Advisory Board

Ásgeir Alexandersson is Director of Neuromuscular Technology within R&D at Össur, a global prosthetics and orthotics manufacturer with headquarters in Iceland. He earned his M.D. degree from the University of Iceland and a master’s degree in biomedical engineering from Reykjavik University. The Neuromuscular Technology Department he leads is responsible for various research and new technology project explorations outside of Össur’s core business and current product solutions. Among these are various EU funded Horizon 2020 projects, an exoskeletal project for the support of patients with gait problems and a project of interfacing Össur’s future prosthetic products with the human nervous system.

Thor Besier is an Associate Professor at the Auckland Bioengineering Institute and has a joint appointment with the Department of Engineering Science at the University of Auckland, New Zealand. Thor’s research combines medical imaging with computational modelling to understand mechanisms of musculoskeletal injury and disease.  He has published >95 peer-reviewed journal papers in this area and has received grant funding from the NIH, NSF, FDA, Australian ARC and NHMRC and NZ Marsden Fund. Thor’s research combines medical imaging with computational modelling to understand mechanisms of musculoskeletal injury and disease. Current projects focus on technology to assist people with neurological disorders and the use of models and wearable sensors in orthopaedics. Prior to joining the Auckland Bioengineering Institute in 2011, he spent 8 years at Stanford University as a faculty member in the Department of Orthopaedics and a post-doctoral research fellow in Bioengineering. Thor completed his Ph.D. in 2000 at the University of Western Australia in the field of Biomechanics.

Rosana Esteller received her B.Sc. in Electrical Engineering and M.Sc. in Biomedical Engineering from Simon Bolivar University, and her Ph.D. degree in Electrical Engineering from Georgia Institute of Technology. She played a pivotal role as principal and founder of IntelliMedix Inc., which later merged with NeuroPace Inc. Her contributions were instrumental in developing the first closed-loop brain-implantable device in neuromodulation specifically design to treat epileptic seizures. This groundbreaking device is currently available in the market. Rosana pioneered the biomarker detection algorithm within this device, and led critical clinical studies that ultimately secured pre-market approval for this novel implantable technology. Since 2016, Rosana has been an integral part of Boston Scientific, where she currently holds the position of Associate Director and Scientific Fellow in their Research and Development department. With over 27 years of industry experience in neurotechnology, she has successfully brought medical devices to market, led and contributed to algorithm development, and conducted impactful clinical studies. Her leadership has consistently motivated expert teams to achieve at excellence in these critical areas. Notably, her remarkable portfolio comprises over 70 patent inventions and over 75 journal articles and conference publications. Additionally, she has authored three comprehensive chapter-books.

Dario Farina is Full Professor and Chair in Neurorehabilitation Engineering at the Department of Bioengineering of Imperial College London, UK. He has previously been Full Professor at Aalborg University, Aalborg, Denmark, (until 2010) and at the University Medical Center Göttingen, Georg-August University, Germany, where he founded and directed the Department of Neurorehabilitation Systems (2010-2016). Among other awards, he holds a Honorary Doctorate degree in Medicine from Aalborg University, Denmark, and has been the recipient of the IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society Early Career Achievement Award, the Royal Society Wolfson Research Merit Award, the IEEE EMBS Technical Achievement Award. His research focuses on biomedical signal processing, neurorehabilitation technology, and neural control of movement. Professor Farina has been the President of the International Society of Electrophysiology and Kinesiology (ISEK) (2012-2014) and is currently the Editor-in-Chief of the official Journal of this Society, the Journal of Electromyography and Kinesiology, and an Editor for many other international Journals, including Science Advances and IEEE Transactions on Biomedical Engineering. Professor Farina has been elected Fellow IEEE, AIMBE, ISEK, EAMBES, AAIA, Sigma Xi.

Daniel P. Ferris is the Robert W. Adenbaum Professor of Engineering Innovation at the University of Florida J. Crayton Pruitt Family Department of Biomedical Engineering. He studies how to integrate machines and humans to improve human performance and mobility in health and disability. Specific research projects focus on robotic lower limb exoskeletons, bionic lower limb prostheses, and mobile brain imaging with high-density electroencephalography. Prof. Ferris completed his B.S. from the University of Central Florida, his M.S. from the University of Miami, and his Ph.D. from University of California, Berkeley. After earning his doctoral degree, he worked as a post-doctoral researcher in the UCLA Department of Neurology and the University of Washington Department of Electrical Engineering.​ Dr. Ferris spent 16 years at the University of Michigan until recently relocating to the University of Florida in June 2017.​

Gassert’s postdoctoral work focused on pioneering robotic systems for upper limb rehabilitation, with research stints at Imperial College London and Simon Fraser University. In 2008, he joined ETH Zurich, where he was later promoted to Full Professor. His research centers on the development and clinical validation of technologies to explore, assess, and restore sensorimotor function in neurological disorders such as stroke, spinal cord injury, and Parkinson’s disease, with the goal of improving independence.

Gassert is Vice-Chair of the ETH Competence Centre for Rehabilitation Engineering and Science, Vice-President of the Strategic Council of CYBATHLON, President of the Swiss Foundation Access for All, and Swiss contact person of the Association for the Advancement of Assistive Technology in Europe (AAATE). He is also co-founder of Auxivo, an ETH spin-off that develops wearable exoskeletons.

Marcia O’Malley is the Thomas Michael Panos Family Professor in Mechanical Engineering, Computer Science, Electrical and Computer Engineering, Bioengineering, and currently serves as Chair of the Department of Mechanical Engineering at Rice University. She received her BS in Mechanical Engineering from Purdue University, and her MS and PhD in Mechanical Engineering from Vanderbilt University. Her research is in the areas of haptics and robotic rehabilitation, with a focus on the design and control of wearable robotic devices for training and rehabilitation. She is a Fellow of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers, the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, and the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering.

Darcy Reisman, PT, PhD, FAPTA is Professor and Chairperson in the Department of Physical Therapy and Professor in the Biomechanics and Movement Science Program at the University of Delaware (UD). She has been a Physical Therapist for 30 years. Dr. Reisman received her PhD from the University of Delaware in 2003 and completed post-doctoral training at the Kennedy Krieger Institute/Johns Hopkins School of Medicine. The overall goal of Dr. Reisman’s research is to develop scientifically-based therapies to advance physical rehabilitation and recovery after stroke. Dr. Reisman’s research has been continuously funded for almost 20 years through federal agencies and foundations including the American Heart Association and the National Institutes of Health. She has more than 110 peer-reviewed publications, is an Associate Editor and Editorial Board Member for some of the top rehabilitation journals and has served on mutliple grant review panels for several federal agencies and foundations.