Dr. Shelly Levy-Tzedek (pictured left) from BGU's Department of Physical Therapy and the Zlotowski Center for Neuroscience has been offered a Senior Fellowship in the Marie Skłodowska-Curie FRIAS COFUND Fellowship Programme (FCFP) for 3 months in the 2018/19 academic year.
Every year a number of fellows from all disciplines are given the opportunity of spending three to twelve months working on their own research project at the Freiburg Institute for Advanced Studies (FRIAS). Since its inauguration in 2008, more than 550 fellows have stayed at FRIAS. The Institute supports internationally outstanding researchers with academically excellent and innovative research projects through individual or group fellowships. FRIAS unites research in the humanities and social sciences, the natural and life sciences, engineering and medicine. It is the philosophy of FRIAS to support the career development of its fellows by integrating them into ambitious research communities in Freiburg, as well as by supporting the international network of FRIAS fellows and alumni.
The Marie S. Curie FCFP is intended for current or future leaders in their fields. The fellowships are awarded through a highly competitive, strictly merit-based selection process – around 20% of eligible applications. The Fellowship is co-financed by the European Union through the Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme “Marie Skłodowska-Curie Action, People, Co-funding of regional, national and international programs (COFUND)" and the state of Baden-Wurttemberg.
During her sojourn in Germany, Dr. Levy-Tzedek will study, in collaboration with Dr. Oliver Müller and Dr. Philipp Kellmeyer, the ethical aspects of integrating robotics into rehabilitation after stroke. This research is expected to provide the basis for an interdisciplinary discussion on the appropriate ways to incorporate technology in everyday life, with an emphasis on populations such as healthy older adults and patients after stroke. As part of the collaboration, the researchers will host a regional conference in which researchers from various disciplines will discuss these topics.
In recent years, Levy-Tzedek has headed The Cognition, Aging and Rehabilitation Lab in BGU's Faculty of Health Sciences examining the effects of age and disease (in particular, Parkinson's disease & stroke) on the control of body movement, and how to best employ robotics to facilitate a fast and efficient rehabilitation process.
She takes a multi-disciplinary approach to her studies: the students on her team come from varied backgrounds, including physical therapy, engineering and psychology, and she collaborates with faculty members from Israel, Canada, England, the United States and Germany who come from diverse fields such as Industrial Engineering, Psychology, Computer Science, Robotics, Education and Philosophy.
Her work is supported by several grants from various sources, including the ISF (Israeli Science Foundation), the Swedish Promobilia rehabilitation foundation, and the Leir, Bronfman and Borten foundations in the US.
