Staff

Group Leads

Chris Awai, Ph.D
Chief Scientific Officer LLUI & Director Data Analytics & Rehabilitation Technology (DART) Lab
#MovementAnalysis #DistributedClinicalAssessments #DigitalMobilityOutcomes #PersonalizedRehabilitation
Chris Awai was awarded his PhD in health and exercise science in 2014 from the Universities of Nice and Sydney jointly. His interests center on the rehabilitation of gait and balance after insult to the central nervous system. His work encompasses development of locomotor assessment paradigms and the introduction of markers of gait quality into clinical practice. Since 2020, he leads the cereneo Foundation, an interdisciplinary research team with the mission to bridge the gap between research and clinical implementation in neurorehabilitation.
Christoph Bauer, Ph.D
Assistant Professor
Therapy Sciences
#TrunkControl, #MovementTherapy, #TherapeuticConcepts, #Telerehabilitation, #MovementAnalysis
Christoph Bauer was awarded his PhD in rehabilitation medicine in 2018 from Tampere University, Finland, and his adjunct professorship for physiotherapy from University of Jyväskylä, Finland, in 2021. His interests center on the rehabilitation of trunk control after an insult to the central nervous system and the possibilities of telerehabilitation and novel rehabilitation technologies in general to improve models of care in neurorehabilitation. Since 2023, he leads the research group Therapy Sciences.
Meret Branscheidt, MD
Affiliated Professor Neu+Re
#NIBS #ClinicalResearch #MotorRecovery #UpperLimbFunction #NeurophysiologyOfRecovery
Meret Branscheidt is an experienced clinician specialised in Neurorehabilitation and a dedicated Neuroscientist. She received her clinical education at the University Hospital Zurich and pursued her Post Doc training at Johns Hopkins University. Her primary focus lies in gaining a more profound comprehension of recovery and therapeutic processes, and how they interact to enhance neurorehabilitation outcomes for her patients. Her work encompasses neurophysiological investigations into brain plasticity following strokes, exploration of motor learning principles in both healthy and neurologically impaired individuals, and the application of NIBS as a therapeutic tool. Since 2020, she has held the positions of Deputy Medical Director and Medical Research Director at cereneo Hertenstein.
Francesco D’Acunto, Ph.D.
Affiliated Professor Neurofinance
#NeuroFinance #BehavioralFinance #FinTech #Expectations
Francesco D’Acunto is the A. James Clark Chair in Global Real Estate and Professor of Finance at Georgetown University. At LLUI, he explores how psychological and cognitive traits shape financial behavior. He is a Research Fellow at CEPR and CESifo and a Fellow of the Luohan Academy, working on behavioral finance, FinTech, and expectations.
Paolo Gasparini, MD
Affiliate Professor Precision Nutrition
#PersonalisedNutrition #Nutrigenetics #TasteScience #SensoryRehabilitation
Paolo Gasparini is a professor of Medical Genetics at the University of Trieste, Head of Medical Genetics Service and Head of the Department for Advanced Diagnostics and Clinical Trials at IRCCS Mother Child Hospital Burlo Garofolo, in Trieste. He has extensive experience in studying genetic basis of inherited diseases as well genetics risk factors for complex traits and diseases, in addition to genetics of senses, such as genetics of hearing loss, taste and food preferences including nutrigenetics and their implication on health status. Since 2021 he collaborates with LLUI to advance research activities in personalised nutrition and Neuronutrition.
Gregor Hasler, MD
Professor Neuropsychology
#Neuropsychologie #PsychedelicResearch #NeuroScience #GutBrainAxis #Neuroplasticity
Gregor Hasler is a psychiatrist, psychotherapist and neuroscientist. He is a professor for psychiatry and psychotherapy at the University of Fribourg and head physician with FNPG. His research interests range from molecular neuroimaging of GABA neurotransmitter systems in affective disorders to psychedelics’s effects on neuroplasticity. At Lake Lucerne Institute he heads the Neuropsychology group.
