Hosted by the Doctor of Physical Therapy program. 

Target Audience

Des Moines University faculty, staff, and students.

Objectives

1. The effects of movement speed and bilateral movement context on kinematics and kinetics of upper limb task performance after stroke.
2. How kinematic and kinetic variables can be used to identify changes in upper limb task performance that correspond to either compensation or restoration of motor control after stroke.
3. Research methods that can be used to examine cortical reorganization after injury, invasively in an animal model and non-invasively in people after stroke.

Speaker

Stacey DeJong, PT, PhD, PCS

Dr. DeJong is an assistant professor in the Department of Physical Therapy and Rehabilitation Science at the University of Iowa, and is the Director of the Applied Neuroplasticity Laboratory. Her research interests include neuroplasticity, upper limb motor impairment, and recovery of motor control following stroke. She teaches in the Functional Neuroanatomy and Neuromuscular Therapeutics courses in the Doctor of Physical Therapy Program at the University of Iowa. She has a Bachelor’s degree in Biology from Creighton University, a Master of PT and an interdisciplinary Master’s degree in Medical Sciences, both from the University of Nebraska Medical Center. After serving primarily developmentally disabled children as a physical therapist, Dr. DeJong earned a Ph.D. in Movement Science from Washington University in St. Louis. She completed post-doctoral training in neuroplasticity research at the University of Kansas Medical Center, and investigated stroke behaviors with funding from the New Investigator Fellowship Training Initiative grant from the Foundation for Physical Therapy. Currently, Dr. DeJong is using transcranial magnetic stimulation to examine changes in upper limb cortical maps in people poststroke. She was recently funded as a Scholar in the CORRT K12 Program, a Multicenter Career Development Program for Physical and Occupational Therapists, funded by the NIH.