Human Experimentation in Philadelphia

University of Pennsylvania neuroscientists have been implanting hundreds of human test subjects with advanced neurological devices based on wirelessly controlled nanotechnology and conducting wide arrays of experiments on them within the DARPA Restoring Active Memory (RAM) project among other neuroscience related efforts. This project exists to determine how many human test subjects are involved, the precise technical nature and capabilities of the implants, test subject demography, and whether the test subjects are being experimented upon consensually and ethically.

According to Department of Defense and National Institutes of Health documents [1][2], University of Pennsylvania neuroscientists affiliated with Nia Therapeutics (Cortera Neurotechnologies) [7] have been implanting hundreds of human test subjects with neurological devices based on wirelessly controlled nanotechnology [13][14][15][16] and conducting wide arrays of experiments on them within the DARPA Restoring Active Memory (RAM) project among other neuroscience related efforts. The high resolution neurological datasets being gathered via these experiments are being privately distributed to researchers at different institutions, often under the guise of epilepsy or brain-computer interface (BCI) research. [12][5][6]

Of the 126 severe epilepsy test subjects [9] implanted with neuromodulation devices and referenced in the available IRB authorizations, no informed consent documentation has been found or is available. Further, all 251 test subjects that the University of Pennsylvania claims to be voluntarily and consensually participating in the Restoring Active Memory project [6] are not referenced in any of the available IRBs. This leaves 125 test subjects with implants unaccounted for in the available documentation even if all aforementioned 126 severe epilepsy patients are active voluntary participants in RAM.

The University of Pennsylvania’s vice provost for research, Dr. Dawn Bonnell, indicated in August of 2019 that the university would “look into” possible unethical or illegal conduct being committed within the scope of UPenn neuroscience related research projects. [11] Subsequent requests for comment or feedback have garnered no response.

The aim of this Muckrock project is to determine:

how many subjects are being experimented upon
whether the test subjects are being experimented upon consensually and ethically
why human beings are been implanted with neurological devices
whether or not the implants are FDA approved
test subject demography
the entry and exit points of public and private grant money into human experimentation programs
the protocols and mechanisms by which human test subjects are acquired and utilized by the university

A National Science Foundation audit found that “UPenn did not always comply with all Federal, NSF, and UPenn regulations and policies when allocating expenses to NSF awards.” [3] This Muckrock project additionally aims to encourage a greater deal of accountability in academia with respect to federally funded human subjects research. [7][8]

[1] Human Experimentation in Philadelphia (National Institutes of Health)

[2] DARPA Restoring Active Memory (RAM) Project Voluntary Human Test Subject Informed Consent (U.S. Navy, Space and Naval Warfare Systems Command)

[3] Restoring Active Memory (RAM) Project Human Subject Informed Consent (National Science Foundation, Office of Inspector General)

[4] Electrical Stimulation Modulates High γ Activity and Human Memory Performance

[5] White Matter Network Architecture Guides Direct Electrical Stimulation through Optimal State Transitions

[6]RESTORING ACTIVE MEMORY (RAM)

[7] Nia Therapeutics

[8] Blackfynn

[9] Human Experimentation in Philadelphia (The National Institute Of Mental Health)

[10] Penn Computational Memory Lab Github Software Repository

[11] E-mail from Dr. Dawn Bonnell, August 2019

[12] Network Brain-Computer Interface (nBCI): An Alternative Approach for Cognitive Prosthetics