Brooke Slavens

Brooke Slavens

  • Associate Professor, Mechanical Engineering
  • Associate Professor, Biomedical Engineering
  • EMS Office 755

Dr. Slavens is currently investigating the prevention of secondary conditions of the shoulder in manual wheelchair users with spinal cord injury across the lifespan. She is funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH), the National Institute on Disability, Independent Living, and Rehabilitation Research (NIDILRR), and the VA Rehabilitation Research & Development Service (RR&D). She is also the Director of the Mobility Lab at the Innovation Campus Accelerator Building. The lab is cross affiliated with the College of Health Sciences, Department of Occupational Science & Technology and the College of Engineering & Applied Science Department of Biomedical Engineering.

Education

  • NIDRR ARRT Postdoctoral Training Pediatric Mobility Marquette University 2010
  • PhD, Biomedical Engineering, Marquette University, 2007
  • MS, Biomedical Engineering, Marquette University, 2004
  • BS, Biomedical Engineering, University of Iowa, 2001

Research Interests

  • Dynamics of human movement
  • Musculoskeletal modeling
  • MRI and ultrasound musculoskeletal imaging
  • Rehabilitation engineering
  • Orthopaedic biomechanics

New interests in human motion analysis have directed research to the area of upper extremity. To quantify the upper extremity, the Movement Analysis for Biomedical Innovation & Technology (Mobility) Lab has developed a validated 3D inverse dynamics model for assessment of pediatric mobility. The model can be used to characterize shoulder, elbow and wrist joint forces and moments. It is being applied to subjects with myelomeningocele, cerebral palsy, spinal cord injury and osteogenesis imperfecta to characterize crutch, walker and wheelchair mobility to better understand joint load demands. Due to long-term assistive device usage, these mobility device users may be at an increased risk for developing upper extremity pain or pathologies.

Further research interests include musculoskeletal and finite element modeling to investigate the tissue level effects of long-term joint loading from assistive device usage. Research may improve clinical intervention strategies, therapeutic gait planning and offer insight to long-term joint loading effects.

Selected Publications

Awards, Honors and Societies

  • Travel Award for the Advanced User’s Group Meeting. Stanford University, Palo Alto, CA (2014) NIH National Center for Simulation in Rehabilitation Research (NCSRR).
  • Nominated for the UWM Office of Research/UWM Foundation Research Award (2014, March) .
  • Best Video Presentation (2013, August) OpenSim Advanced User’s Workshop.
  • NCSRR Travel Award (2013, August) NIH National Center for Simulation in Rehabilitation Research (NCSRR).
  • Best of Howard H. Steel Paper (2013, May 6) American Spinal Injury Association (ASIA).
  • Training In Grantsmanship for Rehabilitation Research (TIGRR) Workshop (2013, January 15) TIGRR.
  • Training In Grantsmanship for Rehabilitation Research (TIGRR) Participant (2012, November 5) National Institutes of Health (NIH).
  • Young Investigator’s Initiative Grant Writing Workshop Participant (2012, November 2) United States Bone and Joint Decade (USBJD).
  • Dean’s Research Award (2012, May 11) College of Health Sciences, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee.
  • Marquis Who’s Who in America (2011, March) .
  • Young Investigator’s Initiative Grant Writing Workshop Participant (2009, November 6) United States Bone and Joint Decade (USBJD).
  • Best Professional Paper Award (2009, April 18) Rocky Mountain Bioengineering Symposium (RMBS).
  • Enhancing Rehabilitation Research in the South (ERRIS) Intensive Workshop on Grant Writing, Preparation, and Submission in Rehabilitation Research (2009, January 13) University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA with funding from the National Center for Medical Rehabilitation Research (NCMRR).
  • Best Student Presentation Award (2008, April 1) Gait and Clinical Movement Analysis (GCMAS) Society.
  • Marquis Who’s Who in America (2008, February 6) .
  • Student Scientific Paper Award (2007, June 15) Rehabilitation Engineering and Assistive Technology Society of North America (RESNA).
  • Travel Award (2006, November 29) Howard H. Steel, Shriners Hospitals for Children and Saladin Shrine Center.
  • Rev. John P. Raynor, S.J. Fellowship (2005, February 15) Marquette University.
  • Student Conference Award (2004, April 21) Gait and Clinical Movement Analysis Society (GCMAS) and the Whitaker Foundation.
  • Research Assistantship (2002, January) Marquette University, Orthopaedic and Rehabilitation Engineering Center (OREC).
  • Dean’s List (2001) University of Iowa.
  • Dean’s List (2000) University of Iowa.
  • Dean’s List (1999) University of Iowa.
  • Dean’s List (1998) University of Iowa.
  • Dean’s List (1997) University of Iowa.
  • National Freshman Honor Society (1997) Phi Eta Sigma.
  • Opportunity at Iowa Scholar (1997, August) University of Iowa.
  • Undergraduate Scholar Assistantship (1997, August) University of Iowa.