Miguel Nicolelis

Miguel Nicolelis is a Brazilian physician who recently made headlines as the scientist who made it possible for a quadriplegic teen to deliver the kickoff at the opening game of the 2014 FIFA World Cup. Previously, Nicolelis had been best known for implanting electrode arrays into a monkey’s brain that allowed him to detect the monkey’s motor intent and then control the animal’s reaching and grasping movements performed by a robotic arm. He is the co-founder and scientific director of the Safra International Institute for Neuroscience of Natal, a brain research facility in Brazil, and in 2011 was appointed by Pope Benedict XVI as an ordinary member of the Pontifical Academy of Sciences.