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American Diabetes Association Honors UA Postdoc Gurtej Singh Grewal

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American Diabetes Association Honors UA Postdoc Gurtej Singh Grewal

April 1, 2014
ADA honors biomedical engineer Gurtej Singh Grewal for his work on improving quality of life for people with mobility problems.

University of Arizona biomedical engineer and postdoctoral fellow Gurtej Singh Grewal has received a 2014 Young Investigator Travel Award from the American Diabetes Association, or ADA.

Postdoctoral fellow Gurtej Singh Grewal, left, and iCamp director Bijan Najafi discuss the many sensors and devices they are working on, including the diabetes sock, to improve life for diabetics and those with mobility problems.

The ADA’s professional section interest group on foot care presents three of these awards annually for the top-scoring abstracts, in honor of Marvin Levin for his contributions to the understanding of diabetic foot disorders. Winners present their findings at the annual ADA scientific sessions, the world’s largest conference focused on diabetes.

Grewal’s award-winning abstract, “A Novel Shear-Reduction Insole Effect on Thermal Response to Walking Stress, Balance, and Gait,” summarizes his research team’s work, in which study participants wore custom shear-reducing insoles and sensors on their bodies to monitor their movements. Research goals include reducing risk of foot ulcers and improving clinical analysis for people with mobility issues and helping them prevent foot problems.

Grewal will present his research at the ADA’s 74th scientific sessions in San Francisco in June 2014. “I am honored to be presenting at ADA,” he said. “Especially because I will be presenting on behalf of our esteemed team members, including Dr. Najafi and collaborator Dr. James Wrobel of the University of Michigan Health System.”

Grewal is a postdoctoral research fellow at the UA Interdisciplinary Consortium on Advanced Motion Performance, or iCAMP, which encompasses research in podiatric and vascular surgery, orthopedics nursing, geriatrics, anthropology, engineering, and other disciplines. He also collaborates with researchers at other centers and departments at the UA and internationally.

Grewal earned his BS in mechanical engineering in India and his MSc in mechatronics and PhD in biomedical engineering in England. Before joining UA, he was a postdoctoral researcher at the Rosalind Franklin University of Medicine and Science in Chicago, where he worked under the supervision of Bijan Najafi. When Najafi joined the UA in 2012 as director of iCAMP, professor of surgery, and professor of biomedical engineering in the UA graduate interdisciplinary program, Grewal came with him as a senior postdoctoral fellow.

“Gurtej is an extraordinary research scientist,” said Najafi. “He has already made important contributions to medical science, via translation of innovations from engineering to various clinical applications. It is not often that an engineer receives such a highly prestigious travel grant from a clinical conference that is targeted to a clinical audience. His ADA award illustrates the many innovative and fruitful studies that can be accomplished when engineers and clinicians work together.”

Grewal’s latest research involves virtual reality balance-training programs, in which participants don body-worn sensors that give them real-time joint feedback as they exercise.

“This approach is highly motivational, and the real-time feedback from joint movement helps participants better perceive their motor errors and adapt their movements,” Grewal said. 

“I must say that the patient response has been a delight,” he added. “Many patients report that they have highly benefited from the virtual reality training. Through collaboration with industry, we hope to implement this system into the home environment as a virtual personal interactive trainer.”


Photos: Pete Brown/UA College of Engineering