Perspectives is the newsletter of the Stanford course,
Perspectives in Assistive Technology.

VA Palo Alto Health Care System (by Zoom)

This issue announces the next class session (by Zoom).

Course News

Tomorrow's class session by Zoom - Tuesday's class session will be held online.

Next Class Session (by Zoom) - Tuesday, February 15th at 4:00pm PST

Abstract: This session will provide an overview of the adaptive technology available for Veterans with Spinal Cord Injury & Disorders (SCI/D) at the VA Palo Alto Health Care System. This will include examples from both clinical care and clinical research.

Biosketch: B. Jenny Kiratli, PhD is the Director of Clinical Research in the Spinal Cord Injury (SCI) Center, VA Palo Alto Health System. She has over 30 years’ experience conducting research with individuals with SCI. Her funded research has included projects on bone and body composition; exercise, physical activity, and cardiovascular risk; upper extremity function; and nutrition. Currently, she is PI on a project to establish evidence for a knee reference bone mineral density measurement to predict bone health after SCI, Co-PI on project to evaluate utility and outcomes of a novel mobile manual standing wheelchair, and PI on two new projects to explore access to VA services and mental health issues of persons who identify as sexual and gender minorities and live with SCI/D. She served on the Stanford Institutional Review Board (IRB) for the protection of human subjects in research for 8 years (1999-2007) and has served since then on the VA Central IRB with oversight of multi-center projects across the VA system.

Biosketch: Jeffrey P Jaramillo, DPT is currently a Research Health Science Specialist in the Spinal Cord Injury (SCI) Center, VA Palo Alto Health Care System (VAPAHCS). Jeff has 30 years of experience as a Physical Therapist. He is the laboratory manager of SCI Exercise Physiology Laboratory under the supervision of Dr. Beatrice Jenny Kiratli, PhD. He has been involved in a research capacity for over 15 years at the VA Palo Alto spanning projects including studies of; Upper extremity functional changes in patients with stroke performing hybrid resisted strength training protocols and robotic gait training for persons with paraplegia and stroke, use of interactive video gaming for upper extremity motor performance, upper extremity tendon transfers, upper limb EMG decomposition, exoskeleton training, use of novel wheelchair technology, and qualitative studies for persons with SCI.

Upcoming Class Sessions (on campus unless noted otherwise)

Thursday, February 17th - Virtual Assistive Technology Faire (by Zoom) Tuesday, February 22nd - The Design and Control of Exoskeletons for Rehabilitation Thursday, February 24th - Designing Exoskeletons and Prosthetic Limbs that Enhance Human Performance

Virtual Assistive Technology Faire

Virtual Assistive Technology Faire - This tenth annual course event is scheduled for Thursday, February 17th and will provide an opportunity for students and community members to get an up-close look at a variety of assistive technology devices and learn about available services. Eight vendors have registered to participate in this event. Here is the line up and slides from last year's virtual Faire.

Please contact me with your ideas, questions, comments, and project suggestions - or just to say hello. Please continue to stay safe & healthy.

Dave Jaffe - Course Instructor