Four CHHS faculty members are hoping to advance research in concussion recovery, obesity prevention, dementia care and speech disorders.
Patricia Kelshaw, Michael Brian, Jing Wang, and Jill Thorson were recently awarded funding from the New Hampshire IDeA Networks of Biomedical Research Excellence (NH-INBRE), which supports cutting-edge biomedical research.
Patricia Kelshaw, Assistant Professor of Kinesiology
Pilot Project: Utilizing Wearable Technology for Passive Evaluation of Sleep Disruptions Following Concussion
Patricia Kelshaw’s research uses Oura Rings to monitor sleep patterns in collegiate athletes who have sustained concussions. Upon sustaining a concussion, athletes enrolled in the study wear the Oura Rings for a month to track their sleep.
During this period, they’ll complete reoccurring surveys assessing their mental health, including anxiety, depression, mood state, and head injury symptoms. Each concussed athlete is matched with a control athlete wearing a ring and completing the same surveys.
The study’s main objectives are to determine if there are post-concussion sleep disturbances in collegiate athletes, and to examine if there are associations between the bio-signals that the smart ring captures while the athlete is sleeping, and subsequent mental health state throughout the post-concussion period.
"One of the biggest limitations in concussion assessment is that it's based on the athlete disclosing symptoms. Sometimes athletes don't necessarily want to disclose if they've had a concussion,” Kelshaw says. “We aim to improve the identification of post-concussion mental health states by leveraging existing technology. Our hope is to use more user-friendly wearable devices to detect if someone is not doing well, rather than relying solely on self-disclosure of symptoms. This approach could better capture potential risks.”
Kelshaw explains that this research could also lead to earlier interventions, improved athlete safety, and more personalized care. Additionally, the findings could influence broader health practices by integrating wearable technology into standard concussion protocols, potentially benefiting a wider range of populations beyond collegiate athletes.
Michael Brian, Assistant Professor of Kinesiology
Pilot Project: Examining the Effects of Daily Step Accumulation on Blunting the Effects of Low Physical Activity and Added Sugar Consumption
Michael Brian’s research focuses on the impact of physical activity transitions on young adults' (aged 18-29) metabolic health, particularly focusing on when individuals move from active lifestyles to more sedentary ones, such as entering the workforce after college.
The study employs a randomized control trial design, examining four groups of participants over a 10-day period: An active control group maintaining normal lifestyle and diet, a low physical activity group transitioning to 5,000 steps per day, a low physical activity group (5,000 steps) with added carbohydrate consumption, and an active group maintaining physical activity levels but consuming added carbohydrates.
Participants wear 24-hour glucose monitors and physical activity trackers, allowing researchers to observe real-time changes in blood sugar levels and activity. The study also includes metabolic flexibility assessments, measuring how efficiently the body utilizes carbohydrates and fats during exercise.
The research aims to determine whether the often-cited goal of 10,000 steps per day is beneficial in offsetting the negative effects of periods of inactivity and added sugar consumption.
"We're trying to understand whether we should be focusing on daily step counts or if we need higher amounts of moderate to vigorous intensity exercise,” Michael says. “Our goal is to avoid people going on medications and really try to prevent the development of cardiovascular disease and diabetes earlier in life."
Michael hopes his research could inform more effective interventions against rising obesity, cardiovascular disease, and diabetes in young adults. It could also lead to personalized activity recommendations or tech-based reminders to support healthier lifestyles during transitional or stressful periods, potentially delaying or preventing chronic diseases later in life.
Jing Wang, Assistant Professor of Nursing
Seed Grant: Fostering Ethical Adoption of Artificial Intelligence-Enabled Assistive Robots (AIAR) Grounded in Person-Centered Dementia Care
Jing Wang's research explores how AI-powered assistive robots (AIAR) can be ethically integrated into dementia care.
The two-year project focuses on two main objectives: First, to create a framework that ensures AIAR is used ethically in home-based dementia care, respecting the dignity and autonomy of individuals with Alzheimer's Disease. In the second year, this framework will be refined to develop practical guidelines for future studies.
To achieve this, researchers will review existing literature to identify the key ethical considerations when using AIAR in person-centered dementia care. According to Wang, this framework will help navigate complex ethical issues while protecting the dignity of those living with Alzheimer's.
Next, the team will work closely with caregivers and individuals with Alzheimer's to test and implement AIAR in real-world settings. This hands-on approach will involve meetings, training sessions, home visits, and interviews to gather feedback.
“This research aims to promote the responsible and person-centered adoption of AIAR,” Wang says. “It will directly benefit designers, individuals with Alzheimer's Disease, and their caregivers by providing practical solutions and encouraging a more compassionate and effective approach to technology in dementia care.”
The broader impact of this research could include changing how technology is used in dementia care by prioritizing ethical considerations and focusing on the individual, ultimately leading to better healthcare outcomes.
Jill Thorson, Assistant Professor of Communication Sciences & Disorders
Pilot Project: Assessing prosody in children with speech sound disorders
Jill Thorson’s research focuses on prosody, the rhythmic and melodic patterns of speech that help convey meaning and emotion. Prosody is crucial for language development, starting from the third trimester when fetuses begin to hear speech patterns. However, when children struggle to perceive or produce prosody correctly, it can hinder their language learning and communication.
Thorson’s project aims to develop a new assessment tool for speech-language pathologists (SLPs) to better evaluate prosodic abilities in children with speech sound disorders. Currently, there are no reliable prosodic assessments used in clinical settings, making it challenging to diagnose and treat these disorders effectively, according to Thorson.
The research has two main objectives.
First, it seeks to create tasks that assess how children perceive and produce emphasis in speech, such as identifying which word is stressed in a sentence like "JOHN ate the apple." These tasks will be tested with neurotypical adults and children to establish standard data and measure the reliability of the assessment.
Second, the project will test the new prosody tasks on children with two types of speech sound disorders: phonological impairment (PI) and childhood apraxia of speech (CAS). The goal is to determine if these tasks can help differentiate between these disorders, with the hypothesis that children with PI will perform better on these tasks than those with CAS.
“Our goal is to develop a more natural and reliable way to assess prosody in children. By better understanding how they perceive and produce speech patterns, we can improve early diagnosis and treatment of speech sound disorders, ultimately enhancing their communication skills and quality of life,” Thorson says.
