Vancouver Research Hub, Canada
H-Behaviours Research Lab (previously Sleep/Wake-Behaviours Lab)
Over the last year the Ipsiroglu-Lab (led by Dr. Ipsiroglu) became the core of a research consortium at BC Children’s Hospital Research Institute with multiple partners from General and Social Paediatrics, Neurology, Genetics, Neurology, Nutritional Sciences, Biomechanical Engineering and Computer Sciences (all UBC), under the umbrella of the H-Behaviours Lab. The conceptualization of hyperkinesia, hypermotor-restlessness and hyper-/hypo-arousability in the wake and sleep state as H-Behaviours is unique and enables healthcare professionals and families to describe, hence better communicate about disruptive day and night (awake/asleep) behaviours.
All involved PIs, Co-I and collaborators investigate factors affecting voluntary movements in environmental and genetic contexts. Further we developed a research agenda describing the connection of voluntary movements with peripheral and brain iron status.
At the H-Behaviours Lab we are developing clinical analysis algorithms for night- and daytime video recordings. Currently, there are two automated analysis (machine-learning) concepts in development: (a) one for 3D-videos for research purposes is under development in collaboration with Drs. Mike Van der Loos (Mechanical Engineering, UBC) and Heinrich Garn (Austrian Institute of Technology, Vienna). (b) One for 2D-videos for application in analysis of cell phone videos in collaboration with Dr. Leonid Sigal (Computer Sciences, UBC) and Manuel Martines (Karlsruhe Institute of Technology). Drs. Sigal and Martines are using an approach termed Pose Machines for 2D pose estimation, which sequentially tries to estimate the joints of the body through a series of computational steps encoded via a convolutional neural network. In order to enhance collaboration and catalyze the 2D-video analysis project as a core characteristic of the SWAPP, Dr. Sigal has been invited to join our SWAPP Research Consortium.
Collaborative Advanced Robotics and Intelligent Systems (CARIS) Lab
Dr. Van der Loos is the Associate Director of the UBC CARIS Lab and a Member of the UBC Institute for Computing, Information, and Cognitive Systems (ICICS), and has faculty affiliations with the Masters of Digital Media Program (Great Northern Way Campus) and National Core for Neuroethics. His research interests are in Robotics: Rehabilitation Robotics & Human-Robot Interaction, and in Design: Design for Safety, Design Methodology and Design Coaching and Roboethics. Current research focuses on (1) Inherently safe design of mobile manipulation robotic systems; (2) Development and testing of mechatronic exercise systems for stroke therapy; (3) Development of robotic tools for improved understanding and treatment of human balance disorders, and (4) Exploration of ethical design principles for robot interfaces and neurotechnologies.
Human Motion Biomechanics (HuMBL) Lab
The HuMBL Lab is lead by Dr. Calvin Kuo, an assistant professor in the School of Biomedical Engineering. He obtained his B.S. in Mechanical Engineering and Computer Science from the California Institute of Technology, and his M.S. and Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering from Stanford University. He was then a Killam Postdoctoral Scholar working with Jean-Sébastien Blouin in Kinesiology and Dinesh Pai in Computer Science at UBC. Calvin is broadly interested in sensing human motion and understanding how humans make sense of their own motion through a combination of wearable technologies and stochastic modeling approaches.