Michelle Jillian Johnson, PhD

faculty photo
Associate Professor of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation
Director , Rehabilitation Robotics Lab, University of Pennsylvania
Faculty Member, General Robotics, Automation, Sensing and Perception Laboratoy, GRASP LAB
Faculty Member, Center for NeuroEngineering and Therapeutics
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, 1990.
MS (Mechanical Engineering (Emphasis in Robot Mechanical System)
University of California, Irvine, 1994.
PhD (Mechanical Engineering (Emphasis in Robotics, Design, Controls and Mechatronics)
Stanford University, 2002.
Permanent link
 
> Perelman School of Medicine   > Faculty   > Details

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

Johnson MJ, Mendonca R: Chapter 17: Rehabilitation Robotics. In Rehabilitation Engineering: Principles and Practice. Mihailidis A, Smith RO (eds.). CRC Press, Sep 2022.

Bui KD, Lyn B, Roland M, Wamsley CA, Mendonca R, Johnson MJ: The Impact of Cognitive Impairment on Robot-Based Upper-Limb Motor Assessment in Chronic Stroke. Neurorehabilitation and Neural Repair SAGE Publications Sage CA: Los Angeles, CA, 36(9): 587-595, Aug 2022 Notes: DOI: 10.1177/15459683221110892.

Panchal J, Sowande OF, Prosser L, Johnson MJ: Design of pediatric robot to simulate infant biomechanics for neuro-developmental assessment in a sensorized gym. 9th IEEE RAS/EMBS International Conference for Biomedical Robotics and Biomechatronics (BioRob), Korea. IEEE, Aug 2022.

Sobrepera MJ, Lee VG, Johnson MJ: Therapists' Opinions on Telehealth, Robotics, and Socially Assistive Robot-Augmented Telepresence Systems for Rehabilitation. 9th IEEE RAS/EMBS International Conference for Biomedical Robotics and Biomechatronics (BioRob), Korea. IEEE, Aug 2022.

Johnson MJ, Mohan M, and Mendonca R: Therapist-Patient Interactions in Task-Oriented Stroke Therapy can Guide Robot-Patient Interactions. Int J of Soc Robotics. Springer Netherlands, June 2022 Notes: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12369-022-00881-2.

Prosser, LA, Aguirre, MO, Zhao, S., Bogen, DK, Pierce, SR, Nilan, KA, Zhang, H, Shofer, FS, Johnson, MJ : Infants at risk for physical disability may be identified by measures of postural control in supine Pediatric Research Nature Publishing Group 91(5): 1215-1221, Apr 2022 Notes: DOI: 10.1038/s41390-021-01617-0.

Mucchiani, C, Cacchione, P, Johnson, MJ, Mead, R, Yim, M : Deployment of a Socially Assistive Robot for Assessment of COVID-19 Symptoms and Exposure at an Elder Care Setting 30th IEEE International Conference on Robot & Human Interactive Communication (RO-MAN) IEEE, Page: 1189-1195, Aug 2021 Notes: doi: 10.1109/RO-MAN50785.2021.9515551.

Hu, S, Mendonca, R, Johnson, MJ, Kuchenbecker, KJ : Robotics for Occupational Therapy: Learning Upper-Limb Exercises From Demonstrations. IEEE Robotics and Automation Letters IEEE, 6(4): 7781-7788, Oct 2021 Notes: doi: 10.1109/LRA.2021.3098945.

Espinoza Bernal, Victor C; Hiremath, Shivayogi V; Wolf, Bethany; Riley, Brooke; Mendonca, Rochelle J; Johnson, Michelle J; : Classifying and tracking rehabilitation interventions through machine-learning algorithms in individuals with stroke Journal of Rehabilitation and Assistive Technologies Engineering SAGE Publications Sage UK: London, England 8, Sept 2021.

Stewart-Height, A, Koditschek, DE, Johnson, MJ: Reimagining robotic walkers for real-world outdoor play environments with insights from legged robots: a scoping review. Disability and Rehabilitation: Assistive Technology Taylor & Francis Page: 1-21, Jun 2021 Notes: DOI: 10.1080/17483107.2021.1926563.

back to top
Last updated: 12/21/2022
The Trustees of the University of Pennsylvania