Rehabilitation Robots for Neurorehabilitation in High-, Low-, and Middle-Income Countries

Her research is mainly in robot-mediated neurorehabilitation. She is focused on the investigation and rehabilitation of dysfunction due to aging, neural disease, and neural injury. She is particularly interested in 1) exploring the relationships between brain plasticity and behavioral/motor control changes after robot-assisted interventions; 2) quantifying motor impairment and motor control of the upper limb in real world tasks such as drinking; and 3) defining the methods to maintain therapeutic effectiveness while administering local and remote, robot-mediated interventions. She directs the Rehabilitation Robotics Lab. This is a new Lab within the Department of Physical, Medicine, and Rehabilitation in the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania. The Rehabilitation Robotics Lab mission is to use robotics, rehabilitation, and neuroscience techniques to translate research findings into the development of assistive and therapeutic rehabilitation robots capable of functioning in real-world rehabilitation environments. The goal is to improve the quality of life and function on activities of daily living (ADLs) of our target population in supervised or under-supervised settings. Rochelle Mendonca, PhD, OTR/L, is an Assistant Professor in the Occupational Therapy Program in the Department of Rehabilitation and Regenerative Medicine at Columbia University, New York, United States. Her research primarily revolves around evaluation of outcomes of assistive technology, accessibility, and participation for individuals diagnosed with disabilities.