MAE Department Seminar: Biomedical Engineering Research and Educational Initiatives Tied to Balance and Postural Control

Abstract
A goal of Dr. Lara Thompson’s presentation is to overview her research in balance and postural control and her visions tied to building new biomedical engineering education and research infrastructure. Deficient, impaired balance and mobility can have drastic debilitating effects on a person’s everyday life. Several million American adults have chronic balance impairments due to damage in the peripheral vestibular system. Dr. Thompson’s research has involved the investigation of balance and postural responses utilizing engineering tools, models and system identification techniques, for balancing tasks in primates with altered vestibular (equilibrium) function. This included characterization of a prototype invasive vestibular prosthesis’ effects on improving balance. Further, we live in a rapidly aging world and falls are of pressing concern; the world percentage of individuals over 65 years of age will double between 2015 to 2050. With fall death rates in older adults also steeply rising, there is a need for research tied to improving and maintaining balance. Dr. Thompson will discuss robotic training methods used in the University of the District of Columbia (UDC) Center for Biomechanical and Rehabilitation Engineering (CBRE) which could be impactful towards improving balance and balance confidence critical for everyday life in healthy aging individuals as well as survivors of stroke. Alongside her research, Dr. Thompson’s biomedical engineering vision, experiences spearheading and erecting new educational program and research facilities tied to building a diverse biomedical engineering workforce at UDC, a HBCU in Washington, DC, will also be discussed. One of her most recent projects involves leading the design of a new, multi-laboratory facility (a specialized center for assistive rehabilitation research) aimed to focus on gait & balance, assistive robotics, virtual reality rehabilitation, and biomechanics.

Bio

Dr. Lara Thompson is a 2022 recipient of the Alan T. Waterman award, the nation’s top honor for early career scientists and engineers. Since the Alan T. Waterman award’s inception in 1975, Dr. Thompson is the first awardee from a historically black college and university (HBCU), and further, she is the first self-identified female of color recipient. Dr. Thompson is an associate professor of Mechanical Engineering and is the founding Director of the Biomedical Engineering program, the first and only ABET-accredited Bachelor of Science in biomedical engineering program at a HBCU, and the Center for Biomechanical & Rehabilitation Engineering (CBRE) at the University of the District of Columbia (UDC), a state-of-the-art research facility focused on human mobility.

Dr. Thompson earned her Bachelor of Science degree in mechanical engineering from the University of Massachusetts Lowell, followed by a Master of Science degree in aeronautical and astronautical engineering at Stanford University, working for over 2 years at Charles Stark Draper Laboratory as a mechanical engineer, followed by a Doctoral degree from the Harvard-MIT Division of Health Sciences and Technology (HST) in biomedical engineering. Her doctoral research was the first to demonstrate that a vestibular-based sensory prosthetic can improve the ability to maintain balance during head-turns.

Thompson has trailblazed new research initiatives and educational programs and spearheaded new infrastructure tied to biomedical engineering. She utilizes her engineering background to develop new technological innovations, while utilizing engineering techniques to understand the mechanisms that underlie the neurological impairments, tied to balance. At present, she investigates assistive technologies, robotics, and methodologies towards improving balance and reducing fall-risk in the rapidly growing aging population. The revolutionary approaches developed by Dr. Thompson are advancing the field of rehabilitation engineering and biomechanics towards improving the quality-of-life for mobility impaired populations.