The American Orthotic & Prosthetic Association (AOPA), in conjunction with the Center for Orthotic and Prosthetic Learning & Evidence-based Practice (COPL), announced the winners of their 2016-2017 pilot grant awards. A record 27 proposals were received for grants up to $15,000. The board of directors chose seven projects to fund, instead of the usual three or four projects.
The grant winners are as follows:
- Walter Lee Childers, PhD, MSPO, CP: Stumble recovery mechanisms utilized by people using different types of microprocessor knees
- Kenton Kaufman, PhD, PE: Risk factors and costs associated with secondary health conditions of individuals with transfemoral amputations
- Staci Shearin, PT, NCS: Impact of carbon fiber AFOs on gait and resulting changes in quality of life across time in people with Parkinson’s disease
- Nicholas LeCursi, CO: Relative influence of orthotic support features within an open frame AFO versus a total contact AFO on function, endurance, and activity level in patients with spastic equinovarus secondary to chronic stroke
- Ignacio Gaunaurd, PhD, MSPT: Utilizing an innovative Timed Up and Go test for fall risk detection in people with unilateral lower-limb loss
- Sai Vikas Yalla, PhD: Activity-based quality of life assessment to compare prostheses with and without microcontrollers in people with transfemoral amputations
- Shane Wurdeman, PhD, MSPO, CP, FAAOP: Improved mobility with lower-limb prostheses: the establishment of a national multisite outcomes database
