.jpg)
Assistant Professor
Northwestern University Physical Therapy and Human Movement Sciences
I do not have any relevant financial / non-financial relationships with any proprietary interests.
Early-onset brain injury has been a research and clinical interest of mine for more than a decade. I completed my doctoral and post-doctoral work in the area of motor control and underlying mechanisms of discoordination in hemiplegia and diplegia using engineering quantification approaches (joint torque coupling, electromyography analysis, and kinetic evaluation using motion tracking and robotic devices) and non-invasive neuroimaging (magnetic resonance imaging, MRI, and functional near infrared spectroscopy, fNIRS). I continue to focus on mechanisms of discoordination while exploring additional areas of adaptive recreation for fitness and early identification and intervention. There is a substantial body of literature that shows increased cardiometabolic risk for young and older adults with cerebral palsy, which is why I believe it is critical to understand more about why it's harder for children and adolescents to move because that lack of movement will lead to secondary consequences in other systems of the body. I’ve received foundation funding as a PI (from American Academy of Cerebral Palsy and Developmental Medicine and Spencer Foundation) that has facilitated significant pilot work showing positive intervention effects for participants in a Frame Running program in school. This begins to address fitness on flat terrain, and we need to learn more about stairs and altered terrain navigation for access to even more opportunities. In my role as a physical therapist, I have worked with pediatric patients with a variety of neurological diagnoses and have been part of the clinical team determining equipment needs and environmental modifications for patients to be able to access all areas of their school, home, and community that they seek to. Because of my dual training in engineering and physical therapy, I am comfortable with both the interactions and clinical assessment of the participants as well as the design, analysis, and interpretation of study results.
