Brett Gervais is an alum of both the MTU KIP department in Exercise Science and the CMU Doctorate in Physical Therapy (DPT) program. He was nominated as a Copper Shores Superior Educator for his role as a football and track and field coach in the Lake Linden-Hubbell school district. He is currently a physical therapist at Aspirus in Calumet. Congratulations to Brett for earning such a great honor and being a positive role model for so many student athletes in our local area.
Graduate students Kyle Wehmanen and Felix Cottet-Puinel discussed their recent publication in the Advances in Physiology Education titled “Impact of Health Behaviors on Community Well-Being and Resilience: Teaching K-12 Students with Jenga!” on the American Physiological Society (APS) Publications Podcast series. You can listen to the podcast on the APS Publications Podcast website.
Three departments at Michigan Tech collaborated on a research study titled “Influences of Backpack Loading on Recovery from Anterior and Posterior Losses of Balance.” The official release of the paper can be found in Applied Ergonomics.
Students from the Kinesiology and Integrative Physiology and Mechanical Engineering-Engineering Mechanics department at MTU and Central Michigan University’s Doctor of Physical Therapy program worked on this study under the direction of Dr. Carolyn Duncan (KIP faculty).
Professor Qing-Hui Chen, Professor Zhiying Shan, and Dr. Andrew Chapp, a former KIP doctoral student, have had a review article published in the Journal of Antioxidants titled “ Acetic Acid: An Underestimated Metabolite in Ethanol-Induced Changes in Regulating Cardiovascular Function.”
Dr. Chapp has worked on this research project since he started his PhD in 2013 in the KIP department. He is the lead author of this article.
Kelly Kamm (KIP) has been selected to serve on the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services’ (MDHHS’) Social Determinants of Health (SDOH) Hub Advisory Council.
Kamm, the Copper Shores Community Health Foundation Endowed Assistant Professor, focuses her research on understanding the determinants of health in young children and the elderly in rural populations, then works to develop and test interventions that improve health behaviors. She specializes in scalable, cost-effective interventions to improve health in communities with limited resources.
The advisory council’s work begins later this month. Kamm is eager to get started. “I’m excited to help represent the Upper Peninsula since social determinants of health play such a critical role in protecting and promoting health in our communities,” she said.
The SDOH Hub Advisory Council will guide the implementation of SDOH Hub pilot projects in communities across Michigan in 2024 and develop recommendations for future SDOH Hub initiatives.
According to the MDHHS, the pilot projects “bring community members, health care professionals, social service providers, government partners and business leaders together to address the social determinants of health and improve health equity.” Each pilot project will receive resources and technical assistance provided by MDHHS and contracted partners.
MDHHS said that over time, the Hub pilots’ aim is achieving “the overarching goal of the Roadmap to Healthy Communities: Improve the health and social outcomes of all Michigan residents while working to achieve health equity by eliminating disparities and barriers to social and economic opportunity.”
Visit the MDHHS’ SDOH Hubs page for more information on the program.
Former Department of Kinesiology and Integrative Physiology (KIP) doctoral student Joshua Gonzalez ’21 (Ph.D. Integrative Physiology) and Professor William Cooke (KIP) are the co-authors of an article published in the Journal of Applied Physiology.
The article is titled “Acute fasting reduces tolerance to progressive central hypovolemia in humans.”
In addition to his paper being published, it was also selected for “APSselect”, which is a monthly collection from the American Physiological Society (APS) that showcases some of the best recently published articles in physiological research.
Central Michigan University doctorate of physical therapy students from the Houghton/Michigan Tech campus cohort volunteered for a community-wide sled hockey event in Houghton, MI earlier this month. Over 100 people came out to learn the sport of sled hockey, which is an inclusive way for people of any ability to get on the ice and play. The KIP department has been a sponsor of the event for the past two years.
Sled hockey entails sitting on a sled with two blades and propelling via picks on the ends of two short hockey sticks. Other than being in the sled, the rules are essentially the same as stand-up hockey. Students were essential in making the event a success, doing everything from running the registration table to assisting participants who tipped over in their sleds or pushing those who couldn’t self-propel. People with and without physical disabilities were able to play hockey together without barriers. The DPT students were amazingly helpful and gained valuable experience with adaptive sports. It was an incredibly fun day!
The 2023 Upper Peninsula Medical Conference was held on the MTU’s campus on October 28, 2023. Several KIP students attended to learn more about their field of study and network with health care professionals.
