.jpg)
Associate Professor
Rehabilitation Medicine, Division of Physical Therapy, Emory University
Dr. Trisha Kesar's research focus is to investigate the biomechanics and neuroplasticity mechanisms of post-stroke gait impairments and gait rehabilitation. As a rehabilitation research investigator and the director of the Motion Analysis Laboratory at Emory Rehabilitation Hospital, Dr. Kesar's long-term research goal is to improve walking function and quality of life in people with mobility impairments due to neurological pathologies such as stroke. Over the past 12 years, a significant portion of her research has focused on development and testing of gait training interventions that utilize treadmill walking, functional electrical stimulation (FES), and real-time biofeedback to improve locomotor function in people with gait dysfunction, particularly stroke. An ongoing NIH-funded R01 project in her lab is focused on evaluating the effects of electrical stimulation-based gait training rehabilitation intervention on post-stroke gait biomechanics, corticospinal neurophysiology, and walking function. Another of her NIH-funded projects is building upon her previous work on real-time gait biofeedback to design and develop an innovative game-based interface for stroke gait retraining. Dr. Kesar has published over 50 manuscripts focused on gait biomechanics, development and testing of gait rehabilitation interventions, corticomotor plasticity mechanisms underlying rehabilitation, and gait biofeedback. Dr. Kesar has a strong prior track record conducting gait biomechanics and gait training sessions in older individuals with and without post-stroke hemiparesis. During Dr. Kesar's tenure at Emory, her laboratory has completed over 230 gait biomechanics evaluations and 160 gait trainings on both able-bodied and stroke participants. She has experience conducting both cross-sectional and intervention studies in people across the lifespan and in individuals with post-stroke hemiparesis.