Congratulations to Dr. Elijah Kuska on earning his Doctorate in Mechanical Engineering! Dr. Kuska’s PhD thesis dissertation was titled In Silico Techniques to Improve Understanding of Gait in Cerebral Palsy. Congratulations and best of luck as you move forward as an assistant teaching professor at the Colorado School of Mines!
Projects
MH Schwartz, KM Steele, AJ Ries, AG Georgiadis, BA MacWilliams (2022) “A model for understanding the causes and consequences of walking impairments”
Journal Article in PLOS ONE:
Causal inference is inherently ambiguous since we cannot observe multiple realizations of the same person with different characteristics. Causal models must be evaluated through indirect means and reasoning.
Aim: The main objectives in conducting this study were to (1) propose a comprehensive model for quantifying the causes and consequences of walking impairments and (2) demonstrate the potential utility of the model for supporting clinical care and addressing basic scientific questions related to walking.
Method: This paper introduced a model consisting of 10 nodes and 23 primary causal paths and demonstrated the model’s utility using a large sample of gait data.
Results: The model was plausible, captured some well-known cause-effect relationships, provided new insights into others, and generated novel hypotheses requiring further testing through simulation or experiment.
Interpretation: This model is a proposal that is meant to be critically evaluated, validated or refuted, altered, and improved over time. Such improvements might include the introduction of new nodes, variables, and paths.
Introducing Dr. Alyssa Spomer!!
Congratulations to Dr. Alyssa Spomer on earning her Doctorate in Mechanical Engineering! Dr. Spomer’s PhD thesis dissertation was titled Evaluating multimodal biofeedback to target and improve motor control in cerebral palsy. Congratulations and best of luck as you move forward as a Clinical Scientist at Gillette Children’s. Best of luck in Minnesota!
Congratulations, Charlotte! Charlotte Caskey passes her Ph.D. General Exam
Congratulations to Nicole Zaino on being named a Gatzert Child Welfare Fellow
Nicole was selected from a extremely competitive application pool to become a 2022 Gatzert Child Welfare Fellow. This fellowship will support Nicole in her research and as she writes her dissertation contributing to the lives of children with disabilities. Way to go Nicole! ConGATZERTulation!