Postdoc, Neurophysiology, Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago

Dr. Huang’s research interest lies in neural-machine interfaces for robotic prosthetic limbs and exoskeletons, wearer-robot interaction and co-adaptation, adaptive and optimal control of wearable robots, and human movement control.

Dr. Grant researches into cognitive robotics, medical robotics, and intelligent control via wireless sensor networks. Projects under these topics include, robot colony control via evolutionary algorithms, mobile robot navigation and planning via received signal strength from “mote-like” wireless sensor networks, wearable sensing and control of venous blood flow, automated cell micro-actuation and micro-injection, musculoskeletal modeling and analysis for rehabilitation robotics.

Our laboratory is focused upon using engineering and chemical analysis to study oxidative stress in cultured cells and intact tissue. Oxidative stress is present in almost all human pathologies and our lab is focused on its role in the development and treatment of cancer and neurodegenerative processes.

A major research focus in the Gallippi laboratory is acoustic radiation force-based elastographic ultrasound technologies, which diagnose and monitor diseases by noninvasively interrogating the mechanical properties of tissue. We design custom imaging beam sequences that are implemented on clinical ultrasound imaging systems, and we develop novel signal and image processing methods to exploit the pertinent diagnostic information in our data. I have a particular interest in adaptive regression methods, including Principle Component Analysis and other Blind Source Separation techniques, as well as in multi-dimensional tissue motion estimation methods. We validate our methods in relevant animal models, and we translate them to clinical imaging.

Postdoctoral Training, Columbia University, New York, NY

The overarching goal of our research program is to investigate musculoskeletal and sensorimotor mechanisms governing mobility impairment and falls risk due to aging and neurological injury and disease, and to introduce creative new rehabilitative approaches for preserving independent mobility and preventing falls. We use a highly integrative approach that combines quantitative motion analysis and electromyography with dynamic ultrasound imaging, computational simulation, and virtual reality.

2011-2013 Post-doctoral Fellowship, Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, University of Pennsylvania

My current and future research in tissue engineering will focus on the following topics:
– Automated cell culture systems (for applying controlled interventions and monitoring the resulting function)
– Control of expression of adult muscle phenotype (adult myosin isoforms: fast twitch & slow twitch)
– Compliant tendons (for mechanical impedance matching and the reduction of stress concentrations)
– Motor unit level control of engineered skeletal muscle constructs (a collaboration with CNCT in EECS)
– Nerve-muscle interface (to provide nerve-derived trophic factors and to aid in expression of adult phenotype)
– Angiogenesis and perfusion (to allow large tissue cross sections).