Meir Plotnik, PhD
Email: meir.plotnik@sheba.health.gov.il
Phone: Israel 052-666-8506 International +972-52-666-8506
Position: Scientific Director, Center for Advanced Technologies in Rehabilitation
Areas of Expertise: Neurophysiology
Education: PhD, Physiology
Residencies and Further Training
2012 – Present Scientific Director, Center for Advanced Technologies, Rehabilitation Hospital, Chaim Sheba Medical Center, Tel Hashomer, Israel
2010 – Present Assistant Professor, Senior Lecturer, Department of Physiology and Pharmacology, Sackler School of Medicine, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel
2006 – Present Teaching Associate, School for Health Occupations, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel
2003 – 2012 Senior Researcher, Laboratory for Gait and Neurodynamics, Tel Aviv Medical Center Teaching Associate, School for Health Occupations, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel
2002 – 2003 Instructor, Dept. of Neurobiology, Pharmacology and Physiology, University of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois, USA
1998 – 2002 Postdoctoral Fellow, Dept. of Neurobiol, Pharmacol and Physiol, University of Chicago Instructor, Dept. of Neurobiology, Pharmacology and Physiology, University of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois, USA
1993 – 1998 Teaching Assistant, Dept. of Physiology, Hebrew University Medical School, Jerusalem, Israel
Affiliations:
Center of Advanced Technologies in Rehabilitation (CATR), Sheba Medical Center, Ramat Gan, Israel
Sagol School of Neuroscience, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel
Department of Physiology and Pharmacology, Sackler Faculty of Medicine, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel
Research Interests: Gait and balance, Virtual reality, Parkinson’s disease, Neurocognitive tests, Motor execution
Publications
Here is a link to the publications of Dr. Meir Plotnik.
Research Grants and Awards:
|
Years |
Investigator (Principal/ other) |
Granted by Institute/Company |
Subject |
Total Amount |
|
1988-1992 (4 Years) |
Fellowship |
Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel. |
Sponsored student in the program for fostering excellence, the interdisciplinary course. |
NIS 24,000. |
|
1988-2001 (3 Years) |
Fellowship |
The National Institute of Health (NIH). Bethesda, MA, USA. |
Training grant, Dept. Otolaryngology, University of Chicago Hospital. Vestibular Efferent System. |
$83,000. |
|
2002-2003 (2 Years) |
PI |
The National Institute of Health (NIH). Bethesda, MA, USA. Grant # RO3 DC05322-01. |
Vestibular Efferent Mechanisms in the Chinchilla. |
$150,000. |
|
2005 (1 Year) |
PI |
Israel Ministry of Health and the Inheritance fund in the Israeli Justice Ministry, Jerusalem, Israel. |
Mechanisms underlying the freezing of gait phenomenon in patients with Parkinson’s disease. |
NIS 80,000. |
|
2005 (1 Year) |
PI |
Parkinson's Disease Foundation (PDF). Miami, FL, USA. |
The relation between bilateral coordination and freezing of gait in Parkinson’s disease. |
$40,000. |
|
2005-2008 (3 Years) |
PI |
National Parkinson's Foundation (NPF). New York, NY, USA. |
Bilateral motor control mechanisms and their relationship to the freezing of gait phenomenon in patients with Parkinson's disease. |
$90,000. |
|
2008-2011 (3 Years) |
PI |
Israel Ministry of Veteran affairs. Jerusalem, Israel. |
Mechanisms of bilateral coordination of gait, and their effects on gait disturbances and falls, in the elderly population. |
NIS 300,000. |
|
2009-2012 (3 Years) |
PI |
Tel Aviv Sourasky Medical Center. The program for fostering excellent researchers. Tel Aviv, Israel. |
Evaluation, diagnosis and treatment of freezing of gait. |
$75,000. |
|
2011 |
PI |
Michael Jay Fox Foundation for research of Parkinson's disease. |
Biofeedback-based motor learning to ameliorate freezing of gait. |
$75,000. |
|
2011 – 2014 |
Co- Investigator – Until 2012 |
European Union Program FP7-ICT-2011-7 Program |
Closed loop system for personalized and at home rehabilitation of people with Parkinson's Disease (CuPiD). |
EURO 312,000. |
|
2013-2014 |
PI |
National Multiple Sclerosis Society |
Neuropathogenesis of impairments in bilateral coordination of gait in persons with multiple sclerosis. |
$100,000. |
|
2013 |
Co PI. |
The Mariana and George Saia Fund For the study of Parkinson's disease and HIV |
Extraction of Kinematic motion Features for enhanced Parkinson Diseases analysis using Kinect. |
$5,000 |
|
2014 |
PI |
The Refael Rozin Research Fund |
Effects of differential bilateral arm swinging on gait coordination. |
NIS 5,000 |
|
2015 |
PI |
Gassner Fund for Medical Research in Memory of Mr. Yitzchak Gassner |
Development of innovative technologies for preventing falls in elderly participants.
