Dr. William McIlroy completed his PhD in Neuroscience from the University of Guelph in 1992 and then completed a postdoctoral fellowship at the Centre for Studies in Aging at the Sunnybrook Research Institute. In 1996 he moved into a faculty position in the Department of Physical Therapy at the University of Toronto where he held a Canada Research Chair in Neurorehabilitation. In 2006 he moved to the Department of Kinesiology at the University of Waterloo where he has recently completed a 7-year term as Department Chair. As Principal Investigator of the Neuroscience, Mobility and Balance Lab (NiMBaL) at the University of Waterloo his research program is centred on fundamental and translational work to advance the development of new approaches to maximize safe independent mobility among older adults and those with neurologic disease/or injury. This work extends from a focus on fundamental understanding of how the central nervous system is able to control the remarkable challenge of maintaining upright stability and controlling bipedal mobility to the development and implementation of novel tools used to assess gait and balance. Most recently this includes the implementation of wearable technologies to assess mobility, sleep and activity in daily life. The latter is supported by partnership with the Ontario Neurogenerative Disease Research Initiative (ONDRI) where Dr. McIlroy co-leads both the Remote Monitoring Assessment and Gait/Balance platforms. These platforms under this major provincial initiative are focussed on advancing the assessment of movement and application of remote monitoring systems to improve outcomes for older adults and those with or at risk of neurogenerative disease.
Lab: Neuroscience, Mobility and Balance Lab (NiMBaL)
Department profile: William (Bill) McIlroy, Professor, Kinesiology and Health Sciences