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CV

CHRONOLOGY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING

 

2001-2005       B.S. Mechanical Engineering, Amirkabir University of Technology (Tehran Polytechnic), Tehran, Iran

2005-2008       M.Sc. Biomedical Engineering in the field of Biomechanics, Iran University of Science and Technology                                     (IUST), Tehran, Iran 

2008-2013       Ph.D. Industrial and Systems Engineering, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University (Virginia                                     Tech), Blacksburg, VA, Advisor: Maury A. Nussbaum 

2013-2015       Biomedical Engineering Post-doctorate, interdisciplinary Consortium Advanced Motion Performance                                       (iCAMP), University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ 

2015-Present  Aging and Cognition Fellow, Healthy Brain Research Center, CDC 

 

CHRONOLOGY OF EMPLOYMENT

2009-2012       Research Assistant, Human Safely & Health lab, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA 

2011-2013       Instructor/Teaching Assistant, Human Factor Engineering & Manufacturing Lab, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg,                            VA 

2013-2015       Research Associate, interdisciplinary Consortium Advanced Motion Performance (iCAMP), University of                                 Arizona, Tucson, AZ 

2014-Present  Bioengineer Collaborator, Center for Healthy Aging, Banner Sun Health Research Institute 

2015-Present  Research Associate, Senior: Arizona Center on Aging, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ 

 

HONORS AND AWARDS

 

2001                Ranked 384th in nation-wide entrance exam for Iranian universities among 400,000 examinees

2009-2011      Outstanding Graduate Student; Industrial and Systems Engineering Department, Virginia Tech

2013                Young investigator award from The Gerontological Society of America (GSA) for “Aging, the Central Nervous                          System, and Mobility in Older Adults: Neural Mechanisms of Mobility Impairments.”  

 

SERVICE/OUTREACH-NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL

 

2013-Present    Arizona Center on Aging, Research Associate

2013-Present    Reviewer for Gerontology  

2013-Present    Reviewer for Sensors  

2013-Present    Reviewer for the Journal of Applied Biomechanics

2014-Present    Reviewer for IEEE Transactions on Biomedical Engineering  

2015-Present    Reviewer for European Spine Journal

2015-Present    Reviewer for IEEE Journal of Biomedical and Health Information

2015-Present    Reviewer for Journal of the American Podiatric Medical Association (JAPMA)

 

PATENTS

 

Najafi B., Mohler J., Toosizadeh N., (2014) Methods and System to Identify Frailty Using Joint Movement Protocol. Patent                                number: 20150332004

 

 

                                                                                                  

GRANTS AND CONTRACTS

 

Research Grants

1-  NIH 1 R01 AG076774-01A1: Heart Rate Dynamics in Response to Upper-Extremity Function Test to Identify Irreversible       Frailty After Invasive Therapy in Older Adults with Advanced Heart Disease (Toosizadeh)

      01/2023-01/2027

      (PI) $1,313,940.00 – Effort: 3.40 Person Months

      Advanced heart diseases lead to a reduced blood supply from the heart and consequently fatigue and deficits in  

      performing physical activity. In the proposed research, we will assess the lack of physiological reserve in older adults

      with advanced heart disease, focusing on motor and cardiac function, to develop a novel, objective, quick, and

      accurate frailty score. We designed this approach to enhance candidate selection of older adults going through

      invasive therapies for advanced heart diseases. 

 

2-  NSF 2236689: CAREER: Dynamic Modeling of Cardiac, Brain, and Motor Systems in Response to Provocative Testing for       Frailty Assessment (Toosizadeh)

      03/2023-02/2028

      (PI) $580,246– Effort: 1.00 Person Months

      In this career award I will establish a novel mathematical frailty model based on interaction between several  

      physiological systems during a stress-response testing module. 

3-  NIH R21EB033454 (Trailblazer): WARE-Care: a novel RF-based system to assess and prevent falling

     07/2022-12/2024

     (Co-I) $582,741

      We propose a complementary sensor for frail and fall risk assessment in the nursing facility during the night. To

     achieve this goal, we will build and evaluate a robust, non-invasive millimeter wave (mmWave) based sensing system

     for fall risk and fall detection to work during the night to collect and assess older adults’ falling data. We have formed a

     research team with expertise in radar signal processing, machine learning, frailty and fall risk analysis, telehealth,

     clinical trials, and medical experts within the University of Arizona (UArizona) and have connected with a local nursing

     center to test this low-cost, small, and portable motion-monitoring system: WARE-Care: mmWave based fall

     Assessment and pRevEntion. 

4-  Bio5 Rapid Grant: Application of Functional Near-infrared Spectroscopy for Identifying Alzheimer's Disease Based on

      the Motor and Brain Function Dynamical Interplay (Toosizadeh/Lafleur/Fain/Chou/Rapcsak) 

      1/1/2022-7/31/2022

      (PI) $49,343

 

5-  Flinn Foundation: Soft, Battery‐Free, Wireless, and Wearable Digital‐Health Platform for Continuous Frailty

     Assessment (Gutruf/Toosizadeh)

     11/1/2019 - 4/30/2021

     (Co-PI) $100,000

     Development of a battery-free and soft platform that relies on far field power transfer to ultra-soft electronics.

     Through the creation of this long-range, soft electronic mesh, a robust system utilizing multimodal sensing capabilities

     can be realized for chronic health monitoring. 

