W. Geoffrey Wright (PI)

After receiving a B.S. in Aerospace Engineering from Virginia Tech, Dr. Wright was commissioned as an officer in the USAF doing satellite engineering and operations. Following military service, he redirected his interests from hardware-in-space to humans-in-space in graduate school. His masters research (Experimental Psychology, Northeastern University) and Ph.D. research (Cognitive Neuroscience, Brandeis University) focused on human perception of spatial orientation with support from NASA and the DoD. During his post-doctoral training in Munich, Germany and at Oregon Health and Science University in Portland, OR, he began working more closely with various patient populations, including stroke, Parkinson's disease, vestibular loss, traumatic brain injury (TBI) and neuropathy.

Dr. Wright's research goals at Temple have continued to focus on studies of the central nervous system in individuals with impairment to perception, motor control, balance, and gait, with the intention of applying knowledge about sensorimotor integration to shaping rehabilitation therapy. His funding largely comes from the Congressionally Directed Medical Research Program (US Army Rapid Innovation Fund) to validate new technology his team is developing for assessing postural deficits in individuals with mild TBI. Some of these approaches have involved using advanced technology such as virtual environments (VE) to manipulate visual input, and gaming and/or smart phone technology to measure human movement. He also has had collaborations with the Veterans Administration to investigate PTSD/TBI comorbidities, and motor control deficits related to Parkinson's Disease using postural control and functional MRI procedures.

Jonathan Marchetto, MA

PhD candidate

Jon is a Ph.D. candidate and Presidential Fellow at Temple University in the Neuromotor Sciences program. His research focuses on postural control, oculomotor control, and developing novel virtual reality assessments for concussion patients. He earned his B.A. and M.A. from Montclair State University, where he worked as a researcher in psychology and motor learning focused on visual control of movement. He recently joined Northwestern Mutual as a full-time user experience researcher, where he applies his academic experience to understand how we interact with technology, inform the development of new applications, and leverage science to drive financial decisions.

Shirin Hussain, BS

Shirin Hussain is a PhD student in Neuromotor Science Program at Temple University. Earning her Bachelors of Science in Kinesiology from Southwestern University and working as a Health and Wellness Consultant at Apple Inc., Shirin’s prior academic and corporate experiences revolve around understanding the human body and preventing chronic diseases.

Shirin’s current research goals focus on the early detection and diagnosis of chronic diseases such as Diabetic Peripheral Neuropathy (DPN), specifically in underrepresented populations. She is a Future Faculty Fellowship recipient.

Paula Kramer

Paula is an undergraduate student in the BS in Exercise and Sport Science program at Temple University hoping to continue her education in movement sciences and pursue a career in rehabilitation research. She is most interested in learning data analysis, motion capture, and the use of virtual reality as a diagnostic tool.