PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR
Next-Generation Rehab From prosthetic feet to ‘smart underwear,’ Karl E. Zelik, PhD, studies it all Karl E. Zelik, PhD, in his lab at the Engineering Science Building
For 2018, O&P Almanac is introducing individuals who have undertaken O&P-focused research projects. Here, you will get to know colleagues and health-care professionals who have carried out studies and gathered quantitative and/or qualitative data related to orthotics and prosthetics, and find out what it takes to become an O&P researcher.
Karl E. Zelik, PhD, works with students at Vanderbilt University’s CREATE space.
K
ARL E. ZELIK, PhD, has always
40
MAY 2018 | O&P ALMANAC
Engineering & Assistive Technology (CREATE), Zelik has spent the last 10-plus years developing multidisciplinary skills in, and refining his knowledge of, engineering, movement biomechanics, wearable technology, biosignal analysis, clinical care, and neural control of movement—continuing to pursue his passion of pushing the human body past its limits.
A Creative Space
Zelik’s greatest responsibilities are his duties as co-director of CREATE, a space that aims to advance science and technology to restore health, mobility, independence, and societal participation to individuals with disabilities.
PHOTO: John Russell/Vanderbilt University
found a way to push the limits of the human body. Growing up in a family of four boys, he loved playing sports and was “quite reckless,” he says. “I broke a lot of bones, and got a lot of stitches.” In college, he discovered biomedical engineering—an academic and “much safer way to explore the limits of the human body.” Zelik eventually fell in love with movement biomechanics and assistive devices—such as prostheses and exoskeletons—during his doctoral studies. Now an assistant professor at Vanderbilt University and co-director of the university’s Center for Rehabilitation