Bio
Matt obtained a MS in mechanical engineering and PhD in neuroscience from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, and a BS/BA in mechanical engineering from the University of San Diego. His dissertation research primarily focused on improving gait initiation in people with Parkinson’s disease (PD) and freezing of gait (FOG) using a powered ankle foot orthosis. During his graduate career, he also worked on projects that examined the application of a powered ankle foot orthosis for gait assistance in persons with multiple sclerosis and perception vs. action coupling in firefighters wearing protective gear. He was awarded a MnDRIVE Neuromodulation Postdoctoral Fellowship in 2016 to develop quantitative measures of the mechanical and neurophysiological components of rigidity in PD. In 2017, he was awarded the Parkinson’s Study Group Mentored Clinical Research Award to evaluate an automated closed-looped algorithm to rapidly optimize deep brain stimulation settings for people with PD.
