Rubia van den Brand
University of Zurich, University Hospital of Lausanne, École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne
Papers
9
Total Citations
1,070
H-Index
7
About
Rubia van den Brand is a leading researcher in neurorehabilitation and neuroprosthetics, whose work has fundamentally advanced the restoration of movement after spinal cord injury. Her most celebrated contribution is the 2012 study "Restoring Voluntary Control of Locomotion after Paralyzing Spinal Cord Injury," which has garnered over 750 citations. In this landmark work, she and her team introduced an electrochemical neuroprosthesis combined with a robotic postural interface that enabled rats with paralyzing lesions to regain voluntary, supraspinally mediated locomotion—a breakthrough that challenged long-held assumptions about the irreversibility of paralysis. Van den Brand has also pioneered versatile robotic interfaces and soft exoskeletons for both rodents and humans, including a multidirectional gravity-assist algorithm that enhances gait control in patients with stroke or spinal cord injury. Her research uniquely integrates soft robotics, cortical decoding of bipedal locomotion, and multi-system neurorehabilitation, addressing not only movement but also autonomic functions like bladder control. With a portfolio of highly cited papers and translational impact, van den Brand stands at the forefront of designing technologies that evaluate, enable, and train locomotion and balance after neuromotor disorders.
Research Focus
Key Achievements
Top Papers
- 1Restoring Voluntary Control of Locomotion after Paralyzing Spinal Cord Injury754 citations · 2012
- 2
- 3
- 4Soft robot for gait rehabilitation of spinalized rodents54 citations · 2013
- 5Decoding bipedal locomotion from the rat sensorimotor cortex40 citations · 2015
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- 7Rehabilitative Soft Exoskeleton for Rodents20 citations · 2016
- 8Multisystem Neurorehabilitation in Rodents with Spinal Cord Injury3 citations · 2016
- 9