Andreas Luft, MD
Director & Professor NeuroCoRe
#Neuroplasticity #PostStrokeRecovery #Motivation
Andreas Luft started as director of Lake Lucerne Institute in February 2026 after heading the Stroke Center of the University Hospital of Zurich. His research group NeuroCoRe conducts basic research on neuroplasticity after stroke as well as clinical trials with a special focus on feedback and reward strategies to improve movement recovery. Prof. Luft also holds an appointment as a Visiting Professor at Mohamed Bin Rashid University in Dubai/UAE.
Yiannis Mavrommatis, Ph.D
Assistant Professor
Precision Nutrition
#PrecisionNutrition #PersonalisedNutrition #Nutrigenetics #Blockchain
Yiannis Mavrommatis completed his PhD in molecular nutrition, developing an expertise in -omics technologies (genomics, proteomics, metabolomics). He is a Registered Nutritionist, a Registered Dietitian and a Senior Fellow to the UK Higher Education Academy. He also holds an MSc in Blockchain Technology and Digital Currencies. Yiannis has extensive experience in research in the area of precision nutrition and has supervised many MSc and PhD students. In 2015 he developed the pioneering course MSc Nutrition and Genetics at St Mary´s University in London. He joined the Precision Nutrition Group at LLUI in 2024.
Dr. Andreas Neuhierl, Ph.D.
Affiliated Professor Risk Premia and Factor Timing
#RiskPremia #FactorTiming #AssetPricing #MachineLearning
Andreas Neuhierl is an Associate Professor of Finance at Purdue University and Engelbert Dockner Fellow at WU Vienna. At LLUI, he analyzes the drivers of risk premia and develops innovative factor-timing strategies. His research combines asset pricing, financial econometrics, and machine learning, and he serves on program committees of leading finance associations.
Alberto Rossi, Ph.D.
Affiliated Professor Big Data Analytics
#BigDataAnalytics #FinTech #MachineLearning #HouseholdFinance
Alberto Rossi is the Hachigian Family Professor of Finance at Georgetown University and Director of the AI, Analytics & Future of Work Initiative. At LLUI, he studies how big and alternative data improve our understanding of trading and sustainable returns. He is also a Fellow at Brookings and a member of FINRA’s Economic Advisory Committee.
Felix von Meyerinck, Ph.D.
Director of Research Wealth Creation
#HouseholdFinance #CorporateFinance #ExpectationFormation #BehavioralFinance
Felix von Meyerinck is Director of Research in the Department of Wealth Creation at the Lake Lucerne Institute. His research covers household and corporate finance, including questions of how individuals form expectations and make financial decisions. He is also a Senior Research Associate at the Department of Finance at University of Zurich and a Fellow of the Hamburg Financial Research Center.
Michael Weber, Ph.D.
Affiliated Professor Expectation Formation
#ExpectationFormation #AssetPricing #MacroFinance #HouseholdFinance
Michael Weber is Professor of Finance at Purdue University and a Faculty Research Fellow at the National Bureau of Economic Research. At LLUI, he examines how investors and firms form expectations, how central banks can influence them and they in turn shape monetary policy. He is also a Research Fellow at CEPR, CESifo, the Bundesbank, and the Bank for International Settlements, among others.

Academic Staff

Justin Bollhalder
Research Assistant
#Mathematics #MachineLearning #FinancialMarkets
Justin is currently a mathematics student at the University of Zurich, with a focus on stochastics. Throughout his studies, he has held multiple research and teaching assistant positions — including at the Department of Finance (UZH), the Institute for Mathematical Modeling and Machine Learning (UZH), and the Institute for Dynamical Systems and Control (ETH Zurich). He is now a pre-doctoral fellow at the Department of Wealth (LLUI) where he focuses on the intersection of finance and machine learning.
