School of Medical and Health Sciences

Professor Dylan Edwards

At ECU, Professor Edwards is the Director of NeuroRehabilitation and Robotics Laboratory which has several lines of research addressing recovery of functional movement in humans following neurological damage caused by stroke, spinal cord injury, or other neurological conditions. In addition, Professor Edwards leads the Moss Rehabilitation Research Institute (MRRI) in Philadelphia, PA, US. MRRI consists of 10 laboratories/programs and it is part of a US top 10 rehabilitation hospital, MossRehab. At MRRI, Professor Edwards is also Director of the Human Motor Recovery Laboratory, which aims to understand the basis of motor symptoms and motor recovery in order to inform and develop rehabilitation treatment strategies. He is dedicated to translating basic science findings in neurologically healthy people to develop and evaluate novel, clinically-relevant approaches for neurological assessment and neurorehabilitation in stroke and spinal cord injury using non-invasive stimulation, neuromodulation, robotics, combinatorial therapies, and neuroimaging. He is also known for designing and testing telerehabilitation  approaches for motor recovery after stroke.

Professor Edwards previously led a successful long-standing collaboration between Harvard Medical School, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and Burke-Cornell Neurological Institute, to bridge engineering, neurology, and rehabilitation medicine. This cross-disciplinary collaboration resulted in scientific advancements in rehabilitation outcome predictors, non-invasive brain stimulation techniques, and rehabilitation robotics, in method as well as application, and his research continues in these areas today.

Professor Edwards is a leader in the field of neurorehabilitation, having served two terms (6 years) on the board of directors, and also the strategic planning committee, for the American Society for Neurorehabilitation. In recognition of his expertise in advanced neuroimaging and noninvasive brain stimulation, Professor Edwards is a scientific advisor for the renowned Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging at Massachusetts General Hospital, supporting the Center’s work developing the next generation of neuroscience research tools. He has extensive educational leadership and administration experience, including teaching in and co-leading a successful Continuing Medical Education course at Harvard Medical School for 10 years, and serving on the Data and Safety Monitoring Board for Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and Harvard Medical School. In addition, Professor Edwards has led multiple international meetings and symposia, including an international meeting on the State of the Science in Post-Stroke Motor Recovery at ECU, the inaugural NYC Neuromodulation Symposium, the New York Rehabilitation Robotics Symposium, and the MRRI/MossRehab International Symposia on Rehabilitation Robotics.

He has over 100 publications and has given over 120 invited lectures, including presentations at the US Institute of Medicine (National Academy of Sciences) and the US National Institute of Health. He has also been an invited expert on the international technical training standards committee for non-invasive brain stimulation (International Federation for Clinical Neurophysiology) and on rehabilitation robotics for the US Food and Drug Administration. Professor Edwards has served as the principal investigator or co-investigator on several national and international grants and commissions.

Professional Associations

• American Society for Neurorehabilitation
• Harvard Medical School - Data and Safety Monitoring Board Member
• Journal of Neuroengineering and Rehabilitation - Editorial Board Member
• Neurorehabilitation and Neural Repair - Editorial Board Member

Awards and Recognition

• 2021 Advisor, Center for Mesoscale Mapping (NIH-P41), MGH/HST Athinoula A. Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging, Massachusetts General Hospital
• 2021 Co-Chair, Robotics Special Interest Group, World Federation for Neurorehabilitation
• 2018 Strategic Planning Committee, American Society for Neurorehabilitation
• 2017 Membership Committee Chair, American Society for Neurorehabilitation
• 2016 NIH/NINDS, NSD-A Translational Program, Invited Reviewer, Chicago, June.
• 2016 NIH/NIMH, Obama- White House, Brain Initiative, Invited Expert Reviewer, Washington DC.
• 2016 International Federation for Clinical Neurophysiology (IFCN) Invited Committee Member for Training Guidelines in Noninvasive Brain Stimulation.
• 2015 NIH/NICHD Special Emphasis Panel: Interventions for Stroke.
• 2013 ‘State of the Science’ Address on Transcranial Brain Stimulation, by invitation, The United States Institute of Medicine, The National Academy of Sciences.
• 2013 New York Science Leaders' discussion by invitation, Aust Governor General, New York Academy of Sciences.
• 2013 Clinical Award, Advancement of Neuromodulation Clinical Trials. New York City Neuromodulation International Meeting.
• 2012 Appointed to the Board of Directors, American Society of Neurorehabilitation.
• 2007 Science and Innovation Awards, Neuromuscular Research, Dept. Ind. & Res., Govt Western Australia.
• 2007 Science and Innovation Awards, Neuromuscular Research, Dept. Ind. & Res., Govt Western Australia.
• 2006 Science and Innovation Award, Neuromuscular Research, Dept. Ind. & Res., Govt. Western Australia.
• 2004 Clinical Research Fellowship, Studies of Non-invasive Brain Stimulation, The Fac.Med.Dent, The University of Western Australia.
• 2004 Whitfield Fellowship Award, Studies of Non-invasive Brain Stimulation, The Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry, The University of Western Australia.

Research Areas and Interests

• Motor rehabilitation following neurological damage.
• Promoting Neuroplasticity.
• Non-invasive brain stimulation techniques.
• Rehabilitation robotics.
• Telerehabilitation.