuron Optogenetic Interrogation, Hrishikesh T Iyer and Yurii Vlasov, Optica Biophotonics congress, 2025
  • Psychometric characteristics of decision-making during natural whisker-guided navigation in a tactile virtual reality, Suyang Zhang & Yurii Vlasov, Society for Neuroscience Annual Meeting 2025
  • Chemical profiling of neuromuscular junctions using a silicon microdialysis platform and mass spectrometry, Ashley E. Lenhart, Christopher K. Brenden, Keyin Li, Hyegi Min, Rashid Bashir, Shana O. Kelley, Yurii Vlasov, Jonathan V. Sweedler, PittCON 2025
  • Nano-dialysis probes for ultra-localized and multiplexed monitoring of brain neurochemicals, Weihua Shi*, Keyin Li*, Alex Armstrong, Miles Guo, Garima Gupta, Hrishikesh Iyer, Akshit Maharajan, Jacky Xiang, Jonathon Sweedler & Yurii Vlasov, Society for Neuroscience Annual Meeting 2025
  • A silicon nanodialysis probe coupled with ZipChip CE-MS enables localized in vivo sampling for brain chemistry monitoring, Keyin Li, Weihua Shi, Yu Ding, Alex Armstrong, Stanislav Rubakhin, Yurii Vlasov, Jonathan Sweedler*, ASMS 2024
  • A silicon nanodialysis probe coupled with mass spectrometry enables localized in vivo sampling for monitoring neurotransmitters and neuropeptides, Keyin Li, Weihua Shi, Yu Ding, Alex Armstrong, Yurii Vlasov, Jonathan Sweedler*, Society for Neuroscience Annual Meeting 2024
  • Perceptual decision-making correlates in primary somatosensory cortex, Alex Armstrong, Yurii Vlasov, Society for Neuroscience Annual Meeting 2024
  • Fast Dynamics of sensory cortical networks during active perceptual decision making inferred from massive spiking datasets, Alex Armstrong, Alex Schwing, Yurii Vlasov*, AREADNE, Research in Encoding And Decoding of Neural Ensembles (2024)
  • Waveguide-fed Metasurfaces for High NA Focusing at Ultrashort Distances, H. T. Iyer and Y. Vlasov,  CLEO 2024,
  • Ultra-localized in-vivo profiling of brain neurochemistry with silicon integrated nanodialysis platform during epileptic cortical seizures , Weihua Shi, Keyin Li, Yu Ding, Alex Armstrong, Jonathan Sweedler, and Yurii Vlasov, Miniaturized Systems for Chemistry and Life Sciences (micro-TAS) 2024 – postdeadline
  • “Single-mode Integrated Out-of-plane Meta Beam Shaper for Optogenetics Neurostimulation, H. T. Iyer and Y. Vlasov,  Conference on Lasers and Electro-Optics (CLEO), May 2023
  • Single-mode integrated out-of-plane meta beam shaper, H. Iyer and Y. A. Vlasov,  High Contrast Metastructures XII, SPIE, Mar. 2023
  • Miniaturized Silicon Platform for Localized Sampling and Attomole Level Neuro-chemistry Measurement, Weihua Shi, Keyin Li, Alex Armstrong, Yu Ding, Chris Kenji Brenden, Hrishikesh Iyer, Sara Bell, Jonathan Sweedler, Yurii Vlasov*, MicroFIP 2023 oral presentation
  • Silicon droplet microfluidic platform for highly localized in-vivo sampling and attomole level detection of neurochemicals with MALDI-MS, Weihua Shi, Keyin Li, Alex Armstrong, Yu Ding, Chris Kenji Brenden, Hrishikesh Iyer, Sara Bell, Jonathan Sweedler, Yurii Vlasov*, BRAIN Initiative Annual Meeting, 2023
  • Single-mode integrated out-of-plane meta beam shaper for optogenetics neurostimulation. Hrishikesh Iyer, Yurii Vlasov. SPIE Photonics West, 2022
  • Silicon nanodyalisys probe for in-vivo localized sampling and monitoring of brain chemistry, Weihua Shi, Keyin Li, Alex Armstrong, Yu Ding, Chris Kenji Brenden, Hrishikesh Iyer, Jonathan Sweedler, Yurii Vlasov*, BMES 2023 oral presentation
  • High frequency whisker vibrations encode texture through temporally precise firing in the cortex, Yu Ding, Yurii Vlasov Society for Neuroscience Annual Meeting 2023
