Advancing Research and Innovation for Aging and Disability (ARIAD)

A CU Denver Research and
Creative Work Grand Challenge

The Goal

The ARIAD team aims to cultivate a powerful collaborative network of academic experts, community stakeholders, and local, national, and international industry advisors and partners to address the grand challenge of aging and aging into disability facing our world today. Funding and research support is provided by CU Denver in order to lay the foundation for building CU Denver’s reputation as a leader in research and creative work.

Project Information

ARIAD’s consortium of experts will converge to explore, develop, and deploy safe, productive, and efficient technologies to support the needs of those living with, or aging into, disability.

Leveraging and evolving CU Denver and Anschutz’s nationally recognized foundational programs is a key component of ARIAD’s plan. CIDE with its knowledge of assistive technology and human factors and design provides a vital strategic partnership. When partnered with the rest of the ARIAD group, the project team is equipped with expertise ranging from engineering to medicine to humanities and adult education. Collectively, ARIAD will forge new paths and propel creation of new knowledge to change lives by improving overall wellbeing and independence for those aging into or living with disability.

The outcome will not only make CU Denver a global destination for disability and aging technology innovation but will also make significant strides toward addressing the Grand Challenge facing our world today - how do we redesign our world when, for the first time in human history, our planet has more people over 65 than under the age of five?

Contact us to learn more or to join the effort!

Email Dr. Cathy Bodine: cathy.bodine@cuanschutz.edu
Email Dr. Caroline Clevenger: caroline.clevenger@ucdenver.edu

The Challenge

Public speaker in wheelchair in group with other adult lecturers.

One Billion

People live with disabilities worldwide.

Society is Aging

By 2030, one out of every five Americans will be at or above retirement age

Demand Fuels Innovation

One in two older adults will experience disability as they age.

Team Members

Brecca Gaffney PhD

Assistant Professor Mechanical Engineering

Mechanical Engineering (CEAS)

Email Address:brecca.gaffney@ucdenver.edu

Bio

Dr. Gaffney is an Assistant Professor in Mechanical Engineering at CU Denver. She also runs a laboratory connected to the Bioengineering department at CU Denver – Anschutz. Her research centers around the use of engineering-based principles to better understand the mechanical mechanisms of overuse injuries in medically complex populations. Her primary objective is to improve the efficacy of multi-modal interventions. To accomplish this, her research lab combines experimentally measured in-vivo biomechanics using motion capture, computational modeling, and medical imaging to determine how various movement pathologies impact the musculoskeletal system. She has over a decade of experience in human subjects research, authored over 25 peer-reviewed manuscripts, has successfully received numerous extramural grants, and has been awarded many prestigious awards within her field. For the ARIAD project, she will apply her expertise in the measurement, analysis, and modeling of human subject movement by providing access to her state-of-the-art 1,500 ft2 motion capture laboratory on the Anschutz Medical Campus.

Center for Inclusive Design and Engineering (CIDE)

CU Denver

The Hub, Bioengineering

1224 5th Street

Suite 130

Denver, CO 80204

303-315-1280

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