Sandra Giovanoli, Ph.D
Education Coordinator & Research Scientist
#Neuroscience #PersonalizedRehabilitation #Language&Cognition #Speech #Voice #Voice Monitoring
Sandra has finished her PhD at ETH of Zurich in Behavioural Neuroscience in 2015, where she investigated the effects of environmental factors on brain development. In 2017, she moved to cereneo Foundation as founding member, where she covers the logopedic and neuropsychological areas of neurorehabilitation. Her work includes research and development of place-independent methods for assessment and monitoring of speech, language and cognitive functions in stroke.
Emanuele Guidotti
Research Associate
#FinancialMarkets #DataScience #AI
Emanuele is an SNSF Ambizione Fellow leading the project “Financial Market Microstructure, Big Data, and AI.” He is affiliated with the Department of Wealth Creation at the Lake Lucerne Institute and the Institute of Finance at the University of Lugano. He earned a PhD in Finance from the University of Neuchâtel and holds an MSc in Quantitative Finance and a BSc in Physics from the University of Milan. His research focuses on the intersection of financial markets, data science, and artificial intelligence.
Salah Hamizi
Research Assistant
#Robotics #Rehabilitation #PerturbationBasedTraining
Salah is a Research Assistant at the Lake Lucerne Institute, developing accessible rehabilitation robotics for balance training. He earned dual Master’s degrees in Robotics Engineering and Rehabilitation Technology from Sorbonne University in 2025. At LLUI, he developed an automated perturbation training platform combining gait analysis and motor control to improve balance rehab through open-source, affordable solutions between research-grade performance and clinical accessibility.
Roman Kuster, Ph.D
Postdoctoral Fellow
#MovementScience #RemoteMonitoring #Wearables #MethodDevelopment #DigitalHealth #ArtificialIntelligence
Roman is a movement scientist with a PhD in medical science from Karolinska Institutet. His expertise bridges laboratory and field research in academia and industry, with a focus on developing and evaluating innovative methods and technologies to help individuals achieving their goals. Roman specializes in developing and optimizing devices that interact with the human body, such as exoskeletons and dynamic therapy chairs, and he is an expert in remote monitoring using wearable sensors for continuous tracking and digital assessments.
Catherine Maher (Graham), Ph.D
Postdoctoral Fellow
#PersonalizedNutrition #Nutritionist #TasteScience #Sensory #Taste #SensoryRehabilitation #ScentTraining
Cat completed a PhD in Personalised Nutrition in 2019, following completion of a master’s degree in Human Nutrition. She moved to cefir in 2022 to continue her research line in nutrition sensory science, combining the world of taste and scent perception with genetic variation and dietary intake. For Cat’s publication history click here.
Marwen Mokni
Research Engineer
#TrunkControl #BiomedicalEngineering #MotionCapture #Maker-lessTracking #Machinelearning
Marwen is currently taking on the role of Research Engineer, supporting the Therapy Science group in the development of a functional and multidisciplinary movement laboratory. Previously, he completed a Master’s degree in Biomedical Engineering at EPFL and successfully completed his Master’s thesis at the Cereneo Foundation. In his thesis, Marwen was tasked with investigating a marker-less motion capture system for tracking upper limb movements, focusing on stroke patients.
Johannes Pohl
Postdoctoral Fellow
#MotorRecoveryPostStroke #SensorBasedOutcome #ClinicalAssessment #KnowledgeTranslation
Johannes completed a Master of Science degree in Physiotherapy at the Bern University of Applied in 2016. The Implementation of evidence-based interventions and integrated assessment in Neurorehabilitation Clinics was the core interest as a Physiotherapist. Johannes completed a joint PhD at the Universities of Zurich and Leuven, focusing on the properties and predictability of sensor-based and clinical outcomes post-stroke. His research aims to integrate quantification and quality assessment of activities of daily living after stroke into clinical rehabilitation.