  • Millisecond precision firing in VPMdm triggered by whisker microvibrations, Yu Ding, Yurii Vlasov Barrels 2023
  • Temporal coding of sensory cues via dispersive high-frequency vibrational modes in rodent’s vibrissae, Yu Ding, Yurii Vlasov Barrels 2022 Society for Neuroscience Annual Meeting 2022
  • Single-whisker dependent active ethological navigation paradigm for studying sensory-processing in head-fixed mice in virtual reality. A. G. Armstrong, K. Hu,Y. Vlasov, Society for Neuroscience Annual Meeting, 2022
  •  Temporal coding of sensory cues pre-processed via dispersive high-frequency vibrational modes in rodent’s vibrissae, Yu Ding, Y. Vlasov, Society for Neuroscience Annual Meeting, 2022
  • Efficient Electrochemical Sensor Integrated into Silicon Microfluidic Channel to Prevent Biofouling, Brenden C, Zhang Y, Kim S, Iyer H, Shi W, Vlasov Y. Miniaturized Systems for Chemistry and Life Sciences, microTAS 2021, (poster W4B-579.f)
  • Cortical processing dynamics during sensory-guided behavior using a tactile virtual-reality task, A. Armstrong , K. Hu, Y. Vlasov, Society for Neuroscience Annual Meeting, 2021
  • Silicon Microfluidic Chip for Generation and Electrodeposition of Picoliter Dropelts for Mass Spectrometry, Shi W, Bell S, Zhang Y, Kim S, Iyer H, Brenden C, et al.. Miniaturized Systems for Chemistry and Life Sciences, microTAS 2021 (oral M1C3-2)
  • On-chip Droplet-Microfluidics Electrospray Enabling Phase Separation for Neurochemical Sensing, Zhang Y, Shi W, Park I, Kim S, Brenden C, Iyer H et al, Biomedical Engineering Society Meeting, BMES 2020
  • Integrated Silicon Chip Enabling Phase Separation and Electrospray of Picoliter Droplets for Mass Spectrometry Zhang Y, Zhao Y, Shi W, Iyer H, Kim S, Park I, et al. Miniaturized Systems for Chemistry and Life Sciences, microTAS 2021 (oral M1C3-1)
  • Droplet-assisted Phase Separation by Integrated silicon electrospray nano-emitter for neurochemical sensing. Yan Zhang, Weihua Shi, Insu Park, Sungho Kim, Christopher Brenden, Hrishikesh Iyer, Prasoon Jha, Rashid Bashir, Yurii Vlasov, Miniaturized Systems for Chemistry and Life Sciences (micro-TAS 2020)
  • Off-line Matrix Assisted Laser Desorption/Ionization-Mass Spectrometry of Microfluidic Droplets for Neurochemical Detection, Sara Bell, Stanislav Rubakhin, Insu Park, Jonathan Sweedler, Rashid Bashir, Yurii Vlasov, PITTCON (Pittsburgh Conference on Analytical Chemistry and Applied Spectroscopy) 2020
  • Nanoelectrospray Ionization Mass Spectrometry Detection of Neurotransmitters in Ultra-small Volume Microfluidic Droplet, Yaoyao Zhao, Insu Park, Jonathan Sweedler, Rashid Bashir, Stanislav Rubakhin, Yurii Vlasov, PITTCON 2020
  • Unsupervised Discovery of Dynamic Neural Circuits, C. Graber, R. Loh, Y.Vlasov, A.Schwing, NeurIPS Neuro-AI Workshop (2019)
  • Optimization of Droplet Microfluidics for In Vivo Sampling and Analysis of Neurotransmitters, Insu Park, Jonathan Sweedler, Rashid Bashir, Sara Bell, Stanislav Rubakhin, Yaoyao Zao, Yurii Vlasov, PITTCON 2020
  • Discovery of dynamic functional connectivity of cortical networks, C. Graber, R. Loh, Y.Vlasov, A.Schwing, Society for Neuroscience (2019)
  • Picoliter droplet generation for fast monitoring of brain chemistry with scaled silicon nanodyalisis probe,  Yan Zhang, Ari Esters, Oscar Bi, and Yurii Vlasov, Transducers 2019 - EUROSENSORS XXXIII, Solid-State Sensors, Actuators and Microsystems, 23-27 June 2019 - Berlin, Germany, oral presentation