6 -  NIH 1R21AG059202-01A1: Functional Capacity Assessment in Hospitalized Bed-bound COPD Patients; Predicting 

      Outcomes (Toosizadeh/Mohler)

      09/15/2019 - 05/31/2021

      (PI) $410,454

      The major goal of this project is to provide data to improve identification of vulnerable older adults with chronic

      obstructive pulmonary disease using a quick and simple objective assessment tool feasible for bed-bound     

      hospitalized patients.

7-  BIO5 Institute Team Scholars Program (Toosizadeh/Chen/Barnard)

      07/01/2019-06/30/2020

      (PI) $65,000

      Early-stage detection of brain network alterations due to the Alzheimer’s disease: Dual-task-based fMRI
      analysis using machine learning approach

8- R01 NS102220-01A1: Development of High-Speed and Quantitative Neuro MRI Technologies for Challenging Patient

     Populations 

     07/01/2018-06/31/2023

     (Co-I) $ 2,749,319 

     Optimize multiplexed sensitivity encoded (MUSE) DTI and fMRI techniques to allow for fast acquisition of sub-

     millimeter resolution, artifact-free, and quantitative MR images within a 20-min scan time, better tolerable for

     challenging populations such as stroke or pediatric patients.

9 I - 3U48DP005002-01S4 CDC Healthy Brain Research Network Center (Mohler/Fain)       

     7/1/2014 -  6/30/19

     (Scholar 10% 1.2 mos) Research in cognitive aging, mild cognitive impairment and Alzheimer’s and related dementias,       in collaboration with statewide collaborators (Arizona Center on Aging, ADHS, AZ-PRC, Hartford Nursing Center, Flinn         Foundation Aging and Cognition Consortium, the Banner Alzheimer’s Consortium, and 4 national HBRN collaborating          centers)

10-  UA Pepper Scholar - Pilot Experimental Scientific Projects (PESP): Improving Post-operative Outcomes in Older  

      Adults

      Undergoing Traumatic Emergency Major Abdominal Surgical (Toosizadeh/Gries)

      04/01/2018 - 03/31/2019

      (PI) $40,000 

      The objective of this one-year PESP Independent Research Project is to explore the prevalence of clinical frailty

      syndrome using a validated upper-extremity function (UEF) method among older adults undergoing traumatic

      emergency major abdominal surgical procedure for predicting 30-day outcomes, including surgical complications,

      length of stay, discharge disposition, readmission, and mortality.   

 

11-  NIH R21AG055852: MCI and Alzheimer's Disease Screening using Upper-extremity Dual-task (Toosizadeh/Mohler)

      06/01/2017 - 05/31/2019

      (PI) $430,937

      Validate an objective, easy-to-perform, and quick tool for cognitive screening in older adults with Alzheimer’s disease         and Alzheimer’s type mild cognitive impairment. This method is based on simultaneous assessment of upper-

      extremity functioning and cognitive performance, using wearable sensor technology and novel biomechanical  

      approaches for assessing motion.

12- RG2017-13 Arizona AHEC: Novel Dual-task Balance Challenge to Prevent Falls in Older Adults (Taylor-

      Piliae/Mohler/Toosizadeh) 

      9/2017-9/2018

      (Co-PI) $10,000 

      Improve balance and gait among older adults using low-cost in-home dual-task training

      

Educational and Training Grants

1- Reynolds Foundation Quality of Life in Aging (Fain/Mohler)                                              

     7/1/2013- 6/30/2017  

     (Role: Associate Faculty) Arizona Reynolds Program in Applied Geriatrics The purpose of this grant is to strengthen            specialist physician training in geriatrics, with an emphasis on improving care delivered by hospitalists and surgical           medical specialists (1) emergency medicine, 2) pulmonary/critical care, 3) hospital medicine, 4) orthopedics, and 5)            surgery,) with the overarching aim of improving care for the frail elderly.Role to support Joseph and Berry in research         development.

2- HRSA UB4HP19047 (Mohler/Fain) Geriatric Workforce Enhancement Program  

     03/05/2015- 6/302018

     The purpose of this grant is to provide statewide education and training in geriatrics

     (Role: Associate Faculty) Arizona Geriatric Education Center The purpose of this grant is to provide interdisciplinary            geriatric education and training of Arizona’s health professions faculty, students, and practitioners to prepare them to        care for the rapidly growing older population.

3- Flinn Foundation Arizona (Najafi/Marwan/Coon/Mohler)                                                     

     7/1/2013- 6/30/2017   

     (Role: Research Scholar/Mentor ) Evaluation of a Virtual Reality-Based Exercise Training Technology in Older Adults           with MCI The purpose of this grant is to foster the development of a transformative cross-Arizona research                          infrastructure, allowing integration of emerging bioengineering and molecular technologies in the clinically relevant           area of aging and cognition.

 

LIST OF COLLABORATORS ON GRANTS AND PUBLICATION

  

  1. Kaveh Laksari

  2. Maury A. Nussbaum

  3. Bradford Hendershot

  4. Khoirul Muslim

  5. Babak Bazrgari

  6. Michael Madigan

  7. Bijan Najafi

  8. Jane Mohler

  9. Michael Schwenk

  10. Saman Parvaneh

  11. Jonathan Sprinkle

  12. Bahareh Honarvar

  13. Talal K. Talal

  14. Hong Lei

  15. Esther Sternberg

  16. Scott J Sherman

  17. Chris Wendel

  18. Marvin Slepian

  19. Mohammad Haghpanahi

  20. David G. Armstrong

  21. Carol Howe

  22. Michael Dohm

  23. Cristine Berry

  24. Christian Bime

  25. Monica Kraft

  26. Eric M. Reiman

  27. Nan-Kuei Chen

  28. Kobus Barnard

  29. Siyang Cam

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