Prof. Dr. Olaf Blanke
Olaf Blanke is founding director of the Center for Neuroprosthetics and holds the Bertarelli Foundation Chair in Cognitive Neuroprosthetics at the Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL). He directs the Laboratory of Cognitive Neuroscience at EPFL and is Professor of Neurology at the University Hospital of Geneva. His research focuses on the neuroscientific study of consciousness and the development of cognitive neuroprostheses. He investigates the brain mechanisms of body awareness, combining psychophysical and cognitive paradigms with all major neuroimaging techniques. He has pioneered the use of engineering techniques such as robotics, haptics, virtual reality, and their full integration with behavioral and physiological recordings (including MRI-compatible robotics), leading to the new research field of cognetics: the field of robotics and digital technologies dedicated to neuroscience research in cognition and consciousness studies. His clinical research projects focus on developing new diagnostic and therapeutic approaches exploring Robotics in neuropsychiatry and Digiceuticals.