A Carle Illinois College of Medicine (CI MED) professor and researcher is being recognized for exemplary work on health issues affecting the growing population of older adults, especially fall risks for those with neurological and muscle disorders.
CI MED Teaching Professor Manuel Hernandez has been selected as a fellow of the Gerontological Society of America, the nation’s largest multidisciplinary group devoted to issues surrounding aging. His selection by other members of the GSA recognizes both research and academic contributions to the study of aging.
“As the director of the Mobility and Fall Prevention research lab since 2014, our research has been focused on movement variability, postural control, gait, aging, and movement disorders using tools at the intersection of biomechanics and neuroscience,” Hernandez said. “My research group has been working on several fronts: the development of multimodal virtual reality testbeds for real-time evaluation of state anxiety in older adults; age-related changes on the cognitive control of balance and gait; and the effects of concurrent aging and neurological diseases, such as multiple sclerosis and Parkinson's disease, on control of mobility.”
Hernandez says as Baby Boomers age, it’s a field of study that will affect virtually everyone, either as a patient or as a caregiver. “As the number of older adults continues to increase worldwide, along with the number of falls and prevalence of co-occurring chronic or neurodegenerative conditions, I hope to continue contributing to our understanding of mechanisms that underlie fall risk in older adults,” Hernandez said.
New technologies will play an increasingly important role in understanding the interplay between the effects of aging and neurological and physical disorders, Hernandez said. “Building on ongoing work examining the use of wearable technology and machine learning to identify and predict disease, balance dysfunction, anxiety, and motor impairment, future research will continue to focus on how technology can be leveraged to better predict changes in health from quantitative evaluations of our cognitive and physical capacities using devices we use on a daily basis.”
In addition to his research, Hernandez is being recognized for his academic achievements, including honors for excellence in teaching on topics such as gerontology, motor control, and the public health effects of the growing Baby Boomer population. At CI MED, he is co-director of the musculoskeletal and integumentary systems course where he integrates engineering concepts and engineering labs into his medical teaching to inspire students to solve health and wellness problems across the lifespan.
Manuel Hernandez is a research associate professor in the Department of Kinesiology and Community Health, a teaching associate professor of Bioengineering, and an affiliate of the Beckman Institute for Advanced Science and Technology, the Center for Social and Behavioral Science, and the Neuroscience Program in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences.