Our lab

Dr. Ehgoetz Martens combines movement kinematics, functional neuroimaging, psychophysiology and cognitive neuroscience to uncover the neural basis of gait and cognitive-emotional interactions in health and disease to improve early detection of neurodegeneration and innovate better strategies to assess and manage gait disturbances and falls in older adults and individuals at risk and/or suffering from neurodegenerative diseases.

Dr. Ehgoetz Martens completed her Honours Bachelor of Science degree in Kinesiology and Physical Education at Wilfrid Laurier University. She went on to complete her Master’s and PhD degree in Behavioural and Cognitive Neuroscience in the Department of Psychology at the University of Waterloo. Dr. Ehgoetz Martens spent 4 years as a postdoctoral fellow at the Brain and Mind Centre in the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Sydney, Australia before commencing her current position in the Department of Kinesiology and Health Sciences at the University of Waterloo.

Email: kaehgoet@uwaterloo.ca

Telephone: 519-888-4567, ext. 46615

Office: HLTH EXP 2683

Erika is a PhD graduate from the University of Guelph where she studied sensory inputs in balance and postural control as well as how microvascular blood flow influenced cutaneous mechanoreceptors. She is also a registered kinesiologist and spent over 6 years in clinical practice, implementing education and exercise for falls prevention and chronic disease management. Erika joined the Neurocognition and Mobility lab in April of 2024 as a project manager in order to continue her passions of both clinical work and research innovation. As a project manager, she facilitates, oversees, and manages all research studies in the lab and facilitates collaborations in multi-center studies.

Her responsibilities also include managing ethics applications, supervising and mentoring students, and occasionally conducting data collections. Erika is excited about the opportunity to deepen her knowledge of the relationship between emotion and movement in her current role. Her current research focus includes the multi-center validation study for a novel freezing of gait assessment tool. Some future interests are to examine skin sensory input in Parkinson’s, aiming to target sensory pathways to improve balance and postural control and reduce freezing of gait. In her time outside of the lab, Erika is busy spending time outdoors with her two young kids, coaching girls hockey and gardening.

Email: e2howe@uwaterloo.ca

Abh joined the lab in 2020, where he had the opportunity to combine his interest in biomechanics and neuroscience. He completed a Master’s degree in Kinesiology, specializing in neuroscience. His research focuses on understanding freezing of gait (FOG) in individuals with Parkinson’s disease. Specifically, he aims to explore how FOG affects personal life and how to better understand the physiological signals behind it.  

Looking ahead, Abh hopes to work in an environment where he can apply problem solving skills and other skill sets to tackle a variety of challenges.

Email: ahomagai@uwaterloo.ca

Hajr began her current research in 2022 when she joined the lab for her PhD. Hajr completed her Master’s degree in Kinesiology at York University. Her research focuses on isolated REM sleep behaviour disorder (iRBD), in which individuals enact their dreams during sleep. Patients with this disorder have a high risk of developing dementia with Lewy Bodies and Parkinson’s disease. Hajr is interested in characterising motor deficits in iRBD that can be utilized as markers of iRBD and disease progression. 

In the future she hopes that we will be able to begin clinical trials to help slow down disease progression and hopes her research can contribute to that goal.

Email: hhameed@uwaterloo.ca

Salma joined the lab in summer of 2022. She completed her Bachelors in Kinesiology at the University of Waterloo. The research she is currently looking at is focused on mild cognitive impairment (MCI), which is a transition state between normal cognition and dementia. She is interested in understanding if gait can be used to differentiate the different types of cognitive impairment in people with MCI, and help predict the risk of developing different dementia subtypes in these individuals. 

In the lab, Salma currently helps out with many data collections for other studies, learning more about different tools to collect data. In the future she hopes to continue doing research in the neurodegeneration space.

Email: selasfar@uwaterloo.ca

Arthur joined the lab in January of 2021 and completed his bachelor’s degree in Kinesiology at the University of Waterloo. He is particularly interested in exploring biomarkers, specifically heart biomarkers, that can assist in predicting and diagnosing neurodegenerative disease in patients. 

He has enjoyed learning about the overlap between different fields and how diverse areas of knowledge can come together to address one specific challenge. In the future he hopes to gain deeper exposure to research, develop transferable skills and make meaningful contributions to research.

Email: aecasagrandepinto@uwaterloo.ca

Active projects: PD-HRV

Zhina joined the lab in the Spring of 2025 as an undergraduate thesis student while completing her BSc Honours Health Sciences degree at the University of Waterloo. Her research focuses on fear conditioning, anxiety, and balance control, with an emphasis on how learned fear responses may contribute to mobility challenges relevant to Parkinson’s disease and freezing of gait (FOG). She is particularly interested in the intersection of neurodegenerative disease research, mobility, and patient-centered care.

During her time in the lab, Zhina has enjoyed working within a collaborative and supportive research environment and has had the opportunity to present her findings at conferences such as SONA Conference. In the future, she hopes to continue exploring research related to neurodegenerative diseases. In her free time, she enjoys trying new eateries, swimming, and spending time with loved ones.

Email: zbevrani@uwaterloo.ca

Mya joined the lab in January of 2026 and is working on completing her bachelor’s degree in Science at the University of Waterloo. She is currently focused on researching different interventions for freezing of gait (FOG) that occurs in individuals with Parkinson’s disease. She is interested in how differences in FOG symptoms in Parkinson's patients can be incorporated to provide specialized care. 

She has enjoyed conducting research within a professional and supportive lab environment. In the future, she hopes to gain greater exposure to research surrounding neurodegenerative diseases and their application towards patient outreach. In her free time, she enjoys reading, trying new cuisines, and hanging out with friends and family.

Email: mrrabett@uwaterloo.ca