IGERT: Musculoskeletal and Neural Adaptations in Form and Function

Arizona State University, Scottsdale AZ

Investigators

Abstract

9987619 Ji-Ping He - Arizona State University IGERT: Neural and Musculoskeletal Adaptation in Forms and Function This Integrative Graduate Education and Research Training (IGERT) award supports the establishment of a multidisciplinary graduate training program of education and research on neural and musculoskeletal adaptation in form and function. This theme is examined with integrated approaches from bioengineering, neurophysiology, physical anthropology, exercise sciences, computer and system sciences. The goal of the program is to introduce students with diverse biological and engineering backgrounds to the challenges of deciphering complex phenomena in integrative and computational neuroscience, motor diorders and rehabilitation. The program will foster interdisciplinary education and training in research efforts toward meeting these challenges. Graduate training will expand upon two related areas in which participating faculty have developed research and teaching collaborations: (1) mechanisms underlying neural control of movements, emphasizing hand function and locomotion, and (2) evolutionary morphology of the human hand and bipedality. Three interdisciplinary courses built around core research laboratories (Biomechanics/Anatomy, Neurophysiology/Neuroengineering, and Computation/Visualization) will anchor the program. Research training will be enhanced by access to medical imaging resources and by basic and applied research projects in collaboration with leading medical institutions, biomedical enterprises and evolutionary research resources at the Institute of Human Origins. The program addresses the multidisciplinary needs of graduate education, creates a rich environment for generation of innovative ideas for leading edge research in neuroengineering, evolutionary morphology, motor control, stereo modeling and visualization. IGERT is an NSF-wide program intended to meet the challenges of educating Ph.D. scientists and engineers with the multidisciplinary backgrounds and the technical, professional, and personal skills needed for the career demands of the future. The program is intended to catalyze a cultural change in graduate education by establishing new, innovative models for graduate education and training in a fertile environment for collaborative research that transcends traditional disciplinary boundaries. In the third year of the program, awards are being made to nineteen institutions for programs that collectively span all areas of science and engineering supported by NSF. The intellectual foci of this specific award reside in the Directorates for Engineering; Biological Sciences; Social, Behavioral, and Economic Sciences; Computer and Information Science and Engineering; and Education and Human Resources.