Steven Gard
· Associate Professor of Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation and (by courtesy) Biomedical Engineering and Mechanical EngineeringNorthwestern University · Chemical Engineering
Active 1976–2026
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About
Steven Gard is an Associate Professor of Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation at Northwestern University, with courtesy appointments in Biomedical Engineering and Mechanical Engineering. His research focuses on investigating human movement, particularly in the context of rehabilitation. He studies the biomechanics of both able-bodied and pathological gait to better understand normal walking patterns and to evaluate and improve gait in individuals using prosthetic or orthotic devices. His work aims to develop more functional lower-extremity prosthetic and orthotic components, contributing to advancements in rehabilitation technology and gait analysis.
Research topics
- Political Science
- Medicine
- Medical education
- Engineering
- Computer Science
- Physical therapy
- Anatomy
- Engineering ethics
- Surgery
- Economic growth
Selected publications
Journal of NeuroEngineering and Rehabilitation · 2021 · 13 citations
BACKGROUND: A shock-absorbing pylon (SAP) is a modular prosthetic component designed to attenuate impact forces, which unlike traditional pylons that are rigid, can compress to absorb, return, or dissipate energy. Previous studies found that walking with a SAP improved lower-limb prosthesis users' comfort and residual limb pain. While longitudinal stiffness of a SAP has been shown to affect gait kinematics, kinetics, and work done by the entire lower limb, the energetic contributions from the pr…
Archives of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation · 2021-06-29 · 10 citations
articleRehabilitation is a global health priority
Canadian Journal of Occupational Therapy · 2020-03-17 · 9 citations
articleOpen accessstatus: Published
JPO Journal of Prosthetics and Orthotics · 2022-10-21 · 7 citations
articleOpen accessSenior authorABSTRACT Introduction Modular prosthetic ankle components have been shown to improve walking in transtibial prosthesis users, but they may reduce stability during standing. Therefore, the stiffness of the prosthetic foot-ankle components may need to be appropriately tuned to provide a balance between walking mobility and standing balance. The present research investigates both concepts to improve our knowledge about how prosthetic ankle stiffness influences standing and walking performance. Meth…
Do Upper-Limb Loss and Prosthesis Use Affect Lower-Limb Gait Dynamics?
JPO Journal of Prosthetics and Orthotics · 2020-07-29 · 7 citations
articleOpen accessINTRODUCTION: Intentional interruption of upper and lower limb coordination of able-bodied subjects alters their gait biomechanics. However, the effect of upper-limb loss (ULL) on lower-limb gait biomechanics is not fully understood. The aim of this secondary study was to perform a follow-up analysis of a previous dataset to characterize the spatiotemporal parameters and lower-limb kinematics and kinetics of gait for persons with ULL when wearing and not wearing an upper limb prosthesis (ULP). W…
Recent grants
A Quantitative Analysis of Transfemoral Prosthetic Alignment
NIH · 2010–2013
NIH · $700k · 2005
Fall risk and prosthetic influence on gait biomechanics in upper limb amputees
NIH · 2014–2018
Frequent coauthors
- 166 shared
Stefano Négrini
Istituto Ortopedico Galeazzi
- 165 shared
Allen W. Heinemann
Shirley Ryan AbilityLab
- 163 shared
Walter R. Frontera
University of Puerto Rico System
- 163 shared
Catherine Vallée
- 163 shared
Lorie Richards
- 163 shared
Leonard A. Kaminsky
Ball State University
- 158 shared
Michael Feuerstein
- 82 shared
Matthew J. Major
Jesse Brown VA Medical Center
Education
- 1996
Postdoctoral Fellow, Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation
Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine
- 1995
PhD, Biomedical Engineering
Northwestern University
- 1990
MS, Biomedical Engineering
Northwestern University
- 1988
BS, Bioengineering
Texas A&M University
Awards & honors
- United States Patent 8,597,369
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