Prof. em. Dr. med. Volker Dietz FRCP, FEAN

Volker Dietz, neurologist, is the former Head of the Spinal Cord Injury Centre and of the Chair for Paraplegiology at the University of Zürich. His research is focused on the physiological basis of motor control and movement disorders in stroke and spinal cord injury. It was associated with fellowships in the National Institute for Neurology, Queen Square, London and in the Institute of the Problems of Information Transmission of the Academy of Sciences, Moskow His main achievements were: 1. to create the European network of paraplegic centers (EMSCI; 2. the translation of Nogo-antibodies in the clinical application (phase I, with Martin Schwab and the Novartis company); and, 3. the establishment of neurorehabilitation technology (development of the assistive device ‘Lokomat’ with G Colombo; spin-off company ‘Hocoma’).

Dr. Dietz published more than four hundred original papers (H-index 114), edited 4 Handbooks, received highly recognized honors and awards. As emeritus Professor he continues his research at the University Hospital Balgrist in Zürich towards the neural basis of functional movements with the aim to develop of new training approaches, such as locomotor and functional hand training for patients suffering a stroke.