Sliman Bensmaia

Sliman Julien Bensmaia (17 September 1973 – 11 August 2023) was a French-Algerian neuroscientist. An international expert in the neural encoding of sensory information and a pioneer in robotic neuroprosthetics, his nearly 100 academic articles in somatosensation have been cited over 10,000 times. He is the principal architect

Education and career Bensmaia was born on September 17, 1973, in Nice, France, to philosophers Reda Bensmaia and Joëlle Proust. He grew up in Algeria and France. When he was 15, he moved to the United States.

Bensmaia obtained a bachelor's degree in computer engineering and cognitive science from the University of Virginia's Department of Cognitive Science in 1995. under the mentorship of Mark Hollins. In 2002, he received the Baughman Dissertation Research Award, which celebrates innovation in dissertation project development. He was promoted to Associate Professor in 2015 as well as a member of the Committees on Neurobiology and Computational Neuroscience. This biomimetic approach to touch restoration in amputees and paralyzed patients enhances dexterity Specifically, he worked on the sensory aspect of the Modular Prosthetic Limb in a study called Behavioral Assessment of Sensitivity to Intracortical Microstimulation of Primate Somatosensory Cortex. A selection of his other professional commendations are summarized below. Award Year Baughman Dissertation Research Award for innovative dissertation projects 2013 Distinguished Investigator Award from the Biological Sciences Division In 2013, FuzZz released their first album, FuzZz.

Personal life Sliman Bensmaia was married to University of Chicago Professor Kerry Ledoux. Together they had two children. He died on August 11, 2023, at his home in Chicago.