{"660846":{"#nid":"660846","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Robotics, Wearables, Speech Assistance Among New McCamish Parkinson\u2019s Blue Sky Grant Recipients","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EThe latest round of \u201cBlue Sky\u201d seed grants from the\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/parkinsons.gatech.edu\/\u0022\u003EMcCamish Parkinson\u2019s Disease Innovation Program\u003C\/a\u003E\u0026nbsp;will once again support research teams at Georgia Tech and Emory University taking a technology-driven approach to probe the devastating brain disorder. But this year, they\u2019re breaking with tradition.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u201cWe\u2019re starting to see more proposed projects from teams who have not traditionally worked in Parkinson\u2019s disease,\u201d said\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/stanley.gatech.edu\/\u0022\u003EGarrett Stanley\u003C\/a\u003E, professor and founding director of the McCamish program in the Wallace H. Coulter Department of Biomedical Engineering at Georgia Tech and Emory.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u201cThis is one of the goals of the McCamish Program, to help scientists and engineers who have worked in other areas bring their ideas and talent to understanding, treating, and one day curing Parkinson\u2019s disease,\u201d Stanley added.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/parkinsons.gatech.edu\/research\/blue_sky_research_teams\/\u0022\u003EThe five new multidisciplinary Blue Sky research teams\u003C\/a\u003E\u0026nbsp;bring a broad range of expertise for projects focused on robotics, wearables, assistive communication technology, and advanced personalized therapeutics. Grants were awarded in two categories: $40,000 for two teams engaged in earlier-stage research and $125,000 for three teams.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EA team led by Coulter BME Associate Professor\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/bme.gatech.edu\/bme\/faculty\/Charlie-Kemp\u0022\u003ECharlie Kemp\u003C\/a\u003E\u0026nbsp;is using a $125,000 award to combine the concepts of fun and utility. They\u2019re developing a therapeutic robotic game system to increase and enhance the patient exercise experience, while reducing the demands on therapists. The goal is a future where people with Parkinson\u2019s disease can play therapeutic games at home with interactive robots, giving therapists more time to provide individualized guidance.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003ERobotics researcher\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/bme.gatech.edu\/bme\/faculty\/Yue-Chen\u0022\u003EYue Chen\u003C\/a\u003E\u0026nbsp;has a completely different aim in mind. He\u2019s leading a team of engineers, scientists, and clinicians in developing, \u201ca safer and more accurate approach for deep brain stimulation electrode placement during Parkinson\u2019s disease treatment,\u201d he said. Chen is an assistant professor in the Coulter Department, and his team received one of the larger grants.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u201cThe Blue Sky grant will allow us to develop collaborations with the surgeons, identify the critical gap, and collect the preliminary data for future external grant applications,\u201d Chen said.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EEmory\u2019s\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/providers.emoryhealthcare.org\/provider\/Amanda+Gillespie\/779269\u0022\u003EAmanda Gillespie\u003C\/a\u003E, director of Speech Pathology of the\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.emoryhealthcare.org\/centers-programs\/voice-center\/our-team.html\u0022\u003EEmory Voice Center\u003C\/a\u003E, is leading a team using its $125,000 grant to design the Speech-Assisting Multi-Microphone System (SAMMS), wearable technology that can isolate, monitor, and analyze vocal loudness and provide biofeedback to the wearer when minimum loudness targets aren\u2019t met.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThis is a continuation of a Blue Sky project that began with the first round of seed grants, last year. \u201cWe aim to make further improvements to the technology based on our pilot study feedback and evaluate the device over a prolonged period of use with patients, testing the hypothesis that using the device improves vocal loudness in conversation over time,\u201d Gillespie said.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/biosciences.gatech.edu\/people\/minoru-shinohara\u0022\u003EMinoru Shinohara\u003C\/a\u003E, associate professor in Georgia Tech\u2019s School of Biological Sciences, is leading a $40,000 early effort in wearable tech. Shinohara\u2019s project aims to treat motor symptoms \u2014 like tremors, rigidity, and poor balance \u2014 with an on-skin, wireless system that automatically assesses dance therapy motions, with the aim of improving lower-limb motor control.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u201cLong term, we\u2019d like to apply this approach to various rehabilitation exercises and clinical populations,\u201d Shinohara said.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EAnd\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/bme.gatech.edu\/bme\/faculty\/Michael-R-Borich\u0022\u003EMichael Borich\u003C\/a\u003E, who runs the Neural Plasticity Research Lab at Emory, is leading a team leveraging its $40,000 award to begin preliminary work on improving mobility and reducing falls in Parkinson\u2019s patients.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u201cThe long-term goal of our project is to develop personalized, non-invasive brain stimulation techniques targeting abnormal cognitive-motor interactions,\u201d Borich said.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe Blue Sky seed grant program, made possible by a gift from the McCamish Foundation, launched last year to identify and support engineers and scientists at Georgia Tech and Emory who can bring innovative approaches to Parkinson\u2019s research.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u201cWe are building a community of researchers across Georgia Tech and Emory that expands on what was already a strong effort in the Atlanta area,\u201d Stanley said. \u201cIn future years, our goal will be to work towards narrowing the scope to focus on a coordinated effort across multiple teams, which is really unique and exciting.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","summary":"","format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EThe five new multidisciplinary Blue Sky research teams bring a broad range of expertise for projects focused on robotics, wearables, assistive communication technology, and advanced personalized therapeutics.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"The five new multidisciplinary Blue Sky research teams bring a broad range of expertise for projects focused on robotics, wearables, assistive communication technology, and advanced personalized therapeutics."}],"uid":"35403","created_gmt":"2022-09-02 18:20:17","changed_gmt":"2023-09-07 16:33:48","author":"Carly Ralston","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2022-09-02T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2022-09-02T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"660845":{"id":"660845","type":"image","title":"Robotics, Wearables, Speech Assistance Among New McCamish Parkinson\u2019s Blue Sky Grant Recipients","body":null,"created":"1662142673","gmt_created":"2022-09-02 18:17:53","changed":"1662142673","gmt_changed":"2022-09-02 18:17:53","alt":"","file":{"fid":"250373","name":"GettyImages-869651916_0.jpeg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/GettyImages-869651916_0.jpeg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/GettyImages-869651916_0.jpeg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":140623,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/GettyImages-869651916_0.jpeg?itok=k8iTktoT"}}},"media_ids":["660845"],"groups":[{"id":"66220","name":"Neuro"}],"categories":[],"keywords":[{"id":"172970","name":"go-neuro"},{"id":"187423","name":"go-bio"},{"id":"187915","name":"go-researchnews"}],"core_research_areas":[{"id":"39441","name":"Bioengineering and Bioscience"}],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:jerry.grillo@ibb.gatech.edu\u0022\u003EJerry Grillo\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"limited_html"}],"email":[],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}}}