Researcher spotlight: Lori Quinn
Precision Motion
March 12, 2025
Lori Quinn, PT, EdD, FAPTA
Professor, Motor Learning and Control Program Department of Biobehavioral Studies, Teachers College at Columbia University
Opal V2R® technology has been used by thousands of researchers worldwide, and together, these researchers have published more than 750 peer reviewed papers, greatly contributing to the available body of evidence in human movement.
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Q:
Would you please introduce yourself, your academic background and your research interests?
A:
I am Professor in the Motor Learning and Control Program, Department of Biobehavioral Studies, at Teachers College, Columbia University. I received a BS in physical therapy from the University of Connecticut in 1989 and an Ed.D. in Movement Sciences from Teachers College in 1996. I am currently the director of the Neurorehabilitation Research Lab at Teachers College, and my research has focused on movement-based evaluations and interventions for people with neurodegenerative diseases, including people with Huntington’s disease and Parkinson’s disease. My work incorporates use of wearable devices for digital-based assessments.
Q:
Do you have a personal story that led to your interest in human movement/ neurodegenerative disease research? What continues to drive your ambitions as a scientist?
A:
I have a strong desire to develop evidence-based interventions for people with neurodegenerative diseases. Having sensitive measures of gait and mobility are critical to testing the efficacy of physical activity interventions, particularly in the early disease stages. I am also driven by my students, who ask great questions and motivate me to be a better clinical researcher.
Q:
How has Clario’s APDM Opal V2R® System been most useful in your research endeavors?
A:
We have used Clario’s APDM Opal sensors to evaluate measures of gait, mobility and postural control in individuals with Huntington’s disease, stroke and Parkinson’s disease. We have identified several measures of postural sway and mobility that were most sensitive as early markers of disease in people with HD.
Q:
What research projects or questions are you currently working on?
A:
We are extending on previous work in Huntington’s disease on a project called Balance-HD. We are collaborating with Nora Fritz, PT, DPT, PhD Wayne State University; Lisa Muratori, Stony Brook University; and Deb Kegelmeyer and Anne Kloos, Ohio State University to validate measures of balance in individuals with Huntington’s disease across disease stages using clinical measures as well as APDM Opal sensors. We hope to identify measures that can be used as clinical trial endpoints, both for physical activity and exercise interventions, as well as pharmacological and gene-based therapies. We are also using APDM sensors in a study in Parkinson’s disease, evaluating functional mobility in various transitional tasks. This study is being conducted by two of my doctoral students – Jehan Alomar and Lilliana Romero.
Q:
Where do you see the use of wearable IMU’s in human movement research going in the next 5 years?
A:
I believe wearable IMUs will be ubiquitous in clinical research, and importantly will help us provide sensitive measures of mobility not just in the clinic but in daily living environments. I hope we will move to more consistently evaluating individuals in their homes and communities as means to track disease progression and identify motor impairments earlier.
Q:
Fill in the blank: When I’m not working on a research project, you can find me…
A:
Playing golf! I recently took up golf and am obsessed with mastering this skill! And enjoying time with my husband and two daughters.