Dr Alejandro Melendez-Calderon

Honorary Associate Professor

School of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences

alej.melendez@uq.edu.au

Researcher biography

A/Prof. Alejandro Melendez-Calderon has an interdisciplinary background in engineering and rehabilitation with extensive experience in rehabilitation technologies (e.g. robotics, wearables, biofeedback) and computational approaches to understand human neuromuscular control (unimpaired, stroke and SCI population). He has over 20 years of experience gained in academic, clinical and industrial environments. He is one of a select few experts who has working experience in area of Rehabilitation Engineering at top academic, industrial and clinical environments around the world (Australia, Switzerland, USA, UK, Italy, Denmark). This diversity of working environments provides him with a solid understanding of the development and clinical translation processes of rehabilitation technologies - from conception in academia, to transfer, commercialization and adoption in clinical settings.

He is Principal Research Fellow and Theme co-lead of Rehabilitation and Outcomes at the Jamieson Trauma Institute (Jun 2022-present), and an Honorary Associate Professor at the School of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences at the University of Queensland (May 2026-present).

Work experience | Clinical - He leads the Rehabilitation Innovation and Technology Assessment (RITA) service across STARS (Metro North Health) and Princess Alexandra Hospital (Metro South Health); RITA aims to close the gap between the potential of existing/emerging technologies and their practical, sustainable integration into everyday rehab care. He was previously a Senior Research Scientist and Head of Technology at the cereneo Advanced Rehabilitation Institute / cereneo Center for Neurology and Rehabilitation (Switzerland; 2017-2019), where he led and conducted research in the area of neuromechanics of movement deficits after stroke. He was also an Adjunct Assistant Professor at the Department of Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation, Northwestern University (USA; 2014-2020) and a postdoctoral research fellow at the Shirley Ryan AbilityLab (formerly Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago) (2012-2013), where he conducted research in cross-modal multisensory interactions and assessment of neuromuscular impairments. Medical industry - He led the areas of Robotic Hand Rehabilitation and Assessments, and work on adaptive control of robotic trainers (arm and legs) at Hocoma AG (Switzerland; 2014-2016), one of the world-leading manufacturers of robotic and wearable technologies for rehabilitation. Academic research - He was previously a Senior Lecturer within the School of Information Technology and Electrical Engineering, University of Queensland (Australia, Jan 2020-May 2026), where he led the NeuroRehabilitation and Medical Robotics group. He was a Guest Researcher at ETH Zurich (Switzerland; 2016-2019), where he conducted research in biomechanics and motor control/learning. He received his PhD degree from Imperial College London (UK; 2007-2011) for research in robotics, rehabilitation and human motor control.

Interests | A/Prof. Melendez-Calderon has a scientific interest in understanding principled mechanisms of human behavior, in particular related to movement control/learning and physical interaction; his technical interests are in robotics and computational modeling for medical diagnostics, assistive applications & (bio)medical education.

Featured projects	Duration
Neuroengineering and rehabilitation
Movement neuroscience and computational neuromechanics
Personalised wearable robotics for restoration of walking function after stroke

Publications

Journal Articles (24)

Conference Papers (29)

Journal Articles

Healy, Genevieve N., Melendez-Calderon, Alejandro, Kaab, Sami, Bongers, Noah, Heseltine, Katherine A., Yue, Chan Hi, Thomas, George and Clark, Bronwyn K. (2025). Development, validation, acceptability and usability of a device-based system to measure sit-stand desk usage. Applied Ergonomics, 126 104490, 104490. doi: 10.1016/j.apergo.2025.104490

Maggioni, Serena, Lünenburger, Lars, Riener, Robert, Curt, Armin, Bolliger, Marc and Melendez-Calderon, Alejandro (2023). Assessing walking ability using a robotic gait trainer: opportunities and limitations of assist-as-needed control in spinal cord injury. Journal of NeuroEngineering and Rehabilitation, 20 (1) 121, 1-22. doi: 10.1186/s12984-023-01226-4

