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Associate Professor
University of Pittsburgh
BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH
NAME: Amit Sethi
eRA COMMONS USER NAME (credential, e.g., agency login): SETHIAMIT
POSITION TITLE: Assistant Professor of Occupational Therapy
EDUCATION/TRAINING (Begin with baccalaureate or other initial professional education, such as nursing, include postdoctoral training and residency training if applicable. Add/delete rows as necessary.)
INSTITUTION AND LOCATION DEGREE
(if applicable)
Start Date MM/YYYY
Completion Date MM/YYYY
FIELD OF STUDY
Manipal College of Allied Health Sciences, India
BS
04/2002
Occupational Therapy
University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, WI
MS
12/2005
Occupational Therapy
University of Florida, Gainesville, FL
PhD
12/2010
Rehabilitation Science
A. Personal Statement
I am an occupational therapist and a rehabilitation scientist with biomechanics, motor control, and neurorehabilitation expertise. I am the Principal Investigator of the Neuromotor Recovery and Rehabilitation Lab. The focus of my research program is to understand the mechanisms of recovery to inform the development of interventions and technologies to improve motor function in adults post-stroke. I have conducted studies that contribute to understanding motor deficits that occur after a stroke. In particular, I have gained expertise in motor control and used biomechanical approaches (e.g., kinematics and kinetics) to elucidate the neural control of upper extremity movement in neurologically intact individuals and individuals with stroke. I have also conducted studies investigating the feasibility and preliminary efficacy of interventions to improve upper extremity function after stroke. I would like to explain the factors that affected my scientific productivity. After completing my PhD, I took a non-traditional path to initially pursue clinical teaching in the Department of Occupational Therapy at the University of Texas Medical Branch due to personal reasons. I worked as an Assistant Professor at the University of Texas Medical Branch for two years from 2011-2013, where my primary responsibilities included clinical teaching in the entry-level Master of Occupational Therapy program. I taught entry-level occupational therapy students neuroscience, neurorehabilitation, and clinical reasoning. After two years of clinical teaching, I realized that I wanted to pursue a career in rehabilitation research and moved to the University of Pittsburgh. I joined as an Assistant Professor in the Department of Occupational Therapy at the University of Pittsburgh in 2013. The Department of Occupational Therapy at the University of Pittsburgh is ranked 3rd in the United States and provides immense research opportunities. I established my Neuromotor Recovery and Rehabilitation Lab, established collaborations, secured internal and external funding for my research, and have also been publishing about one to two first or senior author data-based abstracts/manuscripts per year since 2013. I also received training in collecting and analyzing transcranial magnetic stimulation data from the Berenson-Allen Center for Non-invasive Brain Stimulation at Harvard Medical School and the Medical University of South Carolina’s National Center for Neuromodulation. I am currently a Stroke Net Fellow awarded by the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke. As part of the fellowship, I acquired novel skills in collecting and analyzing data via paired cortical and peripheral nerve stimulations. The current application is a culmination of the preliminary data obtained from the fellowship over the last year. In the current application, I will provide general oversight of the project, including coordinating communication among co-investigators, hiring, training, supervising research staff, general project administration, and publication and dissemination of study findings.
Ongoing and completed projects that I would like to highlight include:
External grant (PI, Sethi), 2/2023-1/2025
Agency: R21- NICHD
Title: Strengthening task specific activation of paretic hand muscles after moderate-to-severe chronic stroke
This project examines whether the combination of non-invasive brain, nerve and hand stimulation improves the paretic hand function in individuals with moderate-to-severe stroke.
Training Grant (PI, Sethi); 7/20-6/22
Agency: NINDS Stroke Net Fellowship
This training grant provides 50% protected research time to learn neuromodulation techniques, including transcranial magnetic and peripheral nerve stimulation.
External grant: (Co-I, Sethi), Dan Ding (PI); 7/20- 6/23
Agency: Merit Review- VAHS
Title: Development of Vision-Based Methods for Effective and Efficient Control of Assistive Robotic Manipulators
This project aims to develop effective and efficient control methods of assistive robotic manipulators to promote independence in individuals with disabilities.
Pilot Grant (PI, Sethi); 1/17-4/19
Agency: Clinical and Translational Science Institute, University of Pittsburgh
Algorithm development of the Individualized hand improvement and tracking system for stroke
This project aimed to develop the algorithms of the Individualized hand improvement and tracking system.
Pilot Grant (PI, Sethi); 5/15-6/18
Agency: Rehabilitation Institute, University of Pittsburgh Medical Center
Combined brain and hand stimulation to improve hand function after stroke
This project provided the infrastructure and equipment to support the combined transcranial random noise and gross functional electrical stimulation intervention.
Pilot Grant (PI, Sethi); 1/17-4/19
Agency: Clinical and Translational Science Institute, University of Pittsburgh
Algorithm development of the Individualized hand improvement and tracking system for stroke
This project aims to develop the algorithms of the Individualized hand improvement and tracking system.
F_160-2015 (PI, Sethi); 7/16-6/17
Agency: Center for Medical Innovation, University of Pittsburgh
Validating the Individualized hand improvement and tracking system for stroke
This project aims to refine and validate the functional prototype of the individualized hand improvement and tracking system.
