Research In Action

Moderator's note: Center for Injury Research and Prevention (CIRP) Research Scientist Valentina Graci, PhD was recently featured in a CHOP Research Institute Cornerstone blog post that highlights her path to CHOP, inspiration as an automotive safety researcher, and current areas of research. Below is an excerpt of the blog post. 

What is your professional background and how did that path lead you to Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia? 

I’m a biomechanist, so I study human motion in different scientific arenas. In automotive safety, I explore how vehicle occupants move in different types of vehicle maneuvers and crashes. I also study how humans move after a stroke or an event that disrupts their motor behavior. 

I’ve studied human movement across my entire career, but the path that led me to CHOP is a little eclectic. I did my undergrad and master's in Psychology. During that time, I had the chance to strengthen my technical skills, and I learned how to code. I learned how to use a 3D-motion capture system to acquire the coordinates of several parts of the body when someone moves. 

This led me to my PhD program that focused on gait analysis and upper limb movement analysis. My PhD program home was an Optometry and Vision Science Department (University of Bradford, UK), but my primary advisor was a mechanical engineer.This experience solidified for me the benefit of a multidisciplinary approach to biomechanics.

Automotive safety biomechanics is, by nature, multidisciplinary because the human brain relies on the neuromotor system to control movements. Expectations, experiences, and anticipation of events also shape the way we plan and execute movement. Therefore, you need to analyze situations in traffic safety research through more than just a mechanical engineering lens.

I found my passion in automotive research because it is a multidisciplinary field, and CHOP encourages this approach in many of their labs. I knew CHOP would value my eclectic background and allow me to do the research I was most excited about without pushing me into a specific discipline.

You received a Foerderer Award to study return-to-driving among teenagers post ACL reconstruction surgery. Are you working with anyone else at CHOP? What do you hope to accomplish by combining your expertise? 

Receiving this grant would not have happened without my existing collaboration with Elliot Greenberg, PT, DPT, PhD, OCS, and Ted Ganley, MD. Dr. Greenberg is a sports medicine physical therapist at CHOP and an assistant professor at the University of Pennsylvania in the Department of Orthopedics. He works with Dr. Ganley, who is the Director of CHOP’s Sports Medicine and Performance Center and the Bisignano Family Distinguished Endowed Chair in Sports Medicine. Dr. Ganley is an expert on pediatric anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) reconstruction surgery and pioneered an innovative surgical technique to help improve rehabilitation. 

I took a step into their world of orthopedic medicine and sports medicine when they needed a programmer and someone who was skilled in 3D-motion capture system technique. I provided technical skills and support with my expertise in biomechanics.

Our collaboration began when we realized that there are no guidelines for when adolescents can safely return to driving after ACL reconstruction surgery. Dr. Greenberg and Dr. Ganley see these kinds of patients all the time in the clinic, so having their hands-on expertise was instrumental in filling clinical gaps in my knowledge. What we are trying to accomplish with this grant is to reduce the rate of crashes and the risk of injury for adolescents by providing evidence-based guidelines that could serve as a gold standard for return-to-driving times for pediatric practitioners to utilize.

Your Sled Lab was recently featured in a Lab Life video. Can you tell us how the work you do with Sled lends itself to your partnership with the Neuromotor Performance Lab? 

In the Sled Lab, we do automotive safety and medical device testing, and at CHOP, the network is so large that it’s easy to connect with physical therapists who are looking for biomechanists. Through a colleague, I learned Laura Prosser, PhD, co-leader of the Neuromotor Performance Lab, needed a biomechanist for programming, building, and coding custom devices that her research program was developing. 

There’s a direct link between the NMPL and my lab because neuromotor control is another area where we can conduct interdisciplinary research that is biomechanics-oriented. We’re looking at how certain factors can impact the motor development and rehabilitation of movement in children.

With NMPL, we exchange some of the same tools and knowledge, and as a testimony of that partnership, we have a shared PhD student right now. We brainstorm ideas and advise each other on projects because we’re all working in the field of biomechanics. We just come at it from different walks of life.

Read the full blog post here.