|
NIS 40,000 |
|
2015-2019 (4 Years program) |
PI (10 EU members consortium). |
European Union H2020 Marie Skłodowska-Curie program |
Perception and Action in Complex Environments (PACE). |
EURO 262,000 |
|
2015-2018 (3 Years program) |
PI (8 EU members consortium). |
European Union H2020 Research and Innovation Action (RIA) |
ICT 22(b) – 2014: Multimodal and Natural Computer Interaction Multimedia Authoring and Management using your Eyes and Mind (MAMEM). |
EURO 360,000 |
|
2015-2018 (3 Years program) |
PI Collaboration with the Physics department in Bar Ilan University. |
Ministry of Science and Technology – "Science Technology and Innovation for the Population in the Third Age". |
Algorithms development for the analysis of physiological networks for fall prevention in elderly subjects with and without neurological disease while using virtual reality environment" |
NIS 1,114,000. |
|
2015-2016 |
PI Collaboration with the Heller Warrior Health Research Institute (co-PI – Prof. Yuval Heled).. |
Ministry of Defense, The Israel Defense Force (IDF) – Medical Core. |
Evaluation of physical and cognitive performance after simulated road march combines physical and cognitive load using a virtual reality equipment. |
NIS 75,000. |
|
|
||||
|
2015-2019 |
PI |
Ministry of Science and Technology – "Science, Technology and Innovation for the Elderly Population” |
Algorithm development for the analysis of physiological networks for fall prevention in elderly participants with and without neurological disease using a virtual reality environment. |
NIS 1,140,000 |
|
2016-2019 |
PI |
German Israeli Foundation for Scientific Research and Development (GIF) |
Pathogenesis of neural mechanisms associated with the freezing of gait phenomenon in Parkinson's disease. |
EURO 180,000 |
|
2016-2020 |
PI |
Israel Science Foundation (ISF) |
Studying the dynamics of neurophysiological network interactions predisposing freezing of gait in Parkinson's disease using virtual reality. |
NIS 1,112,000 |
|
2018-2020 |
PI |
Israel Ministry of Health Translational Science Program |
Combining electroencephalography and motion sensor-based biofeedback to alleviate freezing of gait and fall prevention in Parkinson's disease |
NIS 300,000 |
|
2019-2020 |
Co-PI |
Promobilia Fund (Sweden). |
Novel ways of improving an active life of chronically ill cardiac patients at home: the HFMONITORING@HOME project |
SEK 150,000 |
|
2019-2021 |
PI |
Ministry of Defense, The Israel Defense force (IDF) – Medical Core. |
Evaluation of physiological-cognitive-autonomic interaction during combat-related physical strains in a virtual reality environment. |
NIS 145,000 |
|
2020-2022 |
Co-PI |
Alzheimer's Association |
Novel Virtual Reality Method to distinguish Apathy from Depression in the Context of Dementia |
USD 249,810 |
|
2020-2024 |
PI |
Binational Science Fund |
Mobile cognition- novel virtual reality based paradigm to study cognitive – motor interactions in the context of fall risk in ageing |
USD 320,000 |
|
2021-2024 |
PI |
Israel Ministry of Science and Technologies |
Leveraging deep learning, virtual reality and miniaturized wearable sensors for the diagnosis of cognitive-motor impairments in health and disease. |
1,450,000 NIS |
Awards
|
1993 |
Award: Tel Aviv University, Sackler School of Medicine. Occasion: Conferring PhD and M.Sc. Degrees ceremony. M.Sc Cum Laude. |
|
1996 |
Scholarship: European Science Foundation. Brussels, Belgium. Participation in special course: “The representation of space”. Held by the European Neuroscience Program, Barcelona, Spain.
|
|
2001 |
Award: The Association for Research in Otolaryngology (ARO). Occasion 24th Mid-Winter meeting of The Association for Research in Otolaryngology St. Petersburg Florida, USA. Travel award for Graduate Student/Post-doc. $500. |
|
2005 |
Award: American Geriatrics Society, Annual Scientific meeting. Orlando, Florida, USA. Selected paper- presidential session.
|
|
2007 |
Award: Tel Sourasky Aviv Medical Center. Tel Aviv, Israel. "Current Research for Future Application Bi-Annual research days. Awarded poster presentation (shared with Prof. N Giladi and Prof. JM Hausdorff). 3000NIS.
|
|
2009 |
Award: 3rd International Conference on Pervasive Computing Technologies for Healthcare, London, UK. Best paper award.
|
|
2009 |
Award: 4th International conference on Body Area Networks, Los Angeles, CA, USA. Best paper award.
|
|
2017 |
Best Student presentation to Mr. Cano Porras (PhD student – under my supervision). 2017 International Conference on Virtual Rehabilitation (ICVR), Montreal, Canada, June 19-22, 2017. |
|
2018 |
Best research paper award- Sheba Medical Center Research day, May 2nd, 2018 |
|
2019 |
Best Student presentation to Mr. Oran Ben Gal (MSc student). 2019 International Conference on Virtual Rehabilitation (ICVR), Tel Aviv, Israel, July 21-24, 2019. |
