Charalambos Costas Charalambous

Since October 2023, I have been a Medical Instructor in the Division of Stroke and Vascular Neurology, Department of Neurology at the Duke University School of Medicine. I hold a BS and MS in Kinesiology from the California State University Northridge, an MS in Biokinesiology from the University of Southern California, and a PhD in Health and Rehabilitation Sciences from the Medical University of South Carolina. Before my current academic position, I completed three postdoctoral fellowships at the University of Delaware in Movement Science and Behavioral Neuroscience (1/2016-1/2018), the New York University Grossman School of Medicine in TMS Neurophysiology and Post-Stroke Motor Recovery (2/2018-12/20019), and University of Nicosia Medical School in Neuroscience (12/2019-9/2023).
I am a motor neuroscientist/biomechanist dedicated to uncovering the neural and biomechanical principles that govern human motor control, particularly following neurological injury. My overarching research mission is to elucidate how the plasticity of descending motor pathways contributes to the neuromechanical control of movement (e.g., walking), and to determine how this plasticity can be leveraged to promote recovery of motor function after neurological damage. Through my basic clinical research with humans, I aim to advance fundamental understanding of how the central nervous system coordinates human movement and to translate this knowledge into mechanism-driven rehabilitation strategies that restore mobility, independence, and quality of life in individuals with neurological conditions. My expertise spans human movement biomechanics, motor neuroscience, locomotor control, non-invasive brain stimulation, neural oscillations, motor behavior, and neural plasticity and recovery, an integrative framework that bridges motor neuroscience, biomechanics, and neurorehabilitation science.