-
Why did you decide to pursue your line of research?
I’ve been a lifelong athlete who was always interested in maximizing performance in my sport. One of my swim coaches in college, Dr. Frank Zatko, had a PhD in biophysics and introduced me to the concept of biomechanics by talking about swimming technique in terms of fluid dynamics, mechanics, and physics. In grad school, I became interested in balance control after suffering a concussion and realizing my balance control was not the same on the soccer field. Since then, I’ve been curious about how biomechanics and neural control interact, especially in response to neurological injuries.
-
What sort of training did you need to get into your current specialty?
My undergraduate degree is in mechanical engineering, and I actually worked as an HVAC engineer for a while after my undergrad. I designed and built portable, self-generating heaters for deployment into the mountains of Afghanistan. My PhD is also in mechanical engineering, but with a heavy focus on biomechanics. This knowledge gave me the opening to understand the movement of the human body. My postdoctoral training in neuroscience and motor control was essential to my ability to work in this field though, as it bridged the mechanics of the body with the brain.
-
How would you give an “elevator pitch” about what you research, to someone who doesn’t have any background knowledge?
Humans are basically a heavy weight that is on top of two wobbly legs—but we somehow don’t fall over all the time. I study how people move around the world without falling, how brain injuries influence our balance and movements in daily life, and how we can better rehabilitate individuals after such brain injuries.
-
What are you most proud of in your research career?
I’m most proud of the students, postdocs, and research assistants who have come through our group and excelled. Seeing them succeed, both as part of our team and after they graduated / started their next pursuit is incredibly fulfilling. But I also am proud of the environment and culture that we built with our team—we do impactful, rigorous research, but we keep science fun and always encourage curiosity and the exploration of new ideas.
-
What’s your biggest research goal over the next five years?
For the last six years, we’ve been focused on understanding how concussion’s affect reactive balance—the ability to recover stability after a loss of balance. We’ve uncovered some new results that indicate concussions impair this ability to regain one’s balance, and that this aspect of balance control is not often assessed or treated after concussion. Over the next five years, we hope to develop new clinical interventions to specifically target, and improve, reactive balance control after concussion.
-
How does your research tie into the College of Health’s goal of redefining the human healthspan?
Improving someone’s balance and mobility improves their quality of life, their capacity for new adventures, and their ability to live independently as they age.