On April 13th, Kayla Pariser successfully defended her PhD dissertation! Kayla’s work involved both experimental and computational studies on how individuals respond to an adaptive treadmill that modulated speed according to pushoff force and step length. In this project, Kayla developed the first simulations to predict gait patterns of individuals walking on both fixed-speed and adaptive treadmills. She then used this simulation framework to optimize adaptive controller settings for healthy individuals and individuals post-stroke.
Kayla will be building off of her impressive work in musculoskeletal simulation as a postdoctoral researcher working with Dr. BJ Fregly at Rice University. Her work will involve developing personalized musculoskeletal models to optimize gait rehabilitation for post-stroke individuals. As part of this project, Kayla will be coordinating the Grand Stroke Challenge, a competition which seeks to engage researchers around the world in treatment optimization for post-stroke gait rehabilitation.
We will miss Kayla but we are excited to see the great work she will accomplish in the next step of her career. Congratulations Kayla!
