WORCESTER, Mass. – Kendra Calhoun, president of the Amputee Coalition of America, and Col. Jennifer Menetrez, MD, physical medicine and rehabilitation physician and director of the Center for the Intrepid at Brooke Army Medical Center, will offer the keynote addresses at Neuroprosthetics 2010, an international symposium organized by the Bioengineering Institute at Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI).
“We are pleased and honored to have leaders like Kendra Calhoun and Colonel Menetrez addressing the symposium,” said W. Grant McGimpsey, PhD., director of the Bioengineering Institute, professor of chemistry and biochemistry, and professor of biomedical engineering at WPI. “They will offer important perspectives from both the civilian and the military amputee populations to the scientists and clinicians working to improve the technology to help those populations.”
The Center for the Intrepid at Brooke Army Medical Center in San Antonio, Texas, is the U.S. Army’s most advanced outpatient rehabilitation center built specifically to treat service members who lost limbs and suffered serious injuries, primarily in Iraq and Afghanistan. Based in Knoxville, Tenn., the Amputee Coalition of America (ACA) is a national non-profit organization focused on education and advocacy in support of the 1.7 million people in the United States who live with limb loss.
Set for November 3 at WPI, Neuroprosthetics 2010 will bring together scientists, engineers and clinicians to share their research and discuss the challenges that must be overcome to enable a new generation of artificial limbs that more closely replicate the function of natural limbs. For more information about the symposium see: www.wpi.edu/+BEI
About the Bioengineering Institute: The Bioengineering Institute at WPI is an interdisciplinary organization blending academic, industry, and government partnerships to foster research and development of innovative, life sciences-based technologies. Scientists, engineers, and clinicians work through the BEI to address important research challenges in several major areas of medical technology and healthcare, including neuroprosthetics, tissue engineering, regenerative biology and bioprocessing among others. Learn more at: www.wpi.edu/academics/Research/BEI
About Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI)
Founded in 1865 in Worcester, Mass., WPI was one of the nation’s first engineering and technology universities. WPI’s14 academic departments offer more than 50 undergraduate and graduate degree programs in science, engineering, technology, management, the social sciences, and the humanities and arts, leading to bachelor’s, master’s and PhD degrees. WPI’s world-class faculty work with students in a number of cutting-edge research areas, leading to breakthroughs and innovations in such fields as biotechnology, fuel cells, information security, materials processing, and nanotechnology. Students also have the opportunity to make a difference to communities and organizations around the world through the university’s innovative Global Perspective Program. There are more than 20 WPI project centers throughout North America and Central America, Africa, Australia, Asia, and Europe.
