Neufeld, Esra

Esra studied philosophy, theology, and law for three years in the UK before entering a master’s degree (MSc) in Interdisciplinary Sciences at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH) Zurich, Switzerland. With his MSc thesis in computational sciences, on Quantum Monte Carlo simulation of topological qubits, he obtained his MSc in 2004 in the primary domains of organic and physical chemistry, theoretical physics, and quantum electronics. During his MSc studies, Esra worked as an inorganic chemistry research assistant (on safe and efficient hydrogen storage in inorganic compounds), a network specialist, programmer, software tester, content editor, and private tutor. After his MSc, Esra joined the IT’IS Foundation and the Computer Vision Laboratory (BIWI) at the ETH Zurich to work on his PhD degree in Electrical Engineering, which he obtained in 2008. His PhD focused on personalized hyperthermia treatment planning, numerical modeling of electromagnetic (EM) tissue interactions and induced in vivo heating, assessment of magnetic resonance imaging safety, medical image segmentation, and measurement technology.

Since 2008, Esra is the Head of Computational Life Sciences at IT’IS where he is responsible for the development of the multi-physics simulation platform Sim4Life, and since 2018 he is the Associate Director of IT’IS. He further developed simulation and measurement analysis software as Product Head and Senior Developer at Schmid & Partner Engineering AG (2008 ‒ 2009). Since 2009 is the Chief Scientific Officer at ZMT, where he is responsible for the development of medical treatment planning software and medical image processing tools. After having given occasional lectures at the ETH Zurich for several years, Esra was appointed lecturer at the ETH Zurich in 2015. In 2019, Esra co-founded TI Solutions AG to develop high-quality and flexible neuro-stimulation devices and treatment planning tools for temporal interference research.

Throughout his career, Esra has made significant contributions to various research areas, including (i) simulation and treatment planning software, (ii) personalized modeling and the generation of high-resolution functionalized anatomical models, (iii) medical image and imaging analysis, (iv) applied simulations, particularly in the field of bioelectromagnetics, (v) the study of interactions between exposure and physiology (e.g., EM-induced tissue heating), (vi) neuromodulation (neuroprosthetics, bioelectronic medicine, brain and spinal cord stimulation, novel stimulation paradigms), (vii) focused ultrasound for non-invasive surgery, reversible blood-brain-barrier opening, and neuromodulation (viii) measurement technology, (ix) verification, validation, and uncertainty quantification, and (x) standardization.

Esra has published numerous journal and conference papers as well as book chapters. He contributes to several standardization committees and serves as a consultant to companies and government agencies, such as the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, on dosimetry, exposure safety, uncertainty assessment, verification and validation, numerical techniques, in silico clinical trials, and computational life sciences. Esra is an active member of several scientific societies and acts as a reviewer for a number of international journals, scientific conferences, and grant applications submitted to Swiss and international research funding schemes.