Takagi, Atsushi, Bagnato, Carlo, Melendez-Calderon, Alejandro, Jarrassé, Nathanaël, Ganesh, Gowrishankar and Burdet, Etienne (2023). Competition increases the effort put into a physical interaction task. IEEE Transactions on Haptics, 16 (4), 719-725. doi: 10.1109/toh.2023.3306794

Subash, Tanya, David, Ann, ReetaJanetSurekha, StephenSukumaran, Gayathri, Sankaralingam, Samuelkamaleshkumar, Selvaraj, Magimairaj, Henry Prakash, Malesevic, Nebojsa, Antfolk, Christian, SKM, Varadhan, Melendez-Calderon, Alejandro and Balasubramanian, Sivakumar (2022). Comparing algorithms for assessing upper limb use with inertial measurement units. Frontiers in Physiology, 13 1023589, 1-13. doi: 10.3389/fphys.2022.1023589

Cardoso, Lucas R. L., Bochkezanian, Vanesa, Forner-Cordero, Arturo, Melendez-Calderon, Alejandro and Bo, Antonio P. L. (2022). Soft robotics and functional electrical stimulation advances for restoring hand function in people with SCI: a narrative review, clinical guidelines and future directions. Journal of NeuroEngineering and Rehabilitation, 19 (1) 66, 1-24. doi: 10.1186/s12984-022-01043-1

David, Ann, Subash, Tanya, Varadhan, S. K.M., Melendez-Calderon, Alejandro and Balasubramanian, Sivakumar (2021). A framework for sensor-based assessment of upper-limb functioning in hemiparesis. Frontiers in Human Neuroscience, 15 667509, 667509. doi: 10.3389/fnhum.2021.667509

Melendez-Calderon, Alejandro, Shirota, Camila and Balasubramanian, Sivakumar (2021). Estimating movement smoothness from inertial measurement units. Frontiers in Bioengineering and Biotechnology, 8 558771, 558771. doi: 10.3389/fbioe.2020.558771

Takagi, A., Maxwell, S., Melendez-Calderon, A. and Burdet, E. (2020). The dominant limb preferentially stabilizes posture in a bimanual task with physical coupling. Journal of Neurophysiology, 123 (6), 2154-2160. doi: 10.1152/jn.00047.2020

Radder, Bob, Prange-Lasonder, Gerdienke B., Kottink, Anke I.R., Holmberg, Johnny, Sletta, Kristin, van Dijk, Manon, Meyer, Thomas, Melendez-Calderon, Alejandro, Buurke, Jaap H. and Rietman, Johan S. (2019). Home rehabilitation supported by a wearable soft-robotic device for improving hand function in older adults: a pilot randomized controlled trial. PLoS ONE, 14 (8) e0220544, e0220544. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0220544

Shirota, Camila, Balasubramanian, Sivakumar and Melendez-Calderon, Alejandro (2019). Technology-aided assessments of sensorimotor function: current use, barriers and future directions in the view of different stakeholders. Journal of NeuroEngineering and Rehabilitation, 16 (1) 53, 53. doi: 10.1186/s12984-019-0519-7

Maggioni, Serena, Reinert, Nils, Lünenburger, Lars and Melendez-Calderon, Alejandro (2018). An adaptive and hybrid end-point/joint impedance controller for lower limb exoskeletons. Frontiers Robotics AI, 5 (OCT) 104. doi: 10.3389/frobt.2018.00104

Radder, Bob, Prange-Lasonder, Gerdienke B., Kottink, Anke I. R., Melendez-Calderon, Alejandro, Buurke, Jaap H. and Rietman, Johan S. (2018). Feasibility of a wearable soft-robotic glove to support impaired hand function in stroke patients. Journal of Rehabilitation Medicine, 50 (7), 598-606. doi: 10.2340/16501977-2357