Josua Zimmermann, Ph.D
Postdoctoral Fellow
#medical image analysis #MRI #fMRI #DTI #data science #cognitive neuroscience #neurorehabilitation #psychedelic research
Josua combines neuroimaging and data science to advance research in clinical neuroscience. He has a background in molecular neurobiology and received a PhD in neuroscience from ETH Zurich. He also recently completed a diploma in applied statistics at ETH Zurich to enhance his skills in data analysis. Josua is the lab manager of the MRI facility and is particularly interested in the neural signatures underlying sensory and cognitive impairments in neurological patients. He is currently investigating the effect of psilocybin (a serotonin receptor agonist) on brain neuroplasticity and how this might improve functional recovery after stroke.

Administration

Igea Cesarano
Management Assistant & Student Administration
Igea Cesarano has over ten years of experience in academic administration, event organisation and project coordination at institutions such as ETH Zurich, the University Hospital Zurich and the University of Zurich. She is completing the MAS in Fundraising Management at ZHAW and is known for her structured approach and dedication to creating well-organised educational and cultural events.
Michael Dettling
Director QM and Accreditation
Michael has a background in mechanical engineering. After more than a decade in process development in the semi-conductor industry and R&D of medical devices he moved into quality management. He finished his EMBA in 2012 at Kellogg School of Management and joined LLUI 2024, focusing on its quality assurance system and the institutes accreditation.
Lisa Stürgkh
CEO
Lisa Stürgkh read Experimental Psychology at Oxford before working as a line producer in film production. After further training she ventured into NPOs and most recently managed the P&K Pühringer Gemeinnützige Stiftung. She joined Lake Lucerne Institute in 2021 and acts as its administrative director.

PhD Students

Raphaëlle Dahan
Affiliated PhD
#TrunkControl #VirtualReality #Neurorehabilitation
Raphaëlle studied Nanotechnologies for her master’s degree at the National Polytechnic Institute of Grenoble (France), Politecnico di Torino (Italy), and EPFL (Switzerland). She completed her master’s thesis at the Therapy Science Lab, where she worked on the development of a serious game for trunk control neurorehabilitation using a virtual reality headset. Shortly after, Raphaëlle began her PhD at UZH in collaboration with ETH Zurich. In her PhD, she is extending and further developing the project initiated during her master’s thesis.
Yara Derungs
Affiliated PhD
#VirtualReality, #Parkinson’sDisease, #FoG , #Neurorehabilitation
Yara studied Health Sciences & Technology at ETH Zurich, specializing in Medical Technology with a focus on biomechanics and machine learning for her master’s degree. For her thesis, she developed deep learning models to predict knee joint loads from motion capture data. She also completed an internship analyzing muscle synergies from sEMG data in stroke patients. As a joint PhD student at UZH, ETH, DART, and the Therapy Science Lab, she now works on a VR environment to trigger FoG in Parkinson’s patients.
Vincent Diehl
PhD Student
#Neuropsychology #PsychedelicTreatment #PostStrokeDepression #ClinicalResearch #Neuroplasticity
Vincent has successfully finished his master thesis in Clinical Psychology (MSc). For his thesis he worked in the Lab of Prof. Dr. med. Gregor Hasler assessing the processing of traumatic memories during psychedelic experiences. He further supported the research on the effects of LSD on neuroplasticity and an imaging study utilizing PET and MRI. At LLUI he will conduct a clinical trial on the efficacy of LSD treatment on depression severity in post-stroke depression patients.
