Applied Movement Performance Lab
Lab Mission
To advance rehabilitation medicine by increasing our understanding of the abilities and barriers faced by individuals with physical disabilities.
Research Interest
To develop and investigate measurement systems for use in research and clinical practice in persons with limb loss, limb difference, or other polytraumatic injury, as well as interventions that facilitate optimal functional performance.
Do you have limb loss or limb difference and are interested in participating in research?
We use this list to contact individuals about studies that may be of interest.
Individuals interested in learning about research studies in the lab can contact us by email: amplab@vcu.edu or by phone: (804) 828-4766.
Projects
- Purpose: To develop a new patient report outcomes measure of prosthesis awareness
- Collaborating Institutions: VCU, University of Washington, and Hanger Clinics
- Funding Source: Department of Defense CDMRP Orthotics and Prosthetics Outcomes Research Program (OPORP)
- Press release - VCU study to develop new measure of prosthesis awareness in individuals with lower limb loss
- Purpose: To characterize the benefits and limitations associated with using an upper limb myoelectric device with pattern recognition control and to determine which types of patients are best suited to this control strategy
- Collaborating Institutions: VCU, University of Washington, and Hanger Clinics
- Funding Source: Department of Defense CDMRP Orthotics and Prosthetics Outcomes Research Program (OPORP)
- Purpose: To test the efficacy of error-manipulation gait training programs for older Veterans who have non-traumatic lower-limb amputation
- Collaborating Institutions: VCU, Central Virginia Veterans Healthcare System (Richmond VAMC), University of Colorado-Anschutz medical campus
- Funding Source: Department of Veteran Affairs
- The Development of Candidate Items to Assess Prosthesis Awareness in Individuals with Upper Extremity Amputation
(Funded by VCU PERQ Presidential Research Quest) - Effects of Impaired Limb Function on Gait Adaptability
(Funded by a VCU Center for Clinical and Translational Research Endowment Award) - Gait Adaptability and Split-Belt Walking in Persons with Lower Extremity Amputation
(Funded by a National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences Career Development Award) - Safety Study of Percutaneous Osseointegrated Implants for Prosthetic Attachment
(Funded by the VA Rehabilitation Research and Development Service) - An Exploration of Employment Barriers and Employment Skill Enhancement of Veterans with Traumatic Amputations
(Funded by the Department of Education)
Director
Chair of Physical Therapy
Associate Professor
bjdarter@vcu.edu
- Brian Hafner, PhD, University of Washington, Department of Rehabilitation Medicine
- Cody McDonald, PhD, MPH, CPO, University of Washington, Department of Rehabilitation Medicine
- Beth Halsne, PhD, CPO, VA Puget Sound Health Care System Seattle Division, Center for Limb Loss and Mobility (CLiMB)
- Shane Wurdeman, PhD, CPO, Hanger Clinics, Hanger Institute for Clinical Research and Education
- Sheila Clemens, PhD, PT, University of Kentucky, Department of Physical Therapy
- John Hermenson, MD, Central Virginia Veterans Health Care System, Polytrauma Rehabilitation Center
- Cory Christiansen, PhD, University of Colorado Anschutz medical campus, Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation- Physical Therapy Program
- Sarina Sinclair, ME, PhD, University of Utah, Orthopaedics
Paige Agnew, Post-Doctoral Scholar
Ph.D. Kinesiology and Rehabilitation, College of Health Sciences at Old Dominion University 2026
M.S. Exercise and Sport, Manchester Metropolitan University, United Kingdom, 2018
B.S. Clinical Exercise Science, Ithaca College, 2017
Paige’s primary research interests are in the areas of biomechanics for:
- individuals using lower extremity prostheses for walking and running, and
- velocity based interventions for female athletes in strength training.
Her research focuses on electromyography and stiffness of the lower extremity limbs during gait.
- Lucas McQueen, DPT Student
- Nathan Sulkin, DPT Student
- Elena Dernovish, DPT Student
- Bethany Labreque, DPT Student
- Nancy Henderson, Ph.D. Student
- Kathryn Harrison, Ph.D. Student
- Dan Syrett, Ph.D. Student
- Tanu Bhargava, Ph.D. Student
- Matt Holman, Ph.D. Student
- Susanne Van Der Veen, Post-Doctoral Fellow