Charlotte Kiekens

Charlotte Kiekens is the head of the Physical and Rehabilitation Medicine Unit at Ospedale San Giuseppe, IRCCS MultiMedica in Milan, Italy since November 2021. From January 2020 to October 2021 she was the director of the Spinal Unit at Montecatone Rehabilitation Institute in Imola (Bologna), Italy. Before, she was head of the clinic in the Department of Physical & Rehabilitation Medicine (PRM) at the University Hospitals Leuven (UZ Leuven) in Belgium.

After obtaining a medical degree at Katholieke Universiteit Leuven (KU Leuven) in 1988 she further specialized in physical and rehabilitation medicine (PRM) at the Leuven University with residencies abroad in Strasbourg (F) and Geneva (CH). In 1994 she obtained a Certificate in Medical Biostatistics at KU Leuven. Her clinical fields of interest are spinal cord injury, peripheral nerve disorders, (adult) spina bifida, multiple trauma, burns and amputation, spasticity management, ethics in rehabilitation, sexuality, and disability, and organizational aspects of rehabilitation medicine.

She is the chair of the ISPRM-WHO Liaison Committee and a member of the Cochrane WHO working group. She is a fellow of ISCoS (International Spinal Cord Society) and a Senior Fellow of the European Board of Physical & Rehabilitation Medicine. She was the general secretary of ESPRM between 2015 and 2018 and is the chair of the Professional Practice Committee at the UEMS PRM Section. In 2014 she became a member of the European Academy of Rehabilitation Medicine.

She is involved in academic activities and scientific research in several domains and published many papers as well as book chapters. She recently became the Specialty Chief Editor for the “Strengthening Rehabilitation in Health Systems” section within Frontiers in Rehabilitation Sciences. She (co-) organized several national and international congresses. She participated in rehabilitation projects in low-income countries.