Jean-Pierre Merlet

Jean-Pierre Merlet is a Research Director at Inria Sophia Antipolis and holds a Chairholder position at the 3IA (Interdisciplinary Institute of Artificial Intelligence) of Université Côte d'Azur. He leads the Hephaistos research team, focusing on robotics applications in healthcare and disability assessment.

His research specializes in non-invasive disability assessment through mathematical and AI-driven methodologies. Key areas include designing adaptable monitoring/assistance devices, deriving medically relevant health indicators from error-prone sensor data, and detecting rare pathological events. His work bridges robotics, artificial intelligence, and clinical medicine to develop affordable, user-centered healthcare technologies.

As leader of the Hephaistos team at Inria Sophia Antipolis, he directs research on novel robotic systems for medical applications, emphasizing practical implementations that address real-world clinical needs while maintaining scientific rigor in mathematical modeling and AI integration.