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About

Dr. Kathryn Hendron is a leading researcher in neurorehabilitation and assistive robotics, whose work focuses on restoring locomotor function after neurological injury. Her major contributions center on the development and clinical validation of soft robotic exosuits—wearable, textile-based robots that provide targeted assistance to the paretic limb during walking. Her landmark 2017 study, cited over 660 times, demonstrated that a soft exosuit significantly improves walking in chronic stroke survivors, reducing forward propulsion asymmetry by 20% and the metabolic cost of walking by 10%, effectively lessening the poststroke walking burden by nearly a third. She also co-authored a major 2019 clinical practice guideline (378 citations) for improving locomotor function after stroke, spinal cord injury, and brain injury, helping to standardize rehabilitation approaches. In additional work, Dr. Hendron showed that exosuit assistance can reduce common compensatory gait patterns like circumduction and hip hiking. Her research bridges engineering and clinical practice, offering practical, evidence-based solutions that enhance mobility and quality of life for individuals with neurological impairments.