Pouya Amiri, PhD

Contact Information

Office:  KINE 301X

Undergraduate Courses

More information coming soon

Graduate Courses

More information coming soon

Research Summary

My research focuses on understanding the underlying cause of movement impairment and applying this knowledge to prevent illness and optimize health and physical performance. To do this, I combine computational musculoskeletal models, medical imaging, and functional experiments to quantify muscle and joint forces and develop subject-specific interventions (e.g. personalized surgeries) and rehabilitation technologies (gait training devices). I am particularly interested in biomechanical adaptations due to lower limb amputation, mechanics of knee osteoarthritis, and human balance control and fall prevention in the elderly.

Some of my current research themes are:

• Development of predictive musculoskeletal models for lower limb amputees
• Use of functional electrical stimulation to reduce the knee articular loading in patient with knee osteoarthritis
• Identifying the role of somatosensory, vision, and vestibular systems in healthy and impaired human balance control
• Development of biofeedback training methods to enhance gait efficiency in lower limb amputees

Recent Publications

• P Amiri, A M J Bull, Prediction of In vivo Hip Contact Forces during Common Activities of Daily Living Using a Segment-Based Musculoskeletal Model. Frontiers in bioengineering and biotechnology 10 (2022): 995279.
• A Mohebbi, P Amiri and R. E. Kearney (2022). Identification of human balance control responses to visual inputs using virtual reality. Journal of Neurophysiology 127(4): 1159-1170.
• P Amiri, and RE Kearney, Identification of Central and Stretch Reflex Contributions to Human Postural Control. IEEE Transactions on Neural Systems and Rehabilitation Engineering, 2021. 29: p. 497-507.
• P Amiri, and RE Kearney, Patterns of muscle activation and modulation of ankle intrinsic stiffness in different postural operating conditions. Journal of Neurophysiology, 2020. 123(2): p. 743-754.
• P Amiri, A Mohebbi, and RE Kearney, Experimental Methods to Study Human Postural Control. Journal of Visualized Experiments, 2019(151).
• P Amiri, RE Kearney. Ankle intrinsic stiffness changes with postural sway. Journal of Biomechanics, 2019. 85: p. 50-58.

Graduate Student Opportunities

I am seeking highly motivated PhD and Master’s students interested in musculoskeletal biomechanics and technologies to enhance human movement. Interested students should contact me via email with a brief description of their experience and interests. All students are encouraged to apply to the Ontario Graduate Scholarship Program and to the National Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (some internal funding is available as well.)

Links

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