Melendez-Calderon, Alejandro, Tan, Michael, Bittmann, Moria Fisher, Burdet, Etienne and Patton, James L. (2017). Transfer of dynamic motor skills acquired during isometric training to free motion. Journal of Neurophysiology, 118 (1), 219-233. doi: 10.1152/jn.00614.2016

Shirota, Camila, Jansa, Jelka, Diaz, Javier, Balasubramanian, Sivakumar, Mazzoleni, Stefano, Borghese, N. Alberto and Melendez-Calderon, Alejandro (2016). On the assessment of coordination between upper extremities: Towards a common language between rehabilitation engineers, clinicians and neuroscientists. Journal of NeuroEngineering and Rehabilitation, 13 (1) 80, 80. doi: 10.1186/s12984-016-0186-x

Maggioni, Serena, Melendez-Calderon, Alejandro, Van Asseldonk, Edwin, Klamroth-Marganska, Verena, Lünenburger, Lars, Riener, Robert and Van Der Kooij, Herman (2016). Robot-aided assessment of lower extremity functions: a review. Journal of NeuroEngineering and Rehabilitation, 13 (1) 72. doi: 10.1186/s12984-016-0180-3

Farshchiansadegh, Ali, Melendez-Calderon, Alejandro, Ranganathan, Rajiv, Murphey, Todd D. and Mussa-Ivaldi, Ferdinando A. (2016). Sensory agreement guides kinetic energy optimization of arm movements during object manipulation. PLoS Computational Biology, 12 (4) e1004861, e1004861. doi: 10.1371/journal.pcbi.1004861

Balasubramanian, Sivakumar, Melendez-Calderon, Alejandro, Roby-Brami, Agnes and Burdet, Etienne (2015). On the analysis of movement smoothness. Journal of NeuroEngineering and Rehabilitation, 12 (1) 112. doi: 10.1186/s12984-015-0090-9

Melendez-Calderon, A., Komisar, V. and Burdet, E. (2015). Interpersonal strategies for disturbance attenuation during a rhythmic joint motor action. Physiology and Behavior, 147, 348-358. doi: 10.1016/j.physbeh.2015.04.046

Tommasino, P., Melendez-Calderon, A., Burdet, E. and Campolo, D. (2014). Motor adaptation with passive machines: a first study on the effect of real and virtual stiffness. Computer Methods and Programs in Biomedicine, 116 (2), 145-155. doi: 10.1016/j.cmpb.2013.12.019

Allievi, A. G., Melendez-Calderon, A., Arichi, T., Edwards, A. D. and Burdet, E. (2013). An fMRI compatible wrist robotic interface to study brain development in neonates. Annals of Biomedical Engineering, 41 (6), 1181-1192. doi: 10.1007/s10439-013-0782-x

Arichi, Tomoki, Fagiolo, Gianlorenzo, Varela, Marta, Melendez-Calderon, Alejandro, Allievi, Alessandro, Merchant, Nazakat, Tusor, Nora, Counsell, Serena J., Burdet, Etienne, Beckmann, Christian F. and Edwards, A. David (2012). Development of BOLD signal hemodynamic responses in the human brain. NeuroImage, 63 (2), 663-673. doi: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2012.06.054

Balasubramanian, Sivakumar, Melendez-Calderon, Alejandro and Burdet, Etienne (2012). A robust and sensitive metric for quantifying movement smoothness. IEEE Transactions on Biomedical Engineering, 59 (8) 6104119, 2126-2136. doi: 10.1109/TBME.2011.2179545

Melendez-Calderon, Alejandro, Masia, Lorenzo, Gassert, Roger, Sandini, Giulio and Burdet, Etienne (2011). Force field adaptation can be learned using vision in the absence of proprioceptive error. IEEE Transactions on Neural Systems and Rehabilitation Engineering, 19 (3) 5784420, 298-306. doi: 10.1109/TNSRE.2011.2125990

