A person climbing a ladder in the HMBL lab
THE HUMAN MOVEMENT & BALANCE LABORATORY

Slip tester and computer screen
THE HUMAN MOVEMENT & BALANCE LABORATORY

The mission of the Human Movement & Balance Laboratory (HMBL) is fall and musculoskeletal injury prevention in healthy and clinical young/elderly adult populations. We achieve these goals by gaining a thorough understanding of the biomechanical and postural control principles that govern human movement, balance during standing/walking, and performance of occupational tasks. A multidisciplinary group of researchers including biomechanical engineers, physicians (geriatricians, neurologists and psychiatrists), and physical/occupational therapists work in close collaboration to achieve our research goals. HMBL is a state of the art space designed and equipped to analyze the dynamics of human motion. Current research projects include a wide range of experimental studies examining fall prevention following external disturbances such as slipping or tripping, prosthetics, ergonomic-related research, cognitive research and imaging applications in various population types. In conjunction with experimental studies, biomechanical computer modeling is used to gain a greater understanding of the impact of environmental and human factors on the risk of falls and injury.