Abby Brooks is a first-year master’s student in Kinesiology. She is part of the Exercise Physiology Lab and advised by Dr. Steve Elmer. Something she found really interesting about the conference was the talk that involved red light and blue light. She had heard about blue light before and how it affects how you sleep, but she didn’t know how bad the effects actually were, and it made her think about how she should put her phone down earlier. She didn’t know the ideas presented about red light and its benefits. She also presented a poster on her research, titled “Promoting Physical Activity in the Rural and Medically Underserved Upper Peninsula.”
Lily Hart is a thesis-based master’s student in Kinesiology and a member of Dr. Carolyn Duncan’s Biomechanics Lab. Something she found interesting about the conference was the variety of professions that can be a part of the medical field other than being a physician. Also, it was her first time being a part of a conference and presenting, and she felt very grateful to be able to be there with the lab team.
Gracie VanLangevelde is pursuing an accelerated master’s degree in Kinesiology. She works in Dr. Duncan’s lab and focuses on deep tendon reflexes. Something she learned was that the ticks in the Upper Peninsula carry diseases other than Lyme disease. People can collect the ticks they find and submit them to the local lab for testing. The title of her poster presentation was “Utilizing Surface Electromyography and Kinematic Analyses to Quantify Deep Tendon Reflexes.” Gracie said, “I hope to contribute to this ongoing study to help other researchers with their work.”
Xinqian (Sherry) Chen has been studying for four years under Dr. Zhiying (Jenny) Shan to earn her PhD in Integrative Physiology. Something she learned from the conference was new mechanism of diabetes is focusing on the loss of beta cell identity (dedifferentiation or trans-differentiation) instead of the loss of beta cell numbers. Her poster presentation was titled “Brain-derived Small Extracellular Vesicles from Dahl Salt Sensitive Rats with High Salt Diet Induce Inflammation and Oxidative Stress.”
Nathan Balok is a first-year master’s student in Kinesiology. He is currently working in the Exercise Physiology Lab with Dr. Elmer. When he attended the UP Medical Conference, he found Dr. Jed Magen’s presentation about major depressive disorder in primary care settings particularly interesting. Since he hopes to enter the medical field as a physician, it will be crucial for him to be mindful of his patients’ health from a holistic point of view, including their mental health. Recognizing the signs and symptoms of major depressive disorder and taking the steps to treat it will help him be a better advocate for patients’ health in the future.
Join us Friday, December 1, 2023 from 3:00-4:00 pm in ATDC 101 for the first December KIP Seminar.
This month’s seminar is titled “Control, Robustness, and Contact-based Mechanics of Biped Locomotion” presented by Dr. Tan Chen, Assistant Professor in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at Michigan Technological University.
The research group that works in Dr. Carolyn Duncan’s Biomechanics Lab tied for 3rd place in the student poster competition. “My personal highlight of the conference was seeing the students interact with the healthcare professionals. The networking experience was awesome, and they seemed so excited that the work they were doing was of interest to people in the profession,” remarked Dr. Duncan. Learn more about the students’ research and work in the abstract below.
Utilizing Surface Electromyography and Kinematic Analyses to Quantify Deep Tendon Reflexes
Alexandra Little (BioSci), Gracie VanLangevelde (KIP), Lily Hart (KIP), Cameron Williams (CMU), Todd Hall (KIP), Carolyn Duncan (KIP)
Michigan Technological University, Central Michigan University
Deep tendon reflexes (DTRs) are a fundamental part of neurological examinations. Clinical observations and past studies have suggested that abnormal DTRs are a sign of corticospinal tract abnormalities or dysfunction with other descending pathways that influence the reflex arc. However, there are challenges regarding the interpretation and understanding of reflex excitability in clinical settings. There have been some attempts at using alternative methods, such as electromyography, to mechanically quantify DTRs for interpretation. However, this research has been limited to smaller focused studies and has not been used to examine and characterize DTRs across larger populations.
The overarching goal of the research is to characterize and quantify DTR responses using surface EMG and kinematic analyses. To accomplish this, our research team is currently performing 2 studies that aim to 1) Quantifying and determining the repeatability of DTR in healthy varsity athletes 2) Evaluating the relationship between neuromuscular output and DTR rating and 3) Examining the influence of concussions and contact sports on DTR response. In all studies surface EMG electrodes and inertial measurement units (IMU) are utilized to help quantify responses during standard quadriceps, achilles, biceps and triceps DTR testing. While this research is currently ongoing, initial findings suggest that surface electromyography and kinematic analyses can provide more precise information about DTR responses. Moving forward, these initial findings provide the foundational basis for future research examining DTR responses. This research also demonstrates the potential for utilizing EMG and kinematic analyses in clinical settings to gain more information about DTR responses.