Carlo J. DeLuca Award

My scientific journey began in 2015 at the University of Paris-Saclay, France, where I was awarded a PhD scholarship by the French Ministry of Research and collaborated with the French Institute of Sport. After these initial experiences, I sought international mobility to learn new methods and expand the scope of my knowledge. I spent two months at the University of Queensland in Brisbane, Australia, in the Department of Biomedical Science; two years at Northwestern University in Chicago, United States, in the Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation; and have been working at Imperial College London, United Kingdom, in the Department of Bioengineering for the past two years.

The overarching research goal of my early career is to understand how the nervous system coordinates its effectors, specifically the motor units, to produce movements in both health and disease. To achieve this, I employ experimental paradigms involving the tracking of the spiking activity of large samples of motor units during controlled and natural tasks. I also use Brain-Computer Interface-based tasks where participants attempt to control the spiking activity of their motor units in real-time. On the application side, I am exploring new ways for patients to interface with external devices and virtual environments using the residual activity of their motor units.