Charlotte Kohler
Affiliated PhD
#Neuropsychology #Neuroplasticity #Neuroimaging #LSerine #AAAging #MRI #fMRI #CognitiveNeuroscience
Charlotte completed her Master’s degree in Interdisciplinary Brain Sciences at the University of Zurich and ETH Zurich, following a Bachelor’s degree in Health Sciences and Technology at ETH Zurich. During her training, she developed strong interests in neurology, neuroimaging, and computational approaches to brain research. Through research internships at leading clinical and academic institutions, including the University Hospital Zurich, CHUV, Balgrist, and the University of Oxford, Charlotte gained hands-on experience with neuroimaging and electrophysiological techniques such as MRI, fMRI, and EEG, applied to both healthy and clinical populations. She is currently conducting research on L-serine and its effects on healthy aging, investigating its potential to mitigate age-related cognitive decline using multimodal neuroimaging approaches. Through her interdisciplinary background and research-driven mindset, Charlotte is committed to advancing translational neuroscience and developing evidence-based strategies to support cognitive health across the lifespan.
Giuseppe Missale
PhD Student
#BiomedicalEngineering #Neuroscience #Rehabilitation #HealthDataScience #MovementAnalysis
Giuseppe holds a degree in Biomedical Engineering from the Politecnico di Torino and completed his Master’s thesis at ETH Zurich and Balgrist Campus on a deep learning based method for ECG reconstruction. Giuseppe’s research as a PhD student at UZH in collaboration with LLUI focuses on neurophysiological processes involved in motor control, focusing on after stroke patients, and the application of these research results to clinical settings and real-life applications.
Saskia Neumann
#GaitRehabilitation #GaitQuality #Capacity-Performance Relationship #PerturbationBasedTraining
Saskia is a trained physiotherapist and finished her Master’s degree in Sport-Science – Applied Movement Research at University of Freiburg. Saskia has work experience as a physiotherapist in neurorehabilitation and neuropaediatrics. In fall 2023, Saskia started her PhD at the University of Zurich in collaboration with LLUI. Her research focuses on the relationship between motor capacity and motor performance to gain a more comprehensive understanding of stroke and Parkinsons disease patients’ mobility and movement quality.
Francesco Piluso
#Nutrition #Nutrition&Genetics #PersonalisedNutrition #TheSenses #Neurorehabilitation
Francesco graduated from the University of Naples Federico II in Biological Sciences in Italy. During his studies, he mainly focused on molecular biology and genetics in the field of diagnostics. In 2022, he started his PhD at the University of Trieste and a collaboration with Cefir. The project he is working on concerns food science, in detail, the analysis of individual variations in the perceptions of taste and smell, how genetics affects them and how this information can be used to improve eating habits and general health.
Tim Unger
#IMU #Motioncapture #StrokeRehabilitation #MovementScience #Machinelearning #BiomedicalEngineering
Tim studied Mechanical Engineering at the KIT (Karlsruhe Institute of Technology) for his bachelor’s degree and completed his master’s degree in Biomedical Engineering at the TU Berlin in March 2022. Shortly after, Tim joined cefir and started his PhD in collaboration with ETH Zurich. In his PhD, Tim focuses on the evaluation of upper body neurorehabilitation with low-budget technologies.

Interns & Master Thesis Placements

Noga Baake
Intern
#Neuropsychology #fMRI #MRI #PsychedelicTreatment #CerebellarConnectivity #SomatotopicMapping
Noga Baake is an intern in the Neuropsychology group at the Lake Lucerne Institute and has a Bachelor’s degree in Psychology from Maastricht University. Her work at LLUI spans several research projects, including fMRI data analysis of cerebellar connectivity in depressed patients, literature research in preparation for psychedelic studies, and design of fMRI experiments on precision somatotopic mapping and vibrotactile illusions. She is passionate about using neuroimaging to uncover the neural basis of cognition, emotion and perception.
Jan Beglinger
Master Thesis Placement
#Tactile Illusion #fMRI #Neurorehabilitation # 3D Printing #Engineering
Jan Beglinger is a Master’s student in Mechanical Engineering at ETH Zürich, specializing in biomedical and robotic applications. At the Lake Lucerne Institute, he works on the development of MRI-compatible vibrotactile actuators for sensory stimulation. His work aims to advance neurotechnology tools for research and rehabilitation contexts.
