Louis N. Awad

About

Louis N. Awad, PT, DPT, PhD, serves as the Director of the Boston University Neuromotor Recovery Laboratory (NRL) within the Sargent College of Health & Rehabilitation Sciences. The NRL team, under his leadership, comprises clinicians, engineers, and researchers from diverse disciplines and training stages, all collaborating to advance the science and art of neurorehabilitation. Professor Awad's work and the laboratory's research have been recognized in various forums, including features in BU Engineer magazine and acknowledgments as part of Simbex's 25 Icons & Innovators. The lab's projects include innovative developments such as a soft and hybrid robotic exosuit neuroprosthesis (reNeu) and music-based digital therapeutics, reflecting a focus on cutting-edge neuroscience applications to improve everyday function and recovery. Professor Awad actively recruits highly qualified research fellows and students with advanced clinical or quantitative training to join the NRL, emphasizing leadership in rehabilitation research.

Research topics

• Medicine
• Physical therapy
• Physical medicine and rehabilitation
• Psychology
• Engineering
• Artificial Intelligence
• Neuroscience
• Computer Science
• Embedded system
• Nursing

Selected publications

• Opportunities and challenges in the development of exoskeletons for locomotor assistance

  Nature Biomedical Engineering · 2022 · 218 citations

  DOI

• The ReWalk ReStore™ soft robotic exosuit: a multi-site clinical trial of the safety, reliability, and feasibility of exosuit-augmented post-stroke gait rehabilitation

  Journal of NeuroEngineering and Rehabilitation · 2020 · 174 citations

  1st authorCorresponding

  BACKGROUND: Atypical walking in the months and years after stroke constrain community reintegration and reduce mobility, health, and quality of life. The ReWalk ReStore™ is a soft robotic exosuit designed to assist the propulsion and ground clearance subtasks of post-stroke walking by actively assisting paretic ankle plantarflexion and dorsiflexion. Previous proof-of-concept evaluations of the technology demonstrated improved gait mechanics and energetics and faster and farther walking in users…

  DOI

• Walking Faster and Farther With a Soft Robotic Exosuit: Implications for Post-Stroke Gait Assistance and Rehabilitation

  IEEE Open Journal of Engineering in Medicine and Biology · 2020 · 105 citations

  1st authorCorresponding

  OBJECTIVE: Soft robotic exosuits can improve the mechanics and energetics of walking after stroke. Building on this prior work, we evaluated the effects of the first prototype of a portable soft robotic exosuit. METHODS: Exosuit-induced changes in the overground walking speed, distance, and energy expenditure of individuals post-stroke were evaluated statistically with alpha set to 0.05 and compared to minimal clinically important difference scores. RESULTS: 5kg exosuit did not substantially mod…

  DOI

• Toward Neuroscience of the Everyday World (NEW) using functional near-infrared spectroscopy

  Current Opinion in Biomedical Engineering · 2021 · 71 citations

  DOI

• Lightweight active back exosuit reduces muscular effort during an hour-long order picking task

  Communications Engineering · 2024-02-23 · 26 citations

  articleOpen access

  Abstract Occupational back exoskeletons and exosuits aim to reduce low back injuries in the workplace. For these technologies to be adopted, it is important that they provide biomechanical benefits to the wearer and do not disrupt job performance. To address this challenge, here we developed a lightweight, soft, active back exosuit that can autonomously control virtual impedance to apply differing assistance during lowering and lifting. In usability tests, participants rated the exosuit as easy…

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

Recent grants

• SCH: Multimodal,Task-Aware Movement Assessment and Control: Clinic to Home

  NIH · $873k · 2019–2024

• SCH: Multimodal,Task-Aware Movement Assessment and Control: Clinic to Home

  NIH · $290k · 2019–2023

Frequent coauthors

• Conor J. Walsh

  Harvard University

  63 shared

• Karen J. Nolan

  Rutgers New Jersey Medical School

  46 shared

• Ryan T. Pohlig

  University of Delaware

  45 shared

• Brian Harris

  44 shared

• Arun Jayaraman

  Shirley Ryan AbilityLab

  42 shared

• Sabrina R. Taylor

  40 shared

• Paolo Bonato

  Harvard University

  40 shared

• Michael D. Lewek

  University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

  40 shared

Labs

• Neuromotor Recovery LaboratoryPI

Education

• Postdoctoral Fellow, School of Engineering and Applied Sciences

  Harvard University

  2016

• PhD, Biomechanics and Movement Science

  University of Delaware

  2014

• Doctor of Physical Therapy, Physical Therapy

  University of Delaware

  2011

• BS, Exercise Science

  Rutgers University

  2008

Similar researchers at Boston University

• Stephan Andersonh-56
• Sarah Allenh-29
• Panagiotis Andrianesish-12