Arichi, T., Moraux, A., Melendez, A., Doria, V., Groppo, M., Merchant, N., Combs, S., Burdet, E., Larkman, D. J., Counsell, S. J., Beckmann, C. F. and Edwards, A. D. (2010). Somatosensory cortical activation identified by functional MRI in preterm and term infants. NeuroImage, 49 (3), 2063-2071. doi: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2009.10.038

Conference Papers

Shirota, Camila, Donovan, Jacquelin, Cave, Catherine, Kaab, Sami A. and Melendez-Calderon, Alejandro (2025). EPIC-Tech - engineering and physiotherapy interdisciplinary collaboration with technology: a case study. 2025 International Conference on Rehabilitation Robotics-ICORR-Annual, Chicago, IL, United States, 12-16 May 2025. Piscataway, NJ, United States: IEEE. doi: 10.1109/icorr66766.2025.11063109

Cardoso, Lucas R. L., Dempsey-Jones, Harriet, Bo, Antonio P. L., Bochkezanian, Vanesa, Forner-Cordero, Arturo and Melendez-Calderon, Alejandro (2025). Where is my hand? Assessing visuo-tactile integration of hand and shoulder after virtual reality training using a body-machine interface. 2025 International Conference on Rehabilitation Robotics-ICORR-Annual, Chicago, IL United States, 12-16 May 2025. Piscataway, NJ United States: Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers. doi: 10.1109/icorr66766.2025.11063186

Anchivilca Baltazar, Alex, von Snarski, Benjamin Hannol, Amin, Nilp, Lai, Joshua, Fong, Justin, Shirota, Camila and Melendez-Calderon, Alejandro (2024). Trajectory-based assist-as-needed control of an overground robotic exoskeleton - a preliminary study. 2024 10th IEEE RAS/EMBS International Conference for Biomedical Robotics and Biomechatronics (BioRob), Heidelberg, Germany, 1-4 September 2024. Piscataway, NJ, United States: Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers. doi: 10.1109/biorob60516.2024.10719867

Cardoso, Lucas R. L., Melendez-Calderon, Alejandro, Bochkezanian, Vanesa, Forner-Cordero, Arturo and Bo, Antonio P. L. (2023). Towards visual-tactile integration of shoulder and hand using immersive virtual reality. 45th Annual International Conference of the IEEE-Engineering-in-Medicine-and-Biology-Society (EMBC), Sydney, NSW Australia, 24-27 July 2023. New York, NY USA: Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers. doi: 10.1109/EMBC40787.2023.10340578

Lu, Linjun, Liu, Siyu, Zhou, Zhiyong, Sun, Jiantao, Melendez-Calderon, Alejandro and Guo, Zhao (2022). Continuous gait phase recognition and prediction using LSTM network across walking speeds and inclinations. 7th IEEE International Conference on Advanced Robotics and Mechatronics, Guilin, China, 9-11 July 2022. New York, NY USA: Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers. doi: 10.1109/icarm54641.2022.9959678

Melendez-Calderon, Alejandro and Maggioni, Serena (2022). Challenges in adaptive robot-assisted gait training: the balancing act of minimizing assistance while preserving safety. 5th International Conference on Neurorehabilitation (ICNR2020), Virtual, 13-16 October 2020. Cham, Switzerland: Springer Nature Switzerland. doi: 10.1007/978-3-030-70316-5_7

Kager, Simone, Hussain, Asif, Cherpin, Adele, Melendez-Calderon, Alejandro, Takagi, Atsushi, Endo, Satoshi, Burdet, Etienne, Hirche, Sandra, Ang, Marcelo H. and Campolo, Domenico (2019). The effect of skill level matching in dyadic interaction on learning of a tracing task. IEEE 16th International Conference on Rehabilitation Robotics (ICORR), Toronto, ON, Canada, 24-28 June 2019. Piscataway, NJ, United States: IEEE Computer Society. doi: 10.1109/ICORR.2019.8779485

