News & Events

Congratulations to Sophia for successfully defending her master’s thesis!

We are pleased to announce that Sophia Crisomia has successfully defended her master’s thesis entitled “Effects of Single-Task and Dual-Task Demands on Force Control During Bimanual Coordination in Young Healthy Adults.” Her research reveals that performing a cognitive task requiring selective attention impairs bimanual force control in healthy young adults, leading to increased movement variability and error. This research is important as it sets a baseline for understanding how bimanual coordination in single and dual-task scenarios changes in healthy aging versus Parkinson’s disease. Congratulations, Sophia!

Congratulations to Abbie for winning the Best Presentation award at UD’s 2023 Spark! Symposium!

At the 2023 Spark! Symposium organized by the University of Delaware, focused on “MOBILITY: FROM ATOMS TO IDEAS,” Abigail Bower (fourth from the left in the photo), who is a PhD student in our lab and enrolled in the Interdisciplinary Neuroscience Graduate (ING) Program, won the Ignite Winner title for her presentation, “Moving Together: Understanding Coordinated Movements in Aging and Parkinson’s Disease.” Her achievement underscores her dedication to research excellence. Congratulations, Abbie!

UD Labs Launch Parkinson’s Disease Registry

The University of Delaware Participant Recruitment Registry for Parkinson’s Disease Research is a new database for those who have a Parkinson’s disease (PD) diagnosis and are interested in enrolling in PD research studies conducted at the University of Delaware (UD). The PD Registry is designed to help research investigators expand the understanding of PD and design ways to improve symptoms and ultimately the lives of those affected by the disease.

If you want to know more about the Parkinson’s Disease Registry at UD, contact Dr. Roxana Burciu at rgburciu@udel.edu or 302-831-3066.

Parkinson’s Disease Review Paper Featured on the Cover of “Movements Disorders”

“Imaging of Motor Cortex Physiology in Parkinson’s Disease”, a review paper authored by Roxana G. Burciu, Ph.D., Assistant Professor (University of Delaware) & David E. Vaillancourt Ph.D., Professor (University of Florida) was featured on the cover of the journal Movement Disorders – the official journal of the International Parkinson and Movement Disorder Society (Volume 33, Issue 11, Nov 2018). The paper discusses the neuroimaging evidence for the involvement of the primary motor cortex in the pathophysiology of Parkinson’s disease.

Roxana G. Burciu, Ph.D.: “Development of therapeutics and interventions that go beyond replenishing dopamine depletion and target the motor cortex could significantly slow down and alter the progressive course of the disease and thus improve clinical care for Parkinson’s disease.”