About me

Director, Rehabilitation Robotics Lab
Associate Professor of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation

Michelle J. Johnson, Ph.D., has secondary appointments as an Associate professor in Bioengineering and in Mechanical Engineering and Applied Mechanics at University of Pennsylvania. She has a PhD in Mechanical Engineering, with an emphasis in mechatronics, robotics, and design, from Stanford University. She completed a NSF-NATO post-doctoral fellowship at the Advanced Robotics Technology and Systems Laboratory at the Scuola Superiore Sant’Anna in Italy. She directs the Rehabilitation Robotic Research and Design Laboratory located at the Pennsylvania Medicine Rehabilitation. The lab is also affiliated with the General Robotics Automation Sensing Perception (GRASP) Lab. Dr. Johnson’s lab specializes in the design, development, and therapeutic use of novel, affordable, intelligent robotic assistants for rehabilitation in high and low-resource environments with an emphasis on using robotics and sensors to quantify upper limb motor function in adults and children with brain injury or at risk for brain injury. Dr. Johnson has spent over twenty years applying technology solutions to aid in the understanding of disability and impairment after brain injury.

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Macari D, Fratzl A, Keplinger K, Keplinger C Accelerating the pace of innovation in robotics by fostering diversity and inclusive leadership , Science Robotics, 9(eadt1958): 2024

Macari D, Fratzl A, Keplinger K, Keplinger C Accelerating the pace of innovation in robotics by fostering diversity and inclusive leadership. , Science Robotics, 9(97): 2024

Segado M, Prosser L, Duncan AF, Johnson MJ, Kording KP: Assessing infant risk of cerebral palsy with video-based motion tracking. , medRxiv: 2024

Sowande OF, Koyner D, Prosser L, Johnson MJ: Design of a robotic infant simulator to understand the role of the trunk in infant postural stability and center of pressure. , 33rd Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers International Conference on Robot and Human Interactive Communication, Pasadena, California, USA : 2024,1005-1012

Skorup JC, Pierce SR, Ruwaih N, DeMauro SB, Johnson MJ, Prosser LA Hammersmith neonatal and infant neurological examinations scores in typically developing infants aged 1-6 months , Journal of Child Neurology, 40(1): 2024,10-14

Nguyen AT, Anand A, Johnson MJ: Exploring electroencephalogram responses during observation of actions performed by human actor and humanoid robot. , 10th Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers Robotics and Automation/ Engineering in Medicine and Biology International Conference for Biomedical Robotics and Biomechatronics, Heidelberg, Germany: 2024,1795-1801

Waters EL, Mendonca RJ, Cacchione PZ, Johnson MJ TheraDyad: Feasibility of an affordable robot for multi-user stroke rehabilitation , 10th Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers-Robotics and Automation Society/Engineering Medicine and Biology Society, (IEEE-RAS/EMBS) International Conference for Biomedical Robotics and Biomechatronics (BioRob), Heidelberg, Germany: 2024,1498-1503

Sobrepera MJ, Elfishawy J, Nguyen AT, Prosser L, Johnson MJ: Insights on telecommunication use by rehabilitation therapists before, during, and beyond COVID-19 , Archives of Rehabilitation Research and Clinical translation, 6(2): 2024,100326

Roberts D, Schlatterer W, Woo Lee S, Singleton J, Lee B, Johnson MJ, Carpick RW: DEI task force accomplishments: The DEI scholars program and its DEI elective option , 2024 American Society for Engineering Education (ASEE) Annual Conference & Exposition, Portland, Oregon: 2024

Opong-Duah J, Shofer F, Johnson MJ Assessment of Cognitive Impairment in Adults Living with HIV , Archives of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, 105(4): 2024,e181

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