Elif Dogan
Intern
#HealthScience #DigitalHealth #Neurorehabilitation #Telerehabilitation
Elif is a Master’s student in Health Sciences and Technology at the University of Lucerne and ETH. She holds a Bachelor’s in Computer Engineering, having developed an AI-based mental health app as her thesis. She is currently an intern at the Lake Lucerne Institute’s Therapy Science Lab for the iSpeak project. Her interests lie in digital approaches to health and neurorehabilitation. She also has a background in yoga and movement instruction, shaping her perspective on embodied health and rehabilitation.
Ameer Elkhayat
Intern
#VirtualReality #Neurorehabilitation #TrunkControl
Ameer is a Master’s student in Neuroengineering at EPFL, specializing in neural data analysis and signal processing. He is currently completing his internship at the Lake Lucerne Institute, where he works on system architecture optimization and the development of a virtual reality game for trunk control neurorehabilitation. He is interested in the rehabilitation of patients with neurodegenerative diseases and has worked on optimizing neural data collection during neuromodulation for stroke research as part of his Master’s studies.
Lisa Grosse
Intern
#Neuropsychology #PsychedelicResearch #Neuroscience #DMT #CocaineAddiction
Lisa has successfully completed her MSc in Medical Biotechnology and specialized herself in neurology during the last years. She is doing an internship at LLUI to investigate the potential, therapeutic effect of dimethyltryptamine (DMT), a hallucinogen substance, to treat substance use disorder, esp. in cocaine addiction.
Tirza Heinle
Intern
#Telerehabilitation #Marker-lessTracking #Real-timeObjectDetection #UpperLimbFunction #DeepLearning
Tirza completed her Master’s degree in Robotics, Systems and Control at ETH Zurich. She joined the Lake Lucerne Institute for an internship focusing on Extended Reality (XR) solutions for home-based upper-limb rehabilitation within the XR4TeleRehab project. Her work focuses on developing an open-source, real-time object detection package in Unity for XR therapy applications on the Meta Quest 3, as well as evaluating the validity of hand tracking for stroke survivors when interacting with everyday household objects.
Mohamed Khalaf
Intern
#RehabilitationRobotics #ROS #AdaptiveControl #HumanRobotInteraction #MultimodalSensing
Mohamed is a Master’s student in Robotics Engineering at the University of Genova with a background in Mechatronics Engineering. His work focuses on control systems, multimodal sensing, and ROS-based robotic applications. At the Lake Lucerne Institute, he is conducting his Master’s thesis on adaptive cognitive–motor rehabilitation systems, exploring how physiological and behavioral data can be used in real-time to support personalized rehabilitation training.
Sarah Mikami
Academic Intern
#MRI #fMRI #cognitive neuroscience # brain networks
Sarah is a Master’s student in Neuroengineering at EPFL and is currently completing an internship at the Lake Lucerne Institute. Her work focuses on fMRI experiments for precision somatotopic mapping, where she conducts experimental sessions and performs data analysis. She is particularly interested in understanding how brain networks function and has explored this topic through projects using resting-state fMRI analyses.
Mateo Poyatos
Master Thesis Placement
#MRI #fMRI #BioMechanicalEngineering #Neurorehabilitation #VirtualReality
Mateo is a Master’s student in Mechanical Engineering at Delft University of Technology (TU Delft), specializing in Biomechanical Design. He is currently completing his thesis at Lake Lucerne Institute, where he integrates virtual reality, motion capture, and sensory stimulation to study embodiment in MRI environments. Previously, he designed and prototyped a handheld rehabilitation device for stroke patients at TU Delft and worked on robotic locomotion optimization during his bachelor thesis.