Jarrett, Christopher, Shirota, Camila, McDaid, Andrew, Piovesan, Davide and Melendez-Calderon, Alejandro (2019). A framework for closing the loop between human experts and computational algorithms for the assessment of movement disorders. IEEE 16th International Conference on Rehabilitation Robotics (ICORR), Toronto, ON, Canada, 24-28 June 2019. Piscataway, NJ, United States: IEEE Computer Society. doi: 10.1109/ICORR.2019.8779458

Haufe, F. L., Maggioni, S. and Melendez-Calderon, A. (2018). Reference trajectory adaptation to improve human-robot interaction: a database-driven approach. 2018 40th Annual International Conference of the IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society (EMBC), Honolulu, HI, United States, 18-21 July 2018. Piscataway, NJ, United States: Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers . doi: 10.1109/EMBC.2018.8512604

Melendez-Calderon, A., Rodrigues, E., Thielbar, K. and Patton, J. L. (2017). Movement therapy without moving - first results on isometric movement training for post-stroke rehabilitation of arm function. International Conference on Rehabilitation Robotics (ICORR), London, United Kingdom, 17-20 July 2017. Piscataway, NJ, United States: IEEE Computer Society. doi: 10.1109/ICORR.2017.8009230

Prange-Lasonder, Gerdienke B., Radder, Bob, Kottink, Anke I. R., Melendez-Calderon, Alejandro, Buurke, Jaap H. and Rietman, Johan S. (2017). Applying a soft-robotic glove as assistive device and training tool with games to support hand function after stroke: preliminary results on feasibility and potential clinical impact. International Conference on Rehabilitation Robotics (ICORR), London, United Kingdom, 17-20 July 2017. Piscataway, NJ, United States: IEEE Computer Society. doi: 10.1109/ICORR.2017.8009444

Radder, B., Prange-Lasonder, G. B., Kottink, A. I.R., Gaasbeek, L., Holmberg, J., Melendez-Calderon, A., Buurke, J. H. and Rietman, J. S. (2017). User acceptance of a therapeutic system that enables hand training exercises in a motivating environment. 3rd International Conference on NeuroRehabilitation (ICNR2016), Segovia, Spain, 18-21 October 2016 . Cham, Switzerland: Springer. doi: 10.1007/978-3-319-46669-9_204

Maggioni, S., Stucki, S., Lunenburger, L., Riener, R. and Melendez-Calderon, A. (2016). A bio-inspired robotic test bench for repeatable and safe testing of rehabilitation robots. 6th IEEE International Conference on Biomedical Robotics and Biomechatronics (BioRob 2016), Singapore, Singapore, 26-29 June 2016. NEW YORK: IEEE Computer Society. doi: 10.1109/BIOROB.2016.7523741

Maggioni, Serena, Lunenburger, Lars, Riener, Robert and Melendez-Calderon, Alejandro (2015). Robot-aided assessment of walking function based on an adaptive algorithm. 2015 IEEE International Conference on Rehabilitation Robotics (ICORR), Singapore, Singapore, 11-14 August 2015. Piscataway, NJ, United States: IEEE Computer Society. doi: 10.1109/ICORR.2015.7281301

Melendez-Calderon, Alejandro, Fisher, Moria, Tan, Michael, Burdet, Etienne and Patton, James L. (2015). Acquisition of motor skills in isometric conditions through synesthetic illusions of movement. 2015 IEEE World Haptics Conference (WHC), Evanston, IL, United States, 22-26 June 2015. Piscataway, NJ, United States: Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE). doi: 10.1109/WHC.2015.7177749

Quijano-Gonzalez, Y., Melendez-Calderon, A., Burdet, E., Chong-Quero, J. E., Villanueva-Ayala, D. and Pérez-Moreno, J. C. (2014). Upper limb functional assessment of children with cerebral palsy using a sorting box. 36th Annual International Conference of the IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society (EMBC 2014), Chicago, IL, United States, 26-30 August 2014. Piscataway, NJ, United States: Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE). doi: 10.1109/EMBC.2014.6944087

