The O&P Foundation is thrilled to announce the Spring 2025 Mentored Pilot recipients. The O&P Foundation’s Mentored Pilot Research Grant program awards one-year grants of $5,000 to support clinically relevant activities and projects.
Myrriah Laine Dyreson is a Rehabilitation Science PhD student at the University of Minnesota and a Research Prosthetist Orthotist at the Minneapolis VA within the Rehabilitation & Engineering Center for Optimizing Veteran Engagement & Reintegration (RECOVER). Her long-term goal is to generate research that is both translatable and clinically relevant—work that empowers care teams to create personalized, data-driven treatment plans that improve patient outcomes and quality of life.
Characterizing Aspects of Participation Among Veterans Following Provision of a First Lower Limb Prosthesis
“I am incredibly grateful to receive the O&P Foundation’s Mentored Pilot Grant. This award supports my dissertation research to identify factors that are associated with social participation and how these factors vary over time in new lower-limb prosthesis users. This study will lay the groundwork for future work to generate early rehabilitation interventions to assist prosthesis users in their return to engaging in important social roles and activities.”
Julie Ferrell-Olson is a PhD candidate at the University of Illinois Chicago in the department of Kinesiology and Nutrition. She is a member of the Locomotor and Rehabilitation Lab at UIC under the direction of Dr. Andrew Sawers. Her research aims to bridge the gap between qualitative and biomechanics research, using lived experiences to motivate in-lab studies and gain a more holistic perspective.
Determining the contribution of co-contraction to lower limb prosthesis users’ locomotor fatigability
“I am honored to receive the mentored pilot grant to support a portion of my dissertation work. This work will provide important insights into neuromuscular coordination and locomotor fatigability in lower limb prosthesis users. A deeper understanding of gait-related fatigue will drive further development in prosthetic technology and interventions, improving patient outcomes and safety”