Morée van de Bree
Intern
#PrecisionNutrition #Neuropsychology #OlfactionRehabilitation #Nutrition&Genetics #HealthSciences
Morée is a Master student’s in Health Sciences at the University of Lucerne. She holds a Bachelor’s in Psychology at the University of Utrecht. She is currently an intern at Lake Lucerne Institute’s Precision Nutrition research team. She is working on the NEAT project, researching if genetic variations have an association with appetite stimulation and rehabilitation of olfaction.
Rahel Vonäsch
Academic Intern
#HealthScience #GaitCAP #GaitAnalysis #PerformanceCapacity
Rahel is pursuing a MSc in Health Sciences and Technology at ETH Zurich. During her internship within the GaitCAP project, she focuses on comparing gait assessments performed in the lab with those collected in real-life, home environments. Her internship additionally involves data collection.

Close Collaborators

Jiahui An
Affiliated PhD
#CognitiveNeuroscience #BCI #BehaviorNeuroimagingI #VirtualReality #Neurorehabilitation #Stroke
Jiahui started her PhD in September 2022, her main research project is at the intersection of Brain-Computer-Interface and Cognitive Neuroscience. Jiahui gained her master degree in Neural Behavior Sciences at the International Max Planck Research School (Tübingen) in October 2021. Her project aims to develop a digital biomarker capable of detecting cognitive load through lab experiments, utilizing functional near-infrared spectroscopy.
Tomislav Bacek
Affiliated Postdoc
#MovementAnalysis #WearableRobotics #Neurorehabilitation #HumanRobotInteraction
Tomislav Bacek received his PhD in engineering sciences from Vrije Universiteit Brussel in 2019. His work sits at the intersection of biomechanics, wearable robotics, and neurorehabilitation, with a focus on translating locomotor science from lab to clinic and industry. He has led multidisciplinary projects spanning constrained gait analysis, human–robot interaction, assistive device development, and clinical stroke rehabilitation, while also contributing to technology transfer and researcher supervision.
Mathieu Berthet
Affiliated PhD
#Neurorehabilitation #PersonalizedRehabilitation #RealTimeFeedback #GaitAnalysis #StimuLOOP
Mathieu completed his Master in Mechanical Engineering at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne in August 2022. After completing his Master’s thesis at Balgrist Campus on the neural coupling bilateral finger movements and working for the pharma industry as an automation engineer, he joined the Rehabilitation Engineering Lab at ETHZ, in collaboration with the Lake Lucerne Institute, as a PhD candidate. The focus of his thesis is on evaluating the impact of feedback during gait training and how to develop personalized feedback trainings for patients.
Aline Brunner
Affiliated Research Assistant
#NeuroRehabilitation #Personalized Feedback #NeuralOscillations #TranslationalNeuroEngineering #GaitAnalysis
Aline holds a Master’s in Neuro-X at EPFL, with a focus on the latest neuroengineering technologies. She completed an internship at the Lake Lucerne Institute, where she co-designed personalized biofeedback systems for gait rehabilitation with and for people living with stroke and Parkinson’s disease. Her Master’s thesis at the Rehabilitation Engineering Lab (RELab), ETH Zurich, investigated neural oscillations underlying gait in Parkinson’s disease with an implanted DBS. She now works as a Research Assistant at the RELab, by advancing her thesis research on gait-related neural oscillations, contributing to StimuLoop data collection, and conducting EEG analyzes of cognitive load.
Anna Knill
Affiliated PhD
#Neurorehabilitation #FingerIndividuation #ManualDexterity #UpperLimbTherapy
After her bachelor in Health Sciences and Technology, Anna completed her master’s degree in Biomedical Engineering at ETH Zürich in August 2022. During this time, she performed internships at the Swiss Paraplegic Center and AO Research Institute. Finding her passion in rehabilitation, she worked with a robotic exoskeleton (from Hocoma) to assess upper limb movements during therapy and was involved in organizations that use assistive technologies to support people with disabilities. In fall 2022, Anna started her PhD at ETH Zurich (RELab) in collaboration with Lake Lucerne Institute. The focus of her project lies in the assessment of manual dexterity for neurorehabilitation.
