Northwestern Events Calendar

Mar
5
2018

Dr. Sook-Lei Liew: Big data neuroimaging, virtual reality, and neuromodulation for stroke rehabilitation

When: Monday, March 5, 2018
12:00 PM - 1:00 PM CT

Where: Shirley Ryan AbilityLab, Sky Lobby Auditorium, 10th floor, 355 E. Erie, Chicago, IL 60611 map it

Audience: Faculty/Staff - Student - Public - Post Docs/Docs - Graduate Students

Contact: Tommi Raij, MD, PhD   (312) 238-4401

Group: Shirley Ryan AbilityLab Research Seminar Series

Category: Lectures & Meetings

Description:

Abstract
Stroke is a leading cause of adult long-term disability, and up to 2/3 of stroke survivors do not fully recover, despite intensive therapy. Identifying and personalizing rehabilitation treatments based on each patient's neurological and behavioral profile could greatly enhance the post-stroke outcomes. In this talk, I will discuss a two‐pronged approach to address this problem. First, we are characterizing how specific neuroanatomical changes relate to motor recovery on a large scale. In partnership with ENIGMA Center for Worldwide Medicine, Imaging, and Genomics, we have developed the ENIGMA Stroke Recovery working group to harmonize thousands of stroke MRIs collected worldwide. Our preliminary data show promising results, with specific post‐stroke neuroanatomical motor regions relating to motor impairment and recovery, and results becoming more robust as data across sites are combined. Second, we are developing and evaluating neuromodulatory approaches to affect brain activity in key regions after stroke, using brain stimulation, virtual reality, and brain-computer interfaces to enhance therapeutic outcomes. Ongoing work using transcranial direct current stimulation with concurrent fMRI, and a portable EEG‐based virtual reality neurofeedback system will be discussed, along with future implications of this work for translational research.

Speaker
Sook-Lei Liew, PhD, OTR/L is an Assistant Professor at the University of Southern California and Director of the Neural Plasticity and Neurorehabilitation Laboratory. She has joint appointments in Occupational Therapy, Biokinesiology, Biomedical Engineering, and Neurology, and is a member of the Neuroscience Graduate Faculty, and the USC Stevens Neuroimaging and Informatics Institute. She completed a Bachelor's degree in Kinesiology and English from Rice University, a Master's degree in Occupational Therapy from USC, and a PhD in Occupational Science with a concentration in Neuroscience from USC. She also completed a postdoctoral fellowship at the NINDS/NIH and was a visiting scholar at Peking University, the University of Tübingen, and Johns Hopkins University. The goal of Dr. Liew’s research is to understand mechanisms of neural plasticity in healthy individuals and individuals after neurological injury to promote learning and recovery. Her laboratory uses large scale brain imaging to characterize processes of neural plasticity during learning and rehabilitation and neuromodulatory techniques and technologies such as noninvasive brain stimulation, brain-computer interfaces, and virtual reality to promote learning and enhance plasticity and rehabilitation after brain injury such as stroke. Her work is funded by the NIH, American Heart Association, and US Army Research Laboratory.

 

Add to Calendar

Add Event To My Group:

Please sign-in