Scientific Advisory Board
HoustonBionics’ Scientific Advisory Board members are highly respected and accomplished thought leaders from academia, clinical practice, and commercial healthcare organizations.
Marcia O’Malley, Ph.D.
Associate Dean for Research and Innovation
Thomas Michael Panos Family Professor in Mechanical Engineering
Rice University
Dr. O’Malley leads the Mechatronics and Haptic Interfaces Lab, and her research at Rice University focuses on the issues that arise when humans physically interact with robotic systems. She is one of the leading researchers in robotic rehabilitation and haptics interaction with more than 300 publications with an h-index of 41. Dr. O’Malley is a Thomas Michael Panos Family Professor in Mechanical Engineering while also serving as the Associate Dean for Research and Innovation for the George R. Brown School of Engineering.
Nuray Yozbatiran PT, Ph.D.
Associate Professor for Research
Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation at McGovern Medical School at UTHealth.
Dr. Yozbatiran has been involved in clinical studies emphasizing recovery of upper-limb functions after stroke and spinal cord injury by using robotic exoskeletons, neuromodulation techniques i.e.,transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS), and transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) and Vagus nerve stimulation (VNS) and used functional MRI and diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) to study the mechanism of recovery. With more than 50 internationally cited publications, Dr. Yozbatiran has been a trailblazer in the research of development and optimization of treatment protocols for rehabilitation of upper-limb movements in persons with stroke, spinal cord injury, and traumatic brain injury.
Engin Cakar, M.D., Prof. Dr.
Chair
Stroke Focused Neuro-recovery Center
Memorial HealthCare Group
Ozkan Celik, Ph.D.
Sr. Robotics Researcher
Applied Materials