Mathilde Lestoille
Research Scientist at CNRS
#RehabilitationRobotics #RoboticControl #MovementAnalysis #PersonalizedRehabilitation
Mathilde completed a PhD in Robotics in 2021, on the control of arm prostheses. She then pursued a post-doctoral position at the Rehabilitation Engineering Laboratory (ETHZ), in close collaboration with LLUI, where she focused on the impact of visual and haptic feedback on pathological gait. Mathilde is now research scientist at CNRS in the GIPSA-Lab. Her research activities lie at the intersection of biomechanics and robotics.
Yesica Martinez
Neuropsychologist
#Neuropsychology #Stroke Rehabilitation #Reward #Music #fMRI
Yésica completed the master’s degree in clinical psychology and neuroscience at the University of Basel. After graduating, she worked as a neuropsychologist at the University Hospital of Zürich. Yésica’s passion for exploring the therapeutic benefits of music led her to pursue a Ph.D. at the University of Zürich. Her research focuses on investigating how music can be used to aid neurorehabilitation. Alongside her academic pursuits, Yésica also works as a part-time neuropsychologist at the clinic cereneo and is an active member of the young SVNP and YouCliN. Through her involvement in these organizations, Yésica is committed to advancing the field of neuropsychology and finding new ways to help patients achieve better outcomes.
Thomas Menard
Affiliated PhD
#AndroidDevelopment #DataCollection #DataAnalysis #UI #UX
Thomas obtained his bachelor degree in Bio-Engineering and Biomedical Engineering in 2020 at ESILV, Leonard de Vinci Graduate School of Engineering. He continued his studies in Biomedical Engineering at CentraleSupelec, Paris, for his masters degree. After an internship at Cereneo Foundation in 2022, he returned to work at LLUI as a Research Engineer. He is currently a PhD Student at CentraleSupélec in “AI for Medical Imaging” and remains a close collaborator of the institute.
Luca Nastasi
Affiliated Research Assistant
#StimuLOOP #XR Development #EEG Data Acquisition #Patient Ambassador
With a Master’s degree in Mechanical Engineering from ETH Zurich, Luca contributes as a Research Assistant to the SimuLOOP Project at UZH and is collaborating with LLUI on this endeavor. He specializes in crafting personalized feedback scenarios for gait training within the CAREN system. Additionally, Luca manages the TSB Axoo device and fulfills the role of a patient ambassador.
Josef Schönhammer, Ph.D
Postdoctoral Fellow
#CognitivePsychology #HumanFactors #CognitiveNeuroscience #HumanComputerInteraction #UserExperience
Josef completed a PhD in Cognitive Psychology in 2015, following a master’s degree in Human-Computer Interaction. He worked as human factors and user experience researcher in the automobile and consumer electronics industries, before he joined cefir in 2020. Here his research focuses on the development and application of rehabilitation technology for the upper extremities.
Eirini Tsatsaki
Study Technician
#Neurophysiology #EEG #NeuralControlOfMovement #MuscleSynergies #TrunkControl
Eirini completed a Master’s degree in Kinesiology at AUTh. She recently finished her second master’s in Human Movement Sciences: Sport, Exercise, and Health at VU Amsterdam, where she examined the interplay between the motor cortex and muscle synergies during walking under mechanical arm constraints.
Belen Valladares
Quality Manager
#UpperLimbRehab #TherapyConcept #MedicalDevices #ImplementationScience #KnowledgeTranslation
Belen holds a Master’s degree in Public Health from King’s College London and a Master’s degree in Clinical Trial Management from the University of Lleida. She completed her PhD in Medical Science at the University of Zurich, focusing on upper limb outcomes and neurorehabilitation post-stroke. At the cereneo clinic, Belen plays a key role in developing and improving the Therapy Concept and focuses on knowledge translation and implementation science to enhance patient outcomes.
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