Patents

  • In total over 100 patents in the areas of nanophotonics, CMOS manufacturing, photonics packaging, neuromorphic devices and systems, etc. , including issued (>65) and pending (>35).
  • Nanofluidic Capillary Electrophoresis device and method of fabrication, G. Gupta, Y. Vlasov,  US App US 63/814,896, 2025
  • High Numerical Aperture Waveguide-Integrated Beam Shaper, Hrishikesh Iyer, Yurii Vlasov, US App US19/197,470  2024
  • Implantable probes and methods of fabrication,, Yurii Vlasov, Yan Zhang, Christopher Kenji Brenden, Prasoon Kumar Jha, Yifei Yang, Sungho Kim, US12016687B2, June 25, 2024
  • Implantable probes and methods of fabrication Yan Zhang, Christopher Kenji Brenden, Prasoon Kumar Jha, Yifei Yang, Sungho Kim,, US App 63/042,856, 2020

Conferences Organized or Chaired

  • General Co-Chair, Quantum Electronics and Laser Science Conference, 2016
  • Program Co-Chair, Quantum Electronics and Laser Science Conference, 2015
  • Co-Founder of a novel programming area on ComputerCom in a major professional conference and industrial trade-show Optical Fiber Communications through a series of workshops (2008), special Symposia (2009, 2010) and finally a new Committee on Optics for Computercom and Data Centers (2011)
  • Member, Committee Optical Dispersion Compensation, Optical Fiber Communications, 2008-2009
  • Member, Organizing Committee, Nonlinear Optics, OSA Topical, Hawaii, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009
  • Member, Organizing Committee, Photonic Metamaterials: from Random to Periodic, OSA Topical Meeting, Jackson Hole, WA, 2007
  • Member, Advisory Committee, VII Symposium on Photonic and Electromagnetic Crystal Structures, Monterey, CA, 2007
  • Chair, Committee on Fundamentals of Metamaterials, Random and Periodic Media, CLEO/QELS 2006
  • Member, Organizing Committee, Photonic Metamaterials: from Random to Periodic, OSA Topical Meeting, Bahamas, 2006
  • Member, Organizing Committee, IEEE LEOS Annual Meeting, Sydney, Australia, October 2005.
  • Member, Advisory Committee, VI Symposium on Photonic and Electromagnetic Crystal Structures, NATO ASI, Crete, 2005
  • Member, Organizing Committee, Nanophotonics for Information Systems, OSA Topical, San Diego, 2005
  • Member, Organizing Committee, Fundamentals of Metamaterials, Random and Periodic Media, CLEO/QELS 2004, 2005
  • Member, Organizing Committee, OSA Topical meeting, Integrated Photonics Research, Washington 2004.
  • Member, Organizing Committee, Waves in Random and Periodic Media, CLEO/QELS 2003
  • Co-Chair, Holey fibers and photonic crystals, LEOS Summer Topical Meeting 2003
  • Chair, Symposium on Microphotonics - Materials and Applications, MRS Fall Meeting 2002
  • Member, Organizing Committee, Novel Optics and Photonic Crystals, CLEO/QELS 2000

Professional Societies

  • The Optical Society of America, Steering Committee, Quantum Electronics and Laser Science Conference, 2018
  • IEEE 100G Ethernet 802.3bm committee, standing member.

Service to Federal and State Government

  • Scientific Advisory Council, Argonne National Laboratory (2017-2020)
  • Reviewer, NIH BRAIN Initiative Review panels and Study sections (2015-current). ZNS1-SRB-G-13, ZNS1-SRB-G-21, ZEB1-OSR-F-M1, ZNS1-SRB-O-01, ZRG1 ETTN-B (50) R, BNVT, ZNS1-SRB-O-07

Other Outside Service

  • Advisor, DARPA Defense Sciences Research Council, Beyond OEO bottleneck, Arlington, (2003)
  • Advisor, NNI Grand Challenges in Nanoelectronics, Committee on Nanophotonics, Arlington, (2004)
  • Advisor, Australian Center for Ultrahigh bandwidth Devices for Optical Systems, University of Sydney (2006-2007)
  • Advisor, NSF Center for Metamaterials, Purdue University, (2006-2008)
  • Advisor, University of Washington, NSF Science and Technology Center on Information Technology Research (2008-2009)
  • Advisor, The Integrative Graduate Education and Research Traineeship (IGERT), Columbia University (20012-2015)
  • Advisor, NSF Partnership in Research and Education in Materials at the Metamaterials Research (META-PREM). Michigan, Purdue and Cornell universities. (2015-2016)

Research Honors

  • National Academy of Engineering, elected member (2021)
  • IBM Outstanding Technical Achievement Award (2015)
  • Fellow, IEEE (2015)
  • IBM Outstanding Technical Achievement Award (2014)
  • IBM Corporate Achievement Award (2012)
  • IBM Outstanding Technical Achievement Award (2008)
  • Fellow, American Physical Society (2007)
  • Fellow, Optical Society of America (2006)
  • IBM Outstanding Technical Achievement Award (2006)
  • Scientist of the Year Scientific American Journal (2006)

Other Honors

  • Students’ awards include NIH F31 Kirschstein National,  BRAIN Initiative Trainee Highlight, UIUC Fellowships, Conference Travel Awards, and postdeadline posters at major professional meetings.

Recent Courses Taught

  • ECE 340 - Semiconductor Electronics
  • ECE 421 (NE 420) - Neural Interface Engineering
  • ECE 452 - Electromagnetic Fields
  • ECE 498 YV (ECE 498 YV4) - Silicon Integrated Photonics

News Notes