Our Team
Michele Lobo, PT, PhD
Andrea Baraldi Cunha, PT, PhD
Bai Li
Julie Orlando, PT, DPT
Jiayi Ren
Michele Lobo, PT, PhD, is passionate about bringing together experts across disciplines to design interventions, wearable technology, and FUNctional Fashions to maximize participation, play, and learning for people with disabilities. Her group has developed and tested a variety of effective play-based interventions as well as low- and high-tech rehabilitation tools, including the first exoskeletal garment for rehabilitation. Michele received her BS from The College of New Jersey, her Masters in Physical Therapy from Hahnemann University, and her Movement Science PhD from the University of Delaware. She has been a visiting researcher at The Free University, Amsterdam, and the University of California, Berkeley. In her free time, Michele enjoys spending time with her husband and two sons, being immersed in nature, cooking (and eating) great food, and traveling.
Andrea Baraldi Cunha, PT, PhD is a post-doctoral researcher in the Move2Learn Innovation Lab within the Physical Therapy Department at the University of Delaware. She has a Bachelor’s degree, Master’s degree, and PhD in Physical Therapy. She has worked as clinician, professor, and researcher in pediatric physical therapy in Brazil. Her research and clinical interests include motor development, motor function, infants and children with special needs and at environmental risk, pediatric assessments, wearable devices, early intervention, and rehabilitation. In her free time, Andrea likes spending time with her family and friends, watching movies, and traveling.
Bai Li is a fashion engineer for Move2Learn within the Department of Physical Therapy at the University of Delaware (UD). Bai received her BS from Donghua University, China, and her master’s degree in fashion and apparel studies in UD. She has been an exchange student in fashion communication in Istituto Europeo di Design, Italy. Her research has done before focus on functional design, 3D virtual prototyping, and sustainability. Bai is currently a PhD student, doing research under Dr. Lobo, and working on the NSF project, to design and take an exoskeleton garment to assist children with muscular deficiencies. Outside of the lab, Bai enjoys traveling and play with her cute bunny Dumpling.
Julie M. Orlando, PT, DPT is a board certified specialist in pediatric physical therapy. Julie received her Bachelor’s degree and Doctorate of Physical Therapy from Ithaca College, and then completed the Pediatric Residency Program at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. She is currently a PhD student in the Biomechanics and Movement Science Program. Julie is interested in using wearable technology to assist in rehabilitation, and has a special interest in assisting patients with neurologic, neuromuscular, and oncological diagnoses that affect motor development. Outside of the lab, Julie enjoys running, cycling, baking, and playing with her nieces and nephews.
Jiayi Ren is a second-year graduate student majoring in fashion and apparel studies. She got her BE degree in Beijing Institute of Fashion and Technology. She is interested in functional apparel design and designing products for real-life uses. For now, she is focusing on the apparel design for children with physical and mental disabilities. Jiayi is excited about her project designing products that are functional enough and also aesthetic appearing. In her free time, Jiayi enjoys playing video games and watching movies with her friends.
Past Team Members
Iryna Babik, PhD
Dr. Iryna Babik is a developmental psychologist with extensive expertise in developmental research methodology and statistical data analysis. She received her Ph.D. in Psychology from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro in 2014, conducted post-doctoral research in the Move 2 Learn Innovation Lab, Department of Physical Therapy at the University of Delaware, and joined the Boise State University as an Assistant Professor in August 2019. Her research focuses on cognitive development in infancy/childhood; the role of sensorimotor exploration in problem-solving and cognitive development; development of visuospatial skills, drawing, and early writing; development of executive functioning and mathematical ability; cultural aspects of information processing and cognitive development; early intervention and rehabilitation of sensorimotor and cognitive skills. She teaches Research Methods and Advanced Statistics.
Martha L. Hall, PhD
Martha L. Hall was the Fashion Designer for Move To Learn Innovation. She received her PhD in Biomechanics and Movement from the University of Delaware in 2018. Dr. Hall is now the Director of Innovation of Health Sciences at the University of Delaware. She is also an Assistant Professor in Health Sciences with affiliations in the Fashion & Apparel Studies Department and the Horn Entrepreneurship program. Dr. Hall has applied her design expertise to improving patient health. Whether it be building soft exoskeletons to enhance the mobility of disabled children or creating comfortable and expressive medical devices, Dr. Hall’s research is driven by one goal: to holistically improve patient health outcomes using a patient-centered approach.
Ben Greenspan, PhD
Ben Greenspan graduated from the University of Delaware in 2015, with a degree in mechanical engineering and a specialty in 3D printing. He received his PhD in Biomechanics and Movement Science from the University of Delaware in 2019. Ben now works on the research and development of smart materials that can be embedded into everyday objects to create smart products and environments at the Accenture Labs. He has built off of his knowledge using conductive threads, fabrics and paints as sensors from the Move 2 Learn Innovation Lab. Other research areas include smart materials that have thermochromic and shape memory properties as well as designing morphing 3D prints.
Danielle Civil, MS
Danielle Civil graduated with a B.S in Apparel Design in 2015 with a minor in Entrepreneurial Studies, as well as an M.S. in Fashion and Apparel Studies in 2019. Her interest in how people function in clothes and how innovations in fashion can make people’s lives better prompted her to return to UD to pursue a graduate degree focused on apparel functionality and design innovation. Throughout her time in graduate school, she worked closely with the Move to Learn lab to support various wearable projects that were being developed. Dani’s graduate thesis was advised by Michele Lobo and was an interdisciplinary design, development, and testing process that resulted in creating a soft (fabric) alternative brace to a plastic orthopedic AFO brace for children. Currently, Dani works at Under Armour as a Technical Designer in Baltimore, Maryland where she gets to put her interest in designing for functionality to work every day. In her current role, she works with cross-functional teammates to create garments that not only look great but also perform at a high level for an active consumer. She evaluates fit, functionally, and fabric of UA garments through fittings and virtual 3D development.