Pilot Grant (PI, Sethi); 2/16-9/16
Agency: NSF I-Corps
Customer discovery of the Individualized hand improvement and tracking system for stroke
This project aims to conduct customer discovery (or needs assessment) to validate the need for the IHITS device to improve hand function after stroke.
F_105-2014 (PI, Sethi); 1/15-12/15
Agency: Center for Medical Innovation, University of Pittsburgh
IHITS: Individualized hand improvement and tracking system for stroke
This project aims to develop an initial functional prototype to improve hand function in individuals with stroke.
Select publications that I would like to highlight include:
a. Sethi A, Davis S, McGuirk T, Patterson TS, Richards LG, & Stergiou, N. Effect of intense functional task training upon temporal structure of variability of upper extremity post stroke. Journal of Hand Therapy. 2013; 26:132-7. PMCID# 3568453.
b. Sethi A, Callaway CW, Sejdic E, Terhorst L, & Skidmore ER. Heart rate variability is associated with motor outcome 3-months after stroke. Journal of Stroke and Cerebrovascular Diseases. 2016; 1:129-35. PMID# 26456199.
c. Sethi A, Stergiou N., Patterson T, Patten CP, & Richards LG. Speed and rhythm affect temporal structure of variability in reaching post stroke: a pilot study. Journal of Motor Behavior. 2017; 49(1): 35-45. PMID# 27726692.
d. Patterson T, Bishop M, McGuirk T, Sethi A, & Richards L. Reliability of upper extremity kinematics while performing different tasks in individuals post stroke. Journal of Motor Behavior. 2011; 43:121-130. PMID# 21347950.
B. Positions, Scientific Appointments, and Honors
Positions and Scientific Appointments
2013 - present Assistant Professor, Primary Appointment
Department of Occupational Therapy, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA
2020 - 2021 Grant Reviewer, National Science Foundation, Graduate Research Fellowship
2017 - 2021 Grant Reviewer, National Center for Neuromodulation for Rehabilitation, Medical
University of South Carolina
2011 - 2013 Assistant Professor, Primary Appointment
Department of Occupational Therapy, University of Texas Medical Branch,
Galveston, TX
2006 - 2010 Research Assistant
Department of Occupational Therapy, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL
2009 - 2009 Staff Occupational Therapist
Oakhammock Assisted Living, Gainesville, FL
2008 - 2008 Staff Occupational Therapist – brain injury and stroke unit
Shands Rehabilitation Hospital, Gainesville, FL
2005 - 2006 Staff Occupational Therapist
Stoney Brook Health Care Center, Houston, TX
2005 - 2006 Staff Occupational Therapist – brain injury and stroke unit
Memorial Herman Institute of Rehabilitation and Research, Houston, TX
2004 - 2006 Research Assistant Department of Occupational Therapy, University of Wisconsin Milwaukee,
Milwaukee, WI
2002 - 2004 Staff Occupational Therapist
UDAAN for the disabled, New Delhi, India
Honors
2019 Research Award, Pennsylvania Occupational Therapy Association
2018 Academic Educator Award, Pennsylvania Occupational Therapy Association
2010 University of Florida, Outstanding Research Award
2007 - 2010 University of Florida Certificate of Achievement (GPA of 4.0)
2006 University of Florida Alumni Pre-doctoral Fellowship
2005 University of Wisconsin Chancellor’s Fellowship
2001 All India Occupational Therapists Association, Best Scientific Paper in Neurology
Award
2001 Manipal College of Allied Health Sciences Best Outgoing Student Award
C. Contributions to Science
1. Developing interventions to improve upper extremity function after moderate-to-severe stroke. Currently, few interventions show efficacy to improve hand function, particularly in those with moderate-to-severe impairments, suggesting that recovery mechanisms, in combination with existing interventions, are inadequate. Consequently, stroke survivors continue to experience moderate-to-severe impairments in one hand (or affected hand) six months or more after stroke. These impairments limit the ability to perform daily tasks, which is significantly associated with long-term dependence and costly resources. Therefore, it is critical to developing interventions to improve affected hand function in individuals with moderate-to-severe impairments after stroke. In a recently completed NIH-funded double-blinded randomized controlled study, we examined whether transcranial random noise stimulation targeted to the affected primary motor cortex combined with repeated task practice strengthens the corticospinal transmission and upper extremity function after moderate-to-severe stroke. In this study, transcranial random noise stimulation was delivered while individuals practiced functional tasks with the assistance of functional electrical stimulation over 18 intervention sessions (3 times per week over 6 weeks). Both groups received task practice training. One group (n = 8) received transcranial random noise stimulation while the other group (n= 8) received sham-transcranial random noise stimulation to the affected primary motor cortex. Our findings demonstrated the feasibility (safety, treatment fidelity, participant tolerance, and satisfaction) of transcranial random noise stimulation. We were also able to retain participants for the entire duration of the study.
a. Sethi A, Santarneechi E, Pascual-Leone A. Feasibility of the combined brain and hand stimulation to improve hand function after moderate-to-severe stroke. Neurorehabilitation and Neural Repair. 2017; 31(2), p20 [abstract].
b. Sethi A, Santarneechi E, Pascual-Leone A. Combined brain and hand stimulation to improve hand function in individuals with moderate to severe chronic Stroke: A Pilot Randomized Controlled Trial. American Journal of Occupational Therapy. 2020; 74(4), Supplement_1.
