"My Capstone project focused on researching foot drop (i.e. the inability to dorsiflex the foot) due to peripheral nerve injury. Motivated by a family member with the condition, I wanted to center my project around finding a modality that would give patients in her shoes more independence and fullness of life through increased function. Under the guidance of SLU Physical Therapy and Center for Anatomical Science and Education professors, I came to the conclusion that current therapy modalities like FES (Functional Electrical Stimulation) are in desperate need of adaptation. FES currently provides amazing functional gains for patients with neural injuries like spinal cord injury and stroke, but has been shown to be ineffective in patients with decreased function due to peripheral nerve injury.

With this information in mind, I decided to create a patient resource with details about how physical therapists can help this patient population, but also included a reflection describing the current "hole" that exists in treatment and needs to be remediated with continued research and technological adaptation."