The MOvES Lab would like to extend a warm welcome to Maria Talarico, a new, but returning member of the lab! Maria
started in the MOvES Lab as a Biomedical Engineering undergraduate student during her junior year (2011) with a research focus on postural control stability and variability of athletes while completing the anterior reach task. Upon completion of her B.S. in Biomedical Engineering with a Minor in Exercise Science at Ohio State in 2013, Maria continued her studies in biomechanics at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and North Carolina State University through the Joint Department of Biomedical Engineering. While completing her M.S., Maria conducted research in the Matthew A. Gfellar Sport-Related Traumatic Brain Injury Research Center under the guidance of Dr. Jason Mihalik. Her thesis concentrated on the effects of single leg squat performance, functional and postural control parameters, and visual reaction time performance under single- and dual-task paradigms. In addition to research, Maria was a Teaching Assistant to undergraduate Biomedical Engineering students in quantitative human physiology, fundamental biomechanics and human kinetics, and biomedical instrumentation courses. In September 2015, Maria started working at the U.S. Army Research Laboratory (ARL) in Aberdeen Proving Ground, MD as a Post-Graduate Biomechanics Researcher. Maria worked with a Biomechanics research team until July 2017 investigating physical and cognitive performance of Dismounted Soldiers during load carriage tasks and with physical augmentation devices in operationally-relevant situations. After 2 years of working with the Army, Maria is very excited to return to Ohio State where she will apply her biomechanics expertise and research experiences as a member of the MOvES Lab while pursuing a PhD in Biomedical Engineering. Maria’s research interests include functional and cognitive performance in dual-task paradigms in healthy and concussed individuals, human movement patterns of specialized tasks in athletics and the military, and the neuromechanical effects pre- and post-injury.