Piovesan, D., Melendez-Calderon, A. and Mussa-Ivaldi, F. A. (2013). Haptic perception of multi-joint hypertonia during simulated patient-therapist physical tele-interaction. 35th Annual International Conference of the IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society (EMBC 2013), Osaka, Japan, 3-7 July 2013. IEEE. doi: 10.1109/EMBC.2013.6610457

Piovesan, D., Melendez-Calderon, A. and Mussa-Ivaldi, F. A. (2013). Haptic recognition of dystonia and spasticity in simulated multi-joint hypertonia. 2013 IEEE 13th International Conference on Rehabilitation Robotics (ICORR), Seattle, WA, United States, 24-26 June 2013. Piscataway, NJ, United States: Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE). doi: 10.1109/ICORR.2013.6650449

Melendez-Calderon, A., Piovesan, D. and Mussa-Ivaldi, F. A. (2013). Therapist recognition of impaired muscle groups in simulated multi-joint hypertonia. 2013 IEEE 13th International Conference on Rehabilitation Robotics (ICORR), Seattle, WA, United States, 24-26 June 2013. Piscataway, NJ, United States: Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE). doi: 10.1109/ICORR.2013.6650425

Melendez-Calderon, A., Bagutti, L., Pedrono, B. and Burdet, E. (2011). Hi5: A versatile dual-wrist device to study human-human interaction and bimanual control. IEEE. doi: 10.1109/IROS.2011.6048068

Melendez-Calderon, A., Komisar, V., Ganesh, G. and Burdet, E. (2011). Classification of strategies for disturbance attenuation in human-human collaborative tasks. 33rd Annual International Conference of the IEEE Engineering-in-Medicine-and-Biology-Society (EMBS), Boston Ma, Aug 30-Sep 03, 2011. NEW YORK: IEEE. doi: 10.1109/IEMBS.2011.6090660

Yeong, Che Fai, Baker, Karen, Melendez-Calderon, Alejandro, Burdet, Etienne and Playford, E. Diane (2010). ReachMAN to help sub-acute patients training reaching and manipulation. doi: 10.1109/RAMECH.2010.5513206

Yeong, Che Fai, Melendez-Calderon, Alejandro, Gassert, Roger and Burdet, Etienne (2009). ReachMAN: A personal robot to train reaching and manipulation. IEEE RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems, St Louis Mo, Oct 10-15, 2009. NEW YORK: IEEE. doi: 10.1109/IROS.2009.5354837

Melendez-Calderon, A., Masia, L., Casadio, M. and Burdet, E. (2009). Force field compensation can be learned without proprioceptive error. Springer Verlag. doi: 10.1007/978-3-642-03889-1-102

Yeong, Che Fai, Melendez-Calderon, Alejandro and Burdet, Etienne (2009). Analysis of pick-and-place, eating and drinking movements for the workspace definition of simple robotic devices. doi: 10.1109/ICORR.2009.5209475

Meléndez-Calderón, A., Caltenco-Arciniega, H. A., Došen, S. and Chong-Quero, J. E. (2007). On-line simulation tool for the design and analysis of lower-limb prosthetic devices. doi: 10.1109/ICEEE.2007.4344983

Caltenco-Arciniega, H. A., Meléndez-Calderón, A., Došen, S. and Chong-Quero, J. E. (2007). Comparison of different fuzzy controllers for powered prosthetic gait. doi: 10.1109/CERMA.2007.4367761

Aceves-López, Alejandro and Meléndez-Calderón, Alejandro (2006). Human-inspired walking-style for a low-cost biped prototype. doi: 10.1109/LARS.2006.334339

Caltenco-Arciniega, H. A., Popović, D. B., Meléndez-Calderón, A. and Chong-Quero, J. E. (2006). Reliability of discrete-event control at coordination level for a powered transfemoral prosthesis. IEEE Computer Society. doi: 10.1109/CONIELECOMP.2006.50