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.

Congratulations to two excellent undergraduate research assistants, Kristen Looman and Olivia DiCarlantonio, for their recent graduation!  Kristen received her B.S. in Biology and will be working as an Anesthesia Technician at the Wexner Medical Center as she prepares for medical school.  Olivia graduated with a B.S. in Public Health and is pursuing a career in medical device sales.

In a recent study published in the Journal of Orthopedic & Sports Physical Therapy, members from The Ohio State University MOvES research lab under the direction of Dr. James Onate and led by School of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences doctoral student graduate Dr. Dustin Grooms, who is an assistant professor at Ohio University, found that brain activation for knee flexion-extension motion may be altered following ACL reconstruction (ACLR).  The study discusses results from 15 participants who had undergone ACLR and 15 matched healthy controls.  Functional MRI (fMRI) data were obtained for all participants during a knee motor task consisting of repeated cycles of knee flexion and extension.  Results indicate that the brain fundamentally changes how it processes information from an injured knee and how those with ACLR may rely more on visual systems than movement spatial awareness.

Since being published, this study has gained national media coverage.  Check out articles published on PsychCentral, Healthline News, Mass Device and watch news clips from KCNC-TV and KFVS-TV!

After 3 years of testing at high schools across the country, data collections for the FPPE Project have come to an end.  During this time, over 6,000 athletes completed functional testing consisting of an ankle dorsiflexion range of motion, a single leg anterior reach (SLAR), a single leg hop for distance (SLHOP), and a drop vertical jump landing evaluation (iLESS).  Results of this testing will provide clinicians with normative functional performance data as well as injury risk prediction capabilities of a functional pre-participation evaluation.