Research Interests

Human Gait and Posture

Most people take the ability to walk and control their balance for granted. However, the complexity of these tasks are understated. The human body is made up of 206 bones, 600+ muscles, and billions of neurons—all of which must work in concert for a person to walk. After injury, aging, or disease, the ability to control this complex interaction may become compromised, leading to mobility challenges and elevated fall (and injury) risk. Our research team uses theoretical models from Dynamical Systems Theory to disentangle the complexity associated with human gait and posture in order to understand this phenomenon so that that novel therapies and interventions can be developed. This includes examing gait asymmetries, interpersonal synchronization, fractal chracteristics of gait, and nonlinear dynamics of balance control.

Virtual Reality (VR)

VR has seen substantial growth in the past decade, fueled by the entertainment and social media industries. Our research group leverages these technological advances and repurposes them to address human health challenges. We have used VR to develop novel applications for gait rehabilitation and to help enhance health literacy. Check out our TedX Talk and our review article on this topic.

Smartphone Apps

Current smartphones have hardware and processing capabilities that rival laptops from only a decade ago. This has afforded the development of custom apps that tap into the phone's sensors (accelerometer, magnetometer, and gyroscope) to record human movement patterns. We have leveraged this ability to create an app that can measuring dynamic balance and gait performance, and deployed the app in field-based settings to measure ecologically valid and time-sensitive neuromotor function. Check out our latest peer-reviewed paper on this topic.

Real-World Application

Our works spans from basic to applied science, with a special focus on real-world application in the near- and/or far-term. Working with clinicians and subject matter experts helps us identify the challenge and develop novel and innovative solutions. For example, we have used our smartphone app to assess neuromotor performance in Service Members who have experienced head trauma in order to enhance military health. We have deployed our virtual reality innovations to assist in gait rehabilitation and health literacy. Lastly, we have utilized our gait and posture knowledge to develop a novel fall prevention program for older adults.