Target Audience

Des Moines University faculty, staff, and students.

Objectives

• Recognize the need and the challenges for objective shoulder movement measurements.
• Summarize the pros and cons of the difference human movement measurement methodologies.
• Appraise the shoulder joint research we do at the DMU Human Performance Laboratory.

Speaker

Vassilios Vardaxis, PhD
Professor, Physical Therapy, Des Moines University

Dr. Vardaxis’ research is in human biomechanics. He studies the movement, load, and response of the musculoskeletal system under typical and constrained conditions aiming to understand and describe risks to pathology onset, progression, and rehabilitation. Specifically with respect to the shoulder, in the Human Performance Laboratory he currently focuses on measurement and description of the healthy shoulder movement under various clinically relevant experimental conditions. His longer-term aim is to overcome the measurement challenges of the healthy and pathological shoulder movement/function using non-invasive, valid, and reliable measurements that are sensitive enough to be used in the clinical setting for evaluation and intervention assessment purposes.