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About

Netta Gurari is a leading researcher in neural engineering and rehabilitation robotics, whose work bridges haptic technology and sensorimotor recovery after stroke. Her research focuses on understanding how individuals with neurological impairments, particularly chronic hemiparetic stroke, perceive and control their limb positions, and on developing high-fidelity haptic interfaces to study and rehabilitate these functions. A major contribution is her pioneering work in customizing and characterizing commercial haptic devices for rendering weak forces, enabling precise, controlled experiments that were previously impossible—a paper that has garnered 30 citations and remains foundational in the field. Her studies on forearm position sense in stroke survivors, including a 2016 paper with 20 citations, revealed that individuals can accurately match forearm positions within a single arm, challenging assumptions about proprioceptive deficits and informing new rehabilitation strategies. This work has been extended in subsequent publications (2018, 8 citations) and preliminary findings (4 citations), collectively shaping our understanding of sensorimotor integration post-stroke. Gurari’s research also includes human performance in knob-turning tasks (9 citations), which has direct implications for designing prosthetic arms, teleoperated robots, and virtual environments. Her recent work (2022) explores how voluntary muscle activation impacts stretch reflex excitability in stroke, offering new insights into motor control. Through her innovative use of robotics and haptics, Gurari is advancing both fundamental neuroscience and practical rehabilitation tools.