The Neuromuscular Systems Lab is made up of research staff and students who bring a diverse and complementary range of skills and expertise to addressing our research questions. We are based in the School of Electrical & Electronic Engineering in University College Dublin (UCD), team members are also associated with the Science Foundation Ireland Insight Centre for Data Analytics in Science in UCD and CÚRAM Centre for Research in Medical Devices. We have a wide network of collaborators including
Madeleine Lowery is a Professor in the School of Electrical and Electronic Engineering at UCD where she leads an interdisciplinary research team in the area of Neuromuscular Systems and Neural Engineering. Her research interests include electromyography, bioelectromagnetics, myoelectric control of artificial limbs, electrical stimulation, deep brain stimulation and neural control of movement.
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Emer Doheny is a Lecturer/Assistant Professor and an Ad Astra Fellow with the Neuromuscular Systems group, and the Insight Centre for Data Analytics. Her research applies signal processing and machine learning methods to inertial and mobile sensor data to quantify sleep, respiration and movement, with applications in neurodegenerative disease management and remote monitoring during COVID-19. Emer holds a BE in Electronic Engineering (2003) and a PhD in Biomedical Engineering (2008), both from UCD. Following a year as a postdoctoral researcher, she spent eight years in the medical devices industry, before returning to academia in 2017.
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Sigrid Dupan is a SFI Fellow with the Neuromuscular Systems Group. Her main research interest involves understanding how the brain enables new movements, and how this can aid the progress in myoelectric controlled prostheses. She focuses on real-time control of prosthetic limbs, electrotactile stimulation, electromyography, and signal processing. She holds an MSc in Bioengineering (Trinity College Dublin, 2014), and a PhD in Neuroscience (Radboud University Nijmegen, 2018). Following post-doctoral positions at Newcastle University and The University of Edinburgh, she was awarded an SFI-IRC Pathway Fellowship in 2022 to study sensory feedback for upper limb prosthetics.
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Dr Judith Evers is a Lecturer/Assistant Professor (Ad Astra Fellow) at UCD School of Veterinary Medicine and leads the preclinical neuromodulation research undertaken in the Neuromuscular Systems Lab.
Her research focuses on preclinical models of neuromodulation therapies. Her current research interests include the electrode-tissue interface of stimulation electrodes, deep brain stimulation for Parkinson's Disease, the implementation of novel closed-loop or adaptive stimulation algorithms, novel stimulation targets for neuromodulation therapies and non-invasive neuromodulation.
Judith holds a degree in veterinary medicine from Leipzig University, Germany. She worked in the equine sector for 2 years before undertaking her PhD in translational medicine at UCD School of Medicine. Judith joined the Neuromuscular Systems Lab as a postdoctoral researcher in 2017. She holds a Research Ireland Pathway Fellowship Award.
Jakub (Kuba) Orłowski is a postdoctoral researcher with the Neuromuscular Systems Group, working on closed-loop brain stimulation for Parkinson’s disease.
Kuba holds a master’s degree in Neuroinformatics from the University of Warsaw and a PhD in Control Theory from the University of Paris-Saclay. Before pursuing an academic career, he worked for six years in IT as a network administrator and programmer.
Syeda Madiha is a Postdoctoral Research Fellow in the Neuromuscular Systems Group at UCD, working under the supervision of Dr. Judith Evers. Her research focuses on investigating disease modification through deep brain stimulation in a progressive rodent model of Parkinson’s disease, contributing to the development of innovative neuromodulation strategies. Before this role, she was a Postdoctoral Researcher in the Department of Neurology at the University Hospital of Würzburg, Germany, where she explored the neuroprotective mechanisms of deep brain stimulation in Parkinson’s disease. She holds a PhD in Biochemistry from the University of Karachi, Pakistan. During her doctoral research, she investigated the behavioural, biochemical, and neurochemical aspects of Parkinson’s disease, specifically exploring the antiparkinsonian properties of nutritional supplements in a rat PD model. She is dedicated to advancing therapeutic approaches for Parkinson’s disease.
Wenting Shu is a Postdoctoral Research Fellow in the Neuromuscular Systems Research Lab at University College Dublin (UCD). Her research focuses on computational modelling of transcranial ultrasound stimulation of neurons within deep brain structures, contributing to the development of novel neuromodulation approaches for treating neurodegenerative diseases, including Parkinson’s disease.
Prior to this role, she was a PhD candidate in Biomedical Engineering at the UCD School of Mechanical and Materials Engineering, where she conducted a numerical and experimental investigation of microneedle penetration and its interaction with skin to advance transdermal drug delivery.
Rui Wu is a postdoctoral researcher with the Neuromuscular Systems Group. She is working on a research project using a non-invasive wearable system to estimate acute changes in glucose levels in type 1 diabetes.
Rui holds an MSc in Sports and Exercise Management (2013) and a PhD in Sports Science (2018) both from University College Dublin.
