Jocelyne Bloch

Jocelyne Bloch (born 1971) is a Swiss neuroscientist and a neurosurgeon at Lausanne University Hospital and at EPFL (École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne).[2][3]

Life

Bloch graduated in the Faculty of Medicine of Lausanne University in December 1994 and she obtained her neurosurgical degree in 2002.[4] Her area of expertise is deep brain stimulation and brain repair in relation to movement disorders.[5] In collaboration with EPFL, she is currently leading a clinical feasibility study that evaluates the therapeutic potential of this spinal cord stimulation technology, without a brain implant, to improve the walking ability in people with partial spinal cord injury affecting the lower limbs.[6]

Since 2019 she has also been an Adjunct Professor of neuroscience at EPFL.[3][7] Since 2019, Bloch together with Grégoire Courtine, leads the .Neurorestore Laboratory, jointly managed by the Lausanne University Hospital, the University of Lausanne, the Defitech Foundation and the EPFL.[8][9]

Bloch was awarded the Ronald Tasker Award (2019) of the World Society for Stereotactic and Functional Neurosurgery for her innovative research in neuromodulation and spinal cord repair.[10][11]

Paralysed but walking: Brain and spine implants help monkeys move again

The wireless brain and spine implants used could help paralysed people regain control of their bodies. Monkeys with spinal injuries that have left them paralysed are able to walk again through wireless implants in their brains and spines that bypass the damaged tissue. Scientists developed a brain-spinal interface to transmit neural signals from the brain to a site in the spinal cord downstream of the injury. Neurosurgeon Jocelyne Bloch of the Lausanne University Hospital, who surgically implanted the brain and spinal cord implants, says: “The link between the decoding of the brain and the stimulation of the spinal cord – to make this communication exist – is completely new”.[12]

References

1. ^ Brunschwig, Francine (2018-01-15). “Elle rêve de faire remarcher les paraplégiques”. 24heures.ch (in French). Retrieved 2022-02-09.
2. ^ Gallagher, James (2016-11-10). “‘Brain wi-fi’ reverses leg paralysis”. BBC News. Retrieved 2018-08-09.
3. ^ Jump up to:^{a b} “25 new professors appointed at the two Federal Institutes of Technology | ETH-Board”. www.ethrat.ch. Archived from the original on 2020-11-22. Retrieved 2021-02-15.
4. ^ “Jocelyne Bloch”. orcid. 2016-11-10. Retrieved 2018-08-10.
5. ^ “Jocelyne Bloch: After An Injury, Can The Brain Heal Itself?”. NPR.org. Retrieved 2018-08-09.
6. ^ “Primates Regain Control of Paralyzed Limb”. Laboratory Equipment. 2016-11-10. Retrieved 2018-08-09.
7. ^ “Jocelyne Bloch”. people.epfl.ch. Retrieved 2021-02-15.
8. ^ Barraud, Emmanuel (2019-05-12). “NeuroRestore Center: aimed at restoring lost neurological function”. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
9. ^ “NeuroRestore”. NeuroRestore. Retrieved 2021-02-15.
10. ^ “WSSFN | Awards”. wssfn. Retrieved 2022-06-22.
11. ^ Herbelin, Bruno (2019-02-07). “Prof Bloch wins the Tasker Prize 2019”. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
12. ^ Henriques, Martha (2016-11-09). “The brain and spine implants that help paralysed monkeys walk again”. International Business Times UK. Retrieved 2018-08-09.