Sook-Lei Liew

Dr. Sook-Lei Liew is an Assistant Professor at the University of Southern California in the divisions of Occupational Science and Occupational Therapy, Biokinesiology and Physical Therapy, and Neurology, a member of the Neuroscience Graduate Faculty, and Director of the Neural Plasticity and Neurorehabiltiation Laboratory. Prior to this, she completed a bachelors degree in Kinesiology and English from Rice University, a masters degree in Occupational Therapy from USC, and a PhD in Occupational Science with a concentration in Neuroscience from USC. She also completed a postdoctoral fellowship at the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke at the National Institutes of Health (NIH). She has been a visiting scholar at Peking University, the University of Tübingen, and Johns Hopkins University.

The goal of Dr. Liew’s research is to understand mechanisms of neural plasticity in healthy individuals and individuals after neurological injury in order to improve their quality of life and engagement in meaningful activities. Her laboratory uses large-data approaches to neuroimaging, noninvasive brain stimulation, virtual reality, and brain computer interfaces with neurofeedback to characterize processes of neural plasticity during learning and rehabilitation, enhance plasticity and rehabilitation, and personalize the use of these paradigms to each individual’s unique learning or recovery potential.