National Institute on Disability, Independent Living, and