Biography
Michel Lemay, Associate Professor of Neurobiology and Anatomy, received his Ph.D. in Biomedical Engineering from Case Western Reserve University. Following training as an NIDRR and SCRF post-doctoral fellow at M.I.T. and as a Research Associate at Case Western Reserve, Dr. Lemay joined the faculty at Drexel University College of Medicine/MCP Hahnemann University in 2001.
Research interests
Studies and applications of the neuronal circuitry for restoring movement after spinal cord injury.
My laboratory is interested in studying and utilizing spinal circuits responsible for movements in neural prosthesis applications. Neural prostheses use electrical activation of a damaged nervous system to restore function to the affected individual (http://www.ninds.nih.gov/research/npp/index.htm). Dr. Giszter's laboratory demonstrated the modularity of the spinal frog motor output to intraspinal microstimulation, while my laboratory and a number of other groups have shown similar modules for movement control in the mammalian spinal cord.
The laboratory is currently focusing on elucidating the effects of spinal injury on the spinal motor ouput and neuronal circuitry, and the interactions between intraspinal microstimulation, neural transplants promoting regeneration, and sensorimotor training aimed at shaping the regenerating pathways.
The tools and techniques used include computer-based modeling of limb biomechanics, multiunit neuronal recordings, kinematic analysis of movement behavior, and in vivo stimulation and recording of force, motion and muscular activation in pre-clinical models.
Lab Members
Research staff:
Karen Ollivier-Lanvin, Ph.D.
Kassi Miller, B.S.
Graduate students:
Nicholas Au-Yong, MS
David Kowalski, MS
Alexander Krupka, BS
Selected Publications
“Hindlimb endpoint forces predict movement direction evoked with intraspinal microstimulation in cats”
MA Lemay, D Grasse and WM Grill
IEEE Transactions on Neural Systems and Rehabilitation Engineering 2009.
“Modularity of endpoint force patterns evoked using intraspinal microstimulation in treadmill trained and/or neurotrophin treated chronic spinal cats”
VS Boyce, and MA Lemay
J. Neurophysiology 2009.
“Role of biomechanics and muscle activation strategy in the production of endpoint force patterns in the cat hindlimb”
MA Lemay, M Bhowmik-Stoker, GC McConnell and WM Grill
The Journal of Biomechanics, Vol. 40, pp. 3679-3687, 2007.
“Neurotrophic factors promote and enhance locomotor recovery in untrained spinalized cats”; “Could neurotrophins replace treadmill training as locomotor therapy following spinal cord injury?”
VS Boyce, M Tumolo, I Fischer, M Murray and MA Lemay
J. Neurophysiology, Vol. 98, pp. 1988-96, in same issue. 2007.
“Fibrillation potentials following spinal cord injury: Improvement with neurotrophins and exercise”
AS Burns, VS Boyce, A Tessler and MA Lemay
Muscle and Nerve, Vol. 35, pp. 607-613, 2007.
“Abnormal spontaneous potentials in distal muscles in animal models of spinal cord injury”
AS Burns, MA Lemay and A Tessler
Muscle and Nerve, Vol. 31, pp. 46-51, 2005.
“Modularity of motor output evoked by intraspinal microstimulation in cats”
MA Lemay and WM Grill
J. Neurophysiol., Vol. 91, pp. 502-514, 2004. |