Afua Appiah is a PhD student in the Neuromuscular Systems Lab under the supervision of Dr. Emer Doheny. Her research focuses on the non-motor aspects of Parkinson’s disease, specifically investigating swallowing function, respiration, and sleep. She utilizes surface electromyography (sEMG) and accelerometry (ACC) to assess physiological function and applies advanced signal processing techniques and data-driven analysis to study neuromuscular activity. Afua holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Biomedical Engineering from Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST), Ghana, and a Master of Science degree in Biomedical Engineering from Università Politecnica della Marche (UNIVPM), Italy.
Seda Aksoy is a PhD student with the Neuromuscular Systems Research Group, under the supervision of Prof. Madeleine Lowery. Her research focuses on computational modelling and closed-loop control of deep brain stimulation in Parkinson’s disease and is supported by Research Ireland.
She holds a Bachelor's and Master's degree in Biomedical Engineering from Yeditepe University, Istanbul. Before her PhD, she worked on the development of optical diagnostic devices and embedded systems, gaining experience in programming, hardware-software integration, and medical device technologies.
Valentina has a Bachelor's degree in Biomedical Engineering from Alma Mater Studiorum – Università di Bologna (Italy) and a Master's degree in Bioengineering with a curriculum in Neuroengineering and Neurotechnologies from Università degli Studi di Genova (Italy).
She is currently pursuing a PhD with the Neuromuscular Systems Research Group, under the supervision of Prof. Madeleine Lowery and funded by Taighde Éireann – Research Ireland. Her research focuses on speech and electromyography (EMG) in patients undergoing deep brain stimulation (DBS) for Parkinson’s disease.
ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0000-5135-7972
Felix is a PhD student in the Neuromuscular Systems Research Lab working on sensory feedback in upper-limb prosthetics with Dr. Sigrid Dupan. His project focuses on investigating the applications of electrotactile feedback in both initial learning and everyday use of prosthetic devices.
Felix possesses a bachelor’s degree in Bionics Engineering and a master’s degree in Cognitive Neuroscience. Prior to his PhD he briefly worked as a clinical researcher investigating movement-tracking methods for patients undergoing gait rehabilitation.
Jeremy has an ME in Biomedical Engineering from University College Dublin and an Engineering Degree in Electrical Engineering from ENSEA, France.
After working as a research assistant for 3 years within the group, he is currently pursuing a PhD degree. His research focuses on the use of high-density electromyography to study the effects of deep brain stimulation on motor control strategies in people with Parkinson’s disease.
ORCID : https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1540-4054
Sean holds a Bachelor's degree in Neuroscience and a Masters (by Research) in Neuro-oncology from Trinity College Dublin. He is now pursuing a PhD in the Neuromuscular Systems Group, under the supervision of Dr. Judith Evers, focussing on preclinical models of Parkinson’s disease and the implementation of deep brain stimulation algorithms in rodents. In particular, he is elucidating the effects of DBS on both motor and non-motor symptoms of Parkinson’s. His research is supported by Science Foundation Ireland (SFI).
Prarthana Saikia is a PhD student in the Neuromuscular Systems Lab at University College Dublin, working under the supervision of Prof. Madeleine Lowery. Her research focuses on the development of implantable neural interfaces for intracortical brain-computer interfaces. She is currently developing a computational model to investigate how electrode properties, such as the electrode-tissue interface, affect long-term neural recordings. Her research is supported by Taighde Éireann-Research Ireland.
Prarthana holds a B.E. in Electronics and Telecommunications and an M.Tech. in Communication and Signal Processing, both from institutions in India.
Caoimhe Byrne is a Research Assistant with the Neuromuscular Systems Research Group, supervised by Professor Madeleine Lowery. She holds a BSc and ME in Biomedical Engineering from UCD and completed a Graduate Programme at DePuy Synthes, Cork, where she worked as a Project Engineer.
Currently, she is involved in the Closed-loop Deep Brain Stimulation (DBS) for Parkinson’s Disease project, funded by Science Foundation Ireland. She has also contributed to research on neural activation during DBS in collaboration with Boston Scientific, supported by Enterprise Ireland. In addition to her research, she assists PhD and Postdoctoral colleagues with experimental work, data analysis, and technical resource management within the lab.
Imma Ceriello was born in Avellino, Italy, in 1995. She holds a Bachelor's Degree in Biomedical Engineering from the University of Naples Federico II and a Master’s Degree in Rehabilitation Engineering and Biomaterials from the University of Genoa, both awarded with honours. She also completed a 2nd Level Professional Master’s in Research in Movement Sciences at the University of Verona.
Currently, she is a PhD candidate in Human Movement and Sport Sciences at the University of Rome “Foro Italico,” focusing on neuromuscular mechanisms underlying motor coordination in older adults. Since February 2025, she has been a Visiting PhD Student at University College Dublin (UCD), working with the Neuromuscular Systems Research Group.
ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0002-9575-9089