Papers
24
Total Citations
778
H-Index
14
About
Diane L. Damiano is a pioneering rehabilitation engineer and clinical scientist whose work sits at the intersection of pediatric neurology, robotics, and movement science, with a particular focus on improving mobility and function in children with cerebral palsy (CP). Her most influential contributions center on the development and clinical application of robotic exoskeletons designed to treat crouch gait — a debilitating walking disorder affecting nearly half of ambulatory children with CP. Her landmark studies introducing a powered knee exoskeleton, which together have accumulated over 300 citations, demonstrated measurable improvements in knee extension during walking and laid critical groundwork for next-generation rehabilitative devices. Beyond robotics, Damiano has advanced locomotor training strategies through rigorous clinical trials comparing elliptical, cycling, and treadmill-based exercise modalities, and pioneered a haptic elbow spasticity simulator to standardize notoriously unreliable clinical assessments. Her more recent explorations into neuromuscular electrical stimulation, brain-computer interfaces, and neurofeedback reflect a forward-looking commitment to multi-modal neurorehabilitation. Collectively, her body of work has shaped how researchers and clinicians approach movement disorders in pediatric populations, making her a central figure in translational rehabilitation science.
Research Focus
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