Michelle Jillian Johnson, PhD

faculty photo
Associate Professor of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation
Department: Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation
Graduate Group Affiliations

Contact information
Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation
1800 Lombard Street, 1st Floor, Office 9
Philadelphia, PA 19146
Office: 215 893-2665
Fax: 215 893-2686
Lab: 215 893-2695
Education:
BS (Mechanical Engineering and Applied Mechanics)
University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA, 1990.
MS (Mechanical Engineering - Emphasis in Robot Mechanical System)
University of California, Irvine, Irvine, California, USA, 1994.
PhD (Mechanical Engineering - Emphasis in Robotics, Design, Controls and Mechatronics)
Stanford University, Stanford, California, USA, 2002.
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Description of Research Expertise

My research is mainly in the area of robot-mediated rehabilitation. I am focused on the investigation and rehabilitation of dysfunction due to aging, neural disease, and neural injury. I am particularly interested in 1) exploring the relationships between brain plasticity and behavioral/motor control changes after robot-assisted interventions; 2)quantifying motor impairment and motor control of the upper limb in real world tasks such as drinking; and 3) defining the methods to maintain therapeutic effectiveness while administering local and remote, robot-mediated interventions.

I direct the Rehabilitation Robotics Lab. This is a new Lab within the Department of Physical, Medicine, and Rehabilitation in the Perelman School of Medicine. The Rehabilitation Robotics Lab mission is to use robotics,rehabilitation,and neuroscience techniques to translate research findings into the development of assistive and therapeutic rehabilitation robots capable of functioning in real-world rehabilitation environments. Our goal is to improve the quality of life and function on activities of daily living (ADLs) of our target population in supervised or under-supervised settings.

Keywords (in alphabetical order): Brain Plasticity, Design, Controls, Motor Control, Robotics, Rehabilitation, Stroke, Therapy, Upper Limb

Selected Publications

Waters EL and Johnson MJ: Can an Optimal Control Model Capture Tracking Kinematics? Insights from Healthy and Post-Stroke Robot Interactions. 47th Annual International Conference of the IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society (EMBC). IEEE, July 2025.

Azar RM, Zheng S, Charles JY, and Johnson MJ: Reliability of Lesion Masks Derived from CT Scans when compared to MR Scans in Acute Stroke. 47th Annual International Conference of the IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society (EMBC). IEEE, July 2025.

Sobrepera MJ, Nguyen AT, Anand A, Prosser LA, Evans SH and Johnson MJ: Age, Motor Function, and Cognitive Function Influence Preferences for Telerehabilitation Mediated by a Social Robot Augmented with Telepresence. IEEE Transactions on Neural Systems and Rehabilitation Engineering. Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), July 2025 Notes: doi: 10.1109/TNSRE.2025.3592020.

Segado M, Prosser LA, Duncan AF, Johnson MJ, Kording KP   : Assessing Infant Risk of Cerebral Palsy with Video-Based Motion Tracking. 4th Triennial Meeting of the International Alliance of Academies of Childhood Disability (IAACD) and the 37th Annual Meeting of the European Academy Of Childhood-onset Disability (EACD) June 2025 Notes: Heidelberg, Germany, from June 24th to 28th, 2025.

Azar RM, Sobotka NS, Cacchione P, Mendonca RJ, Johnson MJ: Evaluating the Relationship Between Motor and Cognitive Impairment and Lesion Size and Location Post-Stroke Using CTScans. IEEE International Conference On Rehabilitation Robotics (ICORR), RehabWeek 2025, Chicago, IL, USA. IEEE, Page: 1467-1472, May 2025 Notes: doi: 10.1109/ICORR66766.2025.11063052.

Opong-Duah J, Mittal A, Waters E, Sayani F, Sall S, Shofer F, Johnson MJ: Robotic Assessment of Cognitive and Motor Impairment in Adults with Sickle Cell Disease. IEEE International Conference On Rehabilitation Robotics (ICORR), RehabWeek 2025, Chicago, IL, USA. IEEE, Page: 1793-1798, May 2025 Notes: doi: 10.1109/ICORR66766.2025.11063212.

Waters EL, Azar R, Opong-Duah J, Gaardsmoe S, Johnson A, Mendonca RJ, Cacchione PZ, Johnson MJ: Towards an Optimal Model of Post-Stroke Sensorimotor Control. IEEE International Conference On Rehabilitation Robotics (ICORR), RehabWeek 2025, Chicago, IL, USA. IEEE, Page: 1313-1319, May 2025 Notes: doi: 10.1109/ICORR66766.2025.11063066.

Davis ME, Sowande OF, Skorup J, Segado M, Shofer F, Prosser LA, Johnson MJ: Developing a Methodology for Quantifying Infant Interaction with a Robotic Toy. IEEE International Conference On Rehabilitation Robotics (ICORR), RehabWeek 2025, Chicago, IL, USA. IEEE, Page: 1805-1810, May 2025 Notes: doi: 10.1109/ICORR66766.2025.11063143.

Meng NY, Waters EL, Lin G, Gaardsmoe S, Johnson A, Hallock LA, Mendonca RJ, Cacchione PZ, and ohnson MJ: Analysis of Induced Muscle Activations by an Affordable, Reconfigurable Robot for Comprehensive Post-Stroke Rehabilitation. IEEE International Conference On Rehabilitation Robotics (ICORR), RehabWeek 2025, Chicago, IL, USA. IEEE, Page: 1361-1367, May 2025 Notes: doi: 10.1109/ICORR66766.2025.11063060.

Nguyen AT, Zhang H, Tan T, Abrar M, Zhang Y and Johnson MJ: Integration of a Gripper-Equipped Humanoid Social Robot for EEG-Monitored Action Observation Paradigms IEEE International Conference On Rehabilitation Robotics (ICORR), RehabWeek 2025, Chicago, IL, USA. IEEE, Page: 1699-1705, May 2025 Notes: doi: 10.1109/ICORR66766.2025.11062928.

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Last updated: 07/25/2025
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