When Hillel Chiel was about 10 years old, he took apart a mechanical clock that wasn鈥檛 working. Looking at the pieces scattered around, he realized his mother would not be happy with the mess, so he put them back together鈥攁nd the clock functioned! The experience sparked a lifelong enthusiasm for learning how things operate.
A professor in the College of Arts and Sciences鈥� Department of Biology 鈥攚ith secondary appointments in the departments of neuroscience and biomedical engineering鈥擟hiel is now being recognized as a 2024 Distinguished University Professor, Case Western Reserve鈥檚 highest designation for faculty.
Chiel鈥檚 impact is most felt through his extensive collaborative interdisciplinary research. His work is widely recognized for helping scholars understand the mechanisms of adaptive behavior through the use of computational modeling and experimental approaches to the research.
鈥淚 feel a great sense of gratitude,鈥� Chiel said, reflecting on his latest recognition. 鈥淭here were years earlier in my career during which my attempts to convince my fellow neuroscientists to focus on biomechanics and modeling were regarded as somewhat strange. I am happy to see that many others are now pursuing research that incorporates both the brain and the body.鈥�
Chiel believes collaborations are critical to tackling difficult problems. He set the standard for this in 1997 when the prestigious journal Trends in Neurosciences published, 鈥淭he Brain Has a Body: Adaptive Behavior Emerges from Interactions of Nervous System, Body and Environment,鈥� a groundbreaking review he co-authored with computer scientist Randall Beer.
鈥淐ollaborators must be treated as close friends, with mutual respect, trust and enthusiasm for each other鈥檚 interests and goals,鈥� Chiel said.
In other projects, Chiel worked with biomedical and mechanical engineers to develop a sequence of increasingly realistic models of soft-bodied structures. They created the first model of a muscular hydrostat鈥攕tructures such as tongues, trunks and tentacles鈥攗sing the tongue of a reptile. This work led to a turning point in the development of soft robots (biorobotics), as well as flexible-legged robots that can traverse complex terrains.
In his most recent paper published in PNAS Nexus, Chiel鈥攁long with CWRU鈥檚 Roger Quinn, Greg Sutton from University of Lincoln (England) and Nick Szczeci艅ski from West Virginia University鈥攄eveloped a framework for understanding how the four major forces acting on animal limbs are used during locomotion as a function of limb length and speed. He describes the new analysis as a single quantity that can capture essential features of locomotion for animals ranging in size from fruit flies to elephants.
鈥淒r. Chiel is a consummate scholar, a deep thinker, an influential writer, a dedicated mentor, an inspiring teacher, a selfless advocate for the goals of the university, and鈥攁bove all鈥攁n outstanding scientist,鈥� said Lee Thompson, interim dean of the College of Arts and Sciences.
鈥淚 hope that my focus on taking things apart and trying to put them back together again鈥攗sing both analysis and synthesis鈥攊nspires other investigators to do the same,鈥� Chiel said. 鈥淚 also hope that my ideas about how important it is to consider the nervous system in the context of the body will continue to influence others for some time to come.鈥