Dr. Joanna Bertram

Biography

Joanna Bertram is an assistant professor in the Mechanical Engineering and Materials Science Department at Duke University, where she leads research in medical robotics. Her work focuses on advancing mechanical design, modeling, and control of robotic systems for medical applications. Dr. Bertram fosters an interdisciplinary approach by collaborating with Duke's world-class clinical and academic communities to develop innovative, life-saving robotic systems. She earned her Ph.D. in Robotics from the Georgia Institute of Technology, where she conducted groundbreaking research at the Medical Robotics and Automation Laboratory. Among her notable research contributions are her work on the design and control of steerable needles and the development of robotic guidewires with integrated shape and force sensing capabilities. Dr. Bertram's research findings have been published in top-tier journals and conferences, such as the IEEE Robotics and Automation Letters and the IEEE Transactions on Medical Robotics and Bionics. She actively invites motivated students and researchers to join her lab in pioneering the next generation of medical robotic technologies.

Research Interests