Champion for stroke patients

EDITOR’S NOTE: Each year, hundreds of University of Delaware students conduct research under the guidance of faculty mentors. Experiences like these provided by UD—a nationally recognized research university—can be life-changing, introducing young scientists to a new field, perhaps even a path to a future career as they discover new knowledge. These spotlights offer a glimpse into their world.

If you or someone you love is among the estimated 100 million people worldwide who have had a stroke—a condition that causes blood clots or ruptures in blood vessels that impair blood flow to the brain—you probably already know that strategic and effective rehabilitation help is critical for the best possible recovery.

Logan Schlag, a senior kinesiology major from Newark, Del., spent much of the summer studying the mechanics of “locomotor learning”—how the body relearns how to move—after a stroke. According to him, this work largely determined his plans for the future.

Schlag’s research was led by Professor Darcy Reisman, chair of the Department of Physical Therapy at the University of Delaware, and clinical research manager Elizabeth Thompson at the Science, Technology and Advanced Research (STAR) Campus Neuromotor Behavior Laboratory. The lab has a split-belt treadmill that is used in research.

Question: Why did you want to do this? What intrigues you about this topic?

Schlag: I want to create a future for myself in the field of physical therapy. I thought these opportunities in these labs would be unique in my undergraduate career. This will give me the opportunity to explore possible areas that I may want to pursue within physiotherapy. During this time, I became extremely interested in the neurological side of movement disorders. This led to me taking the Neuroscience of Movement Disorders course, which I felt really helped lay a better foundation that I can now build on further.

Question: Why is research like this so important?

Schlag: Locomotor testing is important because most people who have had a stroke have gait disturbances. After a stroke, most patients reduce walking due to uncertainty in their own balance and fear of falling, which subsequently negatively affects walking, gait and overall motor activity. Moreover, it worsens their overall health. This study is important because we, as researchers, need to create methods to help stroke survivors learn to walk better, which will give them the best results while undergoing physical therapy rehabilitation. This will improve the quality of life of these people and may help them return to relatively normal daily activities.

Question: What’s the coolest thing about being a part of this project? Have you had any surprising or particularly memorable experiences?

Schlag: For me, the best and most memorable thing about the project is the participants. I thoroughly enjoyed every interaction with the participants. Their personal stories and developing relationships with each member is what I really enjoy. There is never a dull moment when I get to interact with every participant.

Question: Did you learn anything about yourself and your career goals while working on the project?

Schlag: This is a great question! I feel like my time in this lab and this project have started to solidify what I might want to do in the future. I really gained an understanding of the subject matter and content associated with this project. I dug deeper into research articles and reached out to relevant authors to gain more clarity and understand how this could relate to what we are doing in our project. I started to like the statistical aspect and the relationship with data that can be meaningful. And also find other potentially important data that we did not expect during the project. I clearly found a passion in neuroscience that I would like to continue pursuing in my laboratory career.

Question: What do you like to do in your free time?

Schlag: I’m really into whitewater kayaking, as people who know me will tell you. I usually talk non-stop about kayaking related things. This is a very strong passion for me, I truly love everything related to outdoor activities, especially everything related to water.