Our work is committed to understanding, predicting, and preventing neurodegenerative disease to improve functioning and quality of life.
Understand
How do cognition and emotion influence gait, and how do these interactions differ across healthy and clinical populations?
Predict
What are potential gait metrics and other factors (e.g., mood, cognitive ability) indicative of future neurodegenerative disease development?
Prevent
With our understanding of the factors impacting gait as well as potential disease predictors and markers, how can we prevent neurodegeneration?
Our lab uses a variety of equipment - from virtual reality, to inertial measurement units, to 3D motion capture - to answer these questions in both healthy and clinical populations. We have collaborated with various organizations, such as the Ontario Neurodegenerative Research Initiative (ONDRI), the North American Prodromal Synucleinopathy (NAPS) Consortium for Rapid Eye Movement (REM) Sleep Behaviour Disorder, the Mayo Clinic, and the Parkinson's Progressive Markers Initiative (PPMI).
Our research aims to utilize basic scientific knowledge of gait and neurodegeneration and bridge this knowledge to broader clinical assessment and treatment applications.
Funding
Our research is supported by multiple organizations:
Canada Foundation For Innovation
National Institutes of Health (NIH)
Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council (NSERC)
Ontario Research Fund
Parkinson Canada
The Parkinson's and Movement Disorder Foundation
University of Waterloo
UW Centre for Bioengineering and Biotechnology
UW Network for Aging Research
