In October 2019, Alison published our research on arm crank ergometer (ACE) “spin” training in the Scandinavian Journal of Medicine and Science in Sports. We found that ACE training not only improved aerobic capacity, but also static seated balance in individuals with SCI. To learn more, read the article here.
Congratulations to authors Alison Williams, Dr. Amanda Chisholm, Andrea Lynn, Raza Malik, Gevorg Eginyan, and Dr. Tania Lam.
In September 2019, lab members Gevorg, Raza, Emily, Ali, and Maya traveled to Jasper to attend the 50th Annual Alberta Motor Control “NeuroHike” Meeting.
Lam Lab at Mt. Edith Cavell
NeuroHike is an annual conference in held in either Jasper or Kananaskis for researchers, academics, and scientists to present their research. Our team enjoyed the road trip to the Rockies and continued opportunities for professional and educational development. We hope to participate in more NeuroHike meetings in the future!
We are delighted to announce that in Sept 2019, Gevorg began his Masters of Science program under the supervision of Dr. Tania Lam.
Gevorg has been a long time Lam Lab member as a research assistant during his undergrad program, and since 2017 as our full-time research technician. As part of his thesis work, Gevorg plans to explore the neural mechanisms behind posterior tibial stimulation therapy. We’re looking forward to seeing his findings!
In August 2019, Raza published his work investigating how locomotor training can be used to elicit kinematic adaptations that improve walking in individuals with motor-incomplete SCI. These results suggest that improvements in skilled walking had a significant relationship to changes in knee range of motion and hip ankle coordination of the weaker limb. Click here for the full article.
Congratulations to authors Raza Malik, Gevorg Eginyan, Andrea Lynn, and Dr. Tania Lam.
In September 2019, Ali and Dr. Lam traveled to Gothenburg, Sweden to attend the ICS 2019 Scientific Meeting. This annual conference brings together international experts and researchers in multidisciplinary areas to discuss the treatment of lower urinary tract symptoms, bladder and bowel incontinence, pelvic medicine, and pelvic floor disorders.
Ali and Tania enjoy a famous Swedish cardamom bun!
Tania delivers her talk on the potential benefits of exoskeleton training for lower urinary tract symptoms in SCI
We are delighted to announce that our laboratory was a recipient of a 2019 Spring CIHR Project Grant. This funding program made available through the federal government has been designed to help fund health related research by supporting projects or teams in all areas of health. With this grant, we are excited to continue to investigate potential avenues to explore neurorehabilitation strategies for individuals with SCI, with particular focus on improving urogenital outcomes through physical activity interventions.
Click here to learn more about the CHIR Project Grant program and here to learn about our award.
Ali successfully defended her Masters in February 2019, and graduated with a Master of Science in Kinesiology in May 2019.
Her thesis work focused on exploring the extent of residual innervation to the pelvic floor muscles in people with motor-complete spinal cord injury. Thank you, Ali, for all your hard work over these past few years! We are delighted that she will be continuing her work in the lab as our Laboratory Manager.
In March 2019, previous postdoctoral fellow Dr. Amanda Chisholm published her study investigating the proprioceptive deficits of individuals with motor-incomplete SCI and how this impacted the learning of a precision walking skill. Compared to able-bodied controls, individuals with motor-incomplete SCI were able to achieve the same level of performance accuracy, although more practice was required to learn the skill. Check out the publication to learn more.
Congratulations to authors Dr. Amanda Chishlom, Taha Qaiser, Alison Williams, Gevorg Eginyan, and Dr. Tania Lam.
Over the past two years, we have had the pleasure of collaborating with Dr. Andrei Krassioukov’s laboratory to investigate the effects of epidural stimulation on autonomic function. Our first case report (2018) demonstrated that epidural spinal cord stimulation may be help manage cardiovascular dysfunction in individuals with chronic SCI. Click here to learn more.
In our second study (2019), we demonstrated how epidural stimulation can improve upper body exercise capacity via the modulation of cardiovascular and respiratory function. The full study can be found here.
Thank you to the many authors and contributors of these two publications, from our lab as well as others. We are very excited to continue our collaboration with Dr. Krassioukov’s group – look out for more papers from our labs in the future!
In February 2019, the 10th World Congress for Neurorehabilitation took place in Mumbai, India. Ali and Tania attended, and presented their latest research on proprioception training, pelvic floor muscle activation, and arm-cycle training for people with spinal cord injury. We hope to be able to attend this excellent conference again in the future!
Ali presents her findings on arm-cycle ergometery for seated balance