Patrick A. Forbes

Dr. Patrick A. Forbes is an Associate Professor of Neuroscience at Erasmus MC, where he leads the Sensorimotor Neuroscience and Biorobotics Lab. His research combines engineering, physiology, and computational modelling to uncover the neuromechanical principles that allow humans to move with remarkable efficiency and adaptability. His group develops novel robotic and sensory-stimulation technologies to “open the control loop” of human standing balance, enabling causal tests of how the brain optimizes energy, interprets sensory statistics, and learns under uncertainty. Additional research interests include vestibular sensory processing for posture, gaze and perception. Dr. Forbes’ academic path spans mechanical engineering and movement neuroscience: he completed his MASc and BASc at the University of Waterloo, followed by a PhD in Biomechanical Engineering at Delft University of Technology, and postdoctoral research at the University of British Columbia and Erasmus MC. His research program has been supported by Marie Curie International Fellowship, NSERC, NWO VENI, NWO VIDI, an NWO Top Talent award, and multiple European Space Agency research campaigns. Across these efforts, Dr. Forbes aims to establish human standing balance as a model system for understanding distributed, low-energy, largely implicit neural control, and to translate these insights toward rehabilitation, robotics, and healthy aging.