Maurizio Petrarca

We welcome as an International Speaker,Maurizio Petrarca, a physiotherapist with an MSc in  Rehabilitation Science and a PhD in Engineering.

His career has focused on integrating clinical practice, movement analysis, neuroscience and engineering to advance neurorehabilitation, particularly in people with neurological disabilities.

He founded Movement Analysis Laboratories in Rome at San Giovanni Battista Hospital in 1986 and at Bambino Gesù Children’s Hospital in 1999, later expanding this activity to the hospital’s Santa Marinella site.

He is currently supporting the development of a Movement Analysis Laboratory at the National Children’s Hospital in San José, Costa Rica.

His research explores sensorimotor integration, motor control and learning, with particular interest in the mechanisms underlying change during rehabilitation. He has developed innovative technologies including optoelectronic movement analysis systems, dynamic orthoses, robotic platforms and modular exoskeletons, attracting more than €2 million in research funding.

Petrarca has authored or contributed to more than 220 scientific publications and scholarly works, mentored PhD students, and chaired major international conferences, including the Clinical Movement Analysis World Conference and Progress in Motor Control. His work promotes a patient-centred use of technology to support clinical reasoning, personalised rehabilitation and scientific understanding of human movement.