Irene Mittelberg is Professor of Linguistics and Cognitive Semiotics at the Human Technology Centre (HumTec) at RWTH Aachen University in Aix-la-Chapelle, Germany, where she directs the Natural Media Lab and interdisciplinary research on gesture. She also co-directs the Aachen Center for Sign Language and Gesture (SignGes) and in the past served as member of the RaAM board.

She has done extensive research on several semiotic systems, especially language and visuo-spatial modalities such as coverbal gesture and the visual arts, drawing connections to aesthetics and art history (e.g. iconography / iconology). Her theoretical work combines traditional semiotic theories (notably by C.S. Peirce and Roman Jakobson) with contemporary embodied approaches to language, cognition, and multimodal communication.