Month: August 2016

Kilgas and Phillips Receive Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan Award

Please join me in congratulating doctoral students Matthew Kilgas and Kevin Phillips as both received $3,000 awards for their research through the Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan Foundation (BCBSM) Student Award Program. Briefly, this foundation is dedicated to improving the health of Michigan residents and supports student research projects across a wide range of human health topics. We wish Matt and Kevin the best of luck with their respective projects and strongly encourage other graduate students to apply in the future.

Matthew Kilgas (Dr. Elmer’s Lab)
Kilgas“Restoring Quadriceps Function Following ACL Reconstruction with Blood Flow Restriction Exercise”

 

 

 

 

Kevin Phillips (Dr. Yoon’s Lab)
Phillips“Muscle Architecture and Muscle Neuromuscular Fatigue in Middle-Aged Obese Adults”

Dr. Elmer Awarded National Science Foundation Grant

nsf_icorps_logosDr. Steven Elmer and his team were recently awarded a $50,000 research grant from the National Science Foundation (NSF) for their project entitled “I-Corps: A New Assistive Device for Wheelchair Users”.

As part of the grant, Elmer along with doctoral student Matt Kilgas (KIP) and Mike Morley (Assistant Director of Technology Commercialization, Innovation and Industry Engagement) will participate in the rigorous I-Corps curriculum.  This curriculum consists of a 7 week program to help train scientists and engineers to develop entrepreneurship skills that will lead to the commercialization of technology that has been supported previously by NSF-funded research.   The team will travel to San Francisco for a three day “Kick Off” workshop and return for the final “Lessons Learned” workshop at the end of the program.

This new grant is a result of Dr. Elmer’s continued efforts to provide wheelchair users a means to strengthen upper-extremity muscles and improve their mobility without overtaxing their heart and lungs.  Elmer’s team engineered a rehabilitation device called RENEW-U to provide wheelchair users this opportunity.

* This is the first NSF award for the Department of Kinesiology and Integrative Physiology.