Basmajian Lectureship

John V. Basmajian earned his medical degree from the University of Toronto in 1945. Following this, he continued to achieve many notable accomplishments, including his pioneering work in electromyography and biofeedback techniques. He was known as an anatomist, electromyographer and clinical scientist.  Dr. Basmajian scientific achievements were recognized by the Canadian Government in 1995 when he was appointed an Officer of the Order of Canada. He published over 400 scientific articles, presented lectures at more than 100 universities across the globe and published books in multiple languages. John had a genuine interest in public service and was known for his silent philanthropy. His contributions were focused on their potential to benefit others, rather than being a pursuit for recognition. Dr. Basmajian was one of the founding members of ISEK in 1965 and is recognized for his efforts as the “Father of EMG Biofeedback Therapy”. In 1996 he was honored with a lectureship in his name: the Basmajian Lectureship.  John V. Basmajian passed away on March 18, 2008, but his legacy remains fundamental in its field and he will be remembered as a remarkable scholar and human being.

Dario Farina is Full Professor and Chair in Neurorehabilitation Engineering at the Department of Bioengineering of Imperial College London, UK. At Imperial College, he is also Director of the Network of Excellence in Rehabilitation Technologies and of the Imperial-Meta Wearable Neural Interfaces Research Centre. He has previously been Full Professor at Aalborg University, Aalborg, Denmark, (until 2010) and at the University Medical Center Göttingen, Georg-August University, Germany, where he founded and directed the Department of Neurorehabilitation Systems (2010-2016). Among other awards, he holds a Honorary Doctorate degree in Medicine from Aalborg University, Denmark, and has been the recipient of the IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society (EMBS) Early Career Achievement Award, the Royal Society Wolfson Research Merit Award, the IEEE EMBS Technical Achievement Award. His research focuses on biomedical signal processing, neurorehabilitation technology, and neural control of movement. Professor Farina has been the President of the International Society of Electrophysiology and Kinesiology (ISEK) (2012-2014) and is currently the Editor-in-Chief of the official Journal of this Society, the Journal of Electromyography and Kinesiology, and an Editor for many other international Journals, including Science Advances and IEEE Transactions on Biomedical Engineering. He has been elected Fellow IEEE, AIMBE, ISEK, EAMBES, AAIA, Sigma Xi.