Jocelyne Bloch facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Jocelyne Bloch
|
|
|---|---|
Jocelyne Bloch in 2019
|
|
| Born | 1968 (age 56–57) |
| Nationality | Swiss |
| Education | Medicine |
| Alma mater | Lausanne University |
| Occupation | Neurosurgeon Neuroscientist |
| Known for | Neurorehabilitation |
| Scientific career | |
| Institutions | Lausanne University Hospital EPFL (École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne) |
| Thesis | (1994) |
Jocelyne Bloch (born 1968) is a very talented Swiss doctor. She is a neuroscientist, meaning she studies the brain and nervous system. She is also a neurosurgeon, which means she performs operations on the brain and spinal cord. She works at the Lausanne University Hospital and at EPFL, a famous university in Switzerland.
Contents
Dr. Bloch's Journey
Jocelyne Bloch finished medical school at Lausanne University in December 1994. She then became a fully qualified neurosurgeon in 2002. Her special skills are in an area called deep brain stimulation and helping the brain recover from problems that cause movement disorders. These are conditions that make it hard for people to control their body movements.
Helping People Walk Again
Dr. Bloch is currently working on an exciting project with EPFL. They are testing a new technology that uses spinal cord stimulation. This method helps people with partial spinal cord injuries improve their ability to walk. The amazing part is that it works without needing a brain implant.
Since 2019, Dr. Bloch has also been a professor of neuroscience at EPFL. In the same year, she teamed up with another scientist, Grégoire Courtine. Together, they lead the .Neurorestore Laboratory. This lab is a joint effort between the Lausanne University Hospital, the University of Lausanne, the Defitech Foundation, and EPFL. They are all working together to find new ways to help people with nervous system injuries.
Awards and Recognition
In 2019, Dr. Bloch received the Ronald Tasker Award. This award came from the World Society for Stereotactic and Functional Neurosurgery. She earned it for her amazing and new research in neuromodulation and repairing the spinal cord.
In 2024, Jocelyne Bloch and Grégoire Courtine were recognized by Time magazine. They were included in the Time 100 list of influential people in health. This shows how important their work is in the world of medicine.
Brain and Spine Implants: A New Hope
Dr. Bloch's research has shown incredible progress in helping people with paralysis. She has worked on projects where wireless implants in the brain and spine help monkeys move again. These implants create a bypass around damaged parts of the spinal cord.
How the Implants Work
Scientists developed a special system called a brain-spinal interface. This system sends signals from the brain to the spinal cord, even if there's an injury in between. Dr. Bloch was the neurosurgeon who carefully placed these brain and spinal cord implants. She explained that connecting the brain's signals to the spinal cord's stimulation is a completely new and groundbreaking idea. This technology could one day help many people who are paralyzed regain control of their bodies.
