Researcher spotlight: Nathan Meier, Ph.D.
Precision Motion
Nathan Meier, Ph.D.
Associate Professor, Concordia University Irvine
Opal® V2R Technology has been used by thousands of researchers worldwide and together, these researchers have published more than 800 peer reviewed papers, greatly contributing to available body of evidence in human movement.
APDM, now owned by Clario, has delivered deep scientific expertise and broad endpoint technologies to help transform lives around the world for more than 50 years. Our endpoint data solutions have been deployed over 26,000 times to support clinical trials in more than 100 countries. Our global team of science, technology, and operational experts have supported over 60% of all FDA drug approvals since 2012.
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Q:
Would you please introduce yourself, your academic background and your research interests?
A:
My name is Nathan Meier. I have a Ph.D. in Kinesiology from Iowa State University. I studied physical activity and epidemiology as well as exercise psychology in my graduate work. I’ve come to focus on an area of lifestyle medicine as my main interest. In this regard I care deeply about the value of daily decisions and their contribution to human health and flourishing, risk factors for disease, disease outcomes and mortality.
My research interests have developed at Concordia University Irvine, where I’m an associate professor, mentoring many wonderful students, but especially working to provide opportunities for meaningful interactions with patient populations to build tangible skills and learn the research process from IRB to peer-review manuscript submission. The main focus has been engaging with our Southern California Parkinson’s Disease community. With many years and nearly 100 undergraduate research assistants we have started the Lifestyle and Parkinson’s Disease Longitudinal Study (www.cui.edu/lpls). From this project we have a multiyear observational dataset from which to ask some very useful research questions.
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:
My uncle PJ was diagnosed with early onset Parkinson’s Disease and recently died. My interactions with him and the family’s work to provide him care was very impactful. Subsequently, a particular student, Oliver, and I developed a partnership with a local Rock Steady Boxing group and we began the process of developing LPLS.
My ambitions as a scientist come from my desire to serve God with my work and love people by working to provide translational research findings to benefit those who suffer from PD. Ultimately, I hope to honor God with my life and hope that the training of students and fostering their talents and passions will provide health and healing for patients and people in general.
Q:
How has Clario’s APDM Opal V2R® System been most useful in your research endeavors?
A:
My interactions with Clario as a company has been very positive, with great relationships and support for my lab’s research. It has also provided my department with great interdisciplinary research opportunities, specifically with my work as an epidemiologist and my colleague’s work in biomechanics. Together, we collaborate to explore kinematic data in a large sample of people with PD. Without my colleague’s expertise, we would likely continue to only use field tests of physical function and not very high quality detailed kinematics. The level of specificity that these sensors and software provide allows us to detect much smaller changes in the participants.
Q:
What research projects or questions are you currently working on?
A:
Our LPLS dataset allows us to explore the effects of modifiable risk factors on disease progression. The integration of Clario’s kinematic data allows us to explore the changes in biomechanical variables over time. I am validating a new 3D video capture system for assessing PD motor symptoms compared to expert reviewers to help solve issues of interrater variation in assessments and provide access to detailed information on motor symptoms in more remote locations where neurologists are limited. The lab is also collaborating with a local non-profit to quantify the benefits of participating in dance classes on neurological conditions. We have also been able to develop collaboration with a biochemistry lab to explore our data alongside gastrointestinal health and dysfunction.
Q:
Where do you see the use of wearable IMU’s in human movement research going in the next 5 years?
A:
The versatility of the wearable technology is wonderful in exploring a wide range of issues affecting our aging population. We hope to integrate the sensors into our undergraduate classes and train our students to use the latest technology in kinesiology, biomechanics, medicine and research. This technology and data will only increase exponentially into the future in Kinesiology and many other fields.
Q:
What advice would you give a researcher just starting out in your field?
A:
I have found that starting with core principals, your own personal motivation and deepest values, is key to finding a fit in research. I am also blessed by the relationships that I have formed through serving my students, my university and my community. I find that the more I am able to give of myself, the more opportunities God provides for meaningful work in research.
Q:
Fill in the blank: When I’m not working on a research project, you can find me…
A:
Spending time with my wife, cooking, doing house projects and hiking. I am also keeping up with judo training and weight lifting to stay active and hope to maintain my body’s physical function throughout my whole lifespan, as many years as I am blessed to enjoy.
Nathan’s latest publication:
Reliability and validity of a full-body function Get-Up test in older adults – PMC