Professor Milos Popovic honoured with Dejan B. Popovic award at IFESS conference

On September 17^th, Professor Milos Popovic has been awarded the prestigious Dejan B. Popovic Award at the conference of the International Functional Electrical Stimulation Society (IFESS), held in Vienna. This award recognizes exceptional contributions to the field of electrical stimulation technologies, with a particular emphasis on translating research into clinical practice and industry impact.

IFESS is a global, member-based nonprofit organization committed to advancing the understanding and application of electrical stimulation technologies to improve quality of life. Since its founding in 1995, IFESS has fostered interdisciplinary collaboration among clinicians, scientists, and engineers through advocacy, education, and international scientific meetings.

Professor Popovic is a tenured professor and Director at the Institute of Biomedical Engineering at the University of Toronto, and also serves as Director of KITE, the research arm of the Toronto Rehabilitation Institute, University Health Network. He is internationally recognized for his pioneering work in neurorehabilitation, neuromodulation, and neuroprosthetics, which has significantly improved outcomes for individuals with spinal cord injuries, stroke and other neurological conditions.

A leading figure in neural engineering, Professor Popovic has made transformative contributions to the development of functional electrical stimulation (FES) therapies, which use electrical impulses to restore motor function in individuals with disabilities. His work has led to the creation of over 100 FES therapy protocols aimed at improving mobility and dexterity in patients recovering from stroke or spinal cord injury. Several of these protocols have been successfully commercialized through MyndTec Inc., a company he co-founded.

Beyond his own research, Professor Popovic has played a key role in building collaborative research initiatives that are shaping the future of neurorehabilitation. These include the Canadian Spinal Cord Injury Rehabilitation Association, the Centre for Advancing Neurotechnological Innovation to Application (CRANIA), FabrIc-Based REsearch (FIBRE) Platform and the Neural Engineering and Therapeutics Team at KITE.

Professor Popovic is a Fellow of the Canadian Academy of Engineering (CAE), the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), the Canadian Academy of Health Sciences, and the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering (AIMBE). His career is marked by numerous accolades, including the March of Dimes Canada Lifetime Achievement Award and Fellowship in the Engineering Institute of Canada (EIC).