2. Examining motor control using biomechanical approaches in clinical populations. Current clinical assessment tools do not sensitively quantify the underlying impairments in motor control, limiting our ability to detect a clinically important change in response to rehabilitation interventions. I used biomechanical approaches (e.g., kinematics and kinetics) and sophisticated non-linear analyses (e.g., approximate entropy) to uncover the underlying motor control impairments in adults with stroke and osteoarthritis. Non-linear analytical techniques provided novel and unique insights to understand motor control impairments better and inform the development of effective rehabilitation interventions for these populations.
a. Sethi A, Patterson T, McGuirk T, Patten CP, Richards LG, & Stergiou N. Temporal structure of
variability decreases in reaching movements in individuals post stroke. Clinical Biomechanics. 2013; 28:134-9.
b. Raj S, Dounskaia N, Sethi A. Effect of stroke on neural control of joint motions during reach-to-
grasp: a preliminary study. Journal of Motor Behavior. 2020; 52(3), 294-310.
c. Sethi A, Raj S, Acharya A, Dounskaia N. Control of the paretic and non-paretic upper extremity during
bimanual reaching after stroke. Experimental Brain Research. Conditional acceptance.
3. Identifying novel biomarkers of motor recovery after stroke. Existing biomarkers of motor recovery do not accurately predict the recovery potential, especially in individuals with moderate-to-severe stroke. Therefore, it is critical to identify biomarkers to accurately predict the recovery potential in this population to allow clinicians to provide targeted interventions, accelerate progress to long-term independence, efficiently allocate rehabilitative services, and reduce the cost of stroke rehabilitation. We conducted two separate studies exploring the role of novel biomarkers of motor recovery after moderate-to-severe stroke. The first study investigated whether heart rate variability predicts the motor outcome 3-months after acute stroke. The preliminary findings support that heart rate variability acquired in the acute phase could be a potential biomarker to predict motor recovery, especially in individuals with moderate-to-severe motor impairments. In the second study, we tested whether a novel electroencephalography-based measure assessing functional connectivity across the motor areas can predict response to the combined brain and hand stimulation intervention after moderate-to-severe stroke. Our findings suggest that electroencephalography-based functional connectivity measures are robust in predicting response to intervention.
a. Sethi A, Callaway CW, Sejdic E, Terhorst L, & Skidmore ER. Heart rate variability is associated with motor outcome 3-months after stroke. Journal of Stroke and Cerebrovascular Diseases. 2016; 1:129-35.
b. Safaa E, Akcakaya M, Sybeldon M, Foldes S, Santarnecchi E, Pascual-Leone A, & Sethi A. EEG-
based partial directed coherence: a novel measure to analyze recovery in functional connectivity between motor cortices after stroke. Biomedical Signal Processing & Control. 2019; 49: 419-426.
c. Richards L, Hanson C, Wellborn M, & Sethi A. Driving motor recovery after stroke. Topics in Stroke Rehabilitation. 2008;15-397-411.
4. Developing technology to monitor and improve upper extremity function after stroke remotely. The current best intervention to improve upper extremity function after stroke is to perform the intense practice of meaningful tasks. However, current methods of providing this type of intense intervention inside and outside the clinic are limited. Moreover, it is also difficult for clinicians to monitor patient progress outside the clinic. We are developing wearable technology devices (e.g., motion capture sensors), which can measure joint and muscle movement and enable patients to receive automated therapist-guided intense intervention outside the clinic. Our team, which includes rehabilitation scientists and mechanical, biomedical, and electrical engineers, is developing two systems. First, the IHITS system, an individualized hand tracking, and improvement system after stroke, includes a wearable t-shirt with embedded motion capture sensors, machine learning algorithms to detect accurate movements, and a software application that provides patient feedback and remotely communicates patient goals with the clinicians. Second, in collaboration with Battelle©, we are developing and testing a forearm sleeve with over 160 electrodes. The high number of electrodes can record the muscle activity and stimulate the forearm muscles to perform varying coordinated patterns of grasp and release. The sleeve can be used outside the clinic to stimulate muscles and enable functional hand use.
a. Sethi A, Allen M, & Clark, B. System and method for assessment of stroke patients and
Personalized rehabilitation, U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 63/155,482, filed on March 2, 2021.
b. Sharma G, Sethi A, Friedenberg D, Colachis S, Zhang M, Urbin M, Sarma D, & Weber D. A sleeve
electrode array for myolectric control of functional electrical stimulation-assisted hand function. Archives of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation. 2018; 99(10), e85 [abstract].
c. Sethi A, Allen M, Clark B, Ting J, & Weber D. Advancements in motion and electromyography
based wearable technology for upper extremity function rehabilitation: A review. Journal of Hand Therapy. 2020; 33(2), 180-187.