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Q&A David Houston Research Highlights

GETTING A GOOD GRIP

Dr. Cesar Marquez-Chin and his team re-
(L-R) David Houston and Dr. Kristin Musselman. engineered a brain-computer interface for
the rehabilitation of upper limb function in
What was most exciting about this project? individuals with stroke or spinal cord injury.
This project approached rehabilitation from a Current systems have long setup time, while the
unique perspective—one that brought together new system only takes around 10 minutes to get
physical therapists and engineers. My background started. The interface can sense an individual’s
is kinesiology and rehabilitation sciences. I intent to move, then deliver electrical stimulation
don’t have a lot of experience with engineering to their muscles to move the limb and retrain the
or the technical side of things, so being able to nervous system. Full Story / Scientific Article
collaborate with people who have that expertise
from Dr. Masani’s lab really brought this project AVOIDING THE SUGAR CRASH
to the next level.

Describe a memorable day that you had
while working on this project.
One of the best days was when a participant in the
balance training program told us how he was able
to stand up and play catch with his grandson. He
could do this because he felt better sensation in his
feet and gained the ability to use his calves through
the training. Seeing our work benefit someone in
such a real way was very rewarding for me. A research team—including (L-R) Drs. Laura
Banks and Tracey Colella—found that individuals
Did anything surprise you about this work? with type 2 diabetes need to consider when
Before this project, most of my experience was they exercise relative to when they take certain
with quantitative science—where you measure medications. “Exercise has an effect similar to that
something using clinical assessments. However, of diabetes medicines. It lowers blood sugar levels
this project incorporated the patient perspective by increasing the capacity of the muscles to take
through interviews. This approach took some up glucose,” explains Dr. Colella. “If blood sugar
getting used to, but it really enabled us to connect levels become too low, hypoglycemia can occur.”
more closely with patients and it showed us things Full Story / Scientific Article
that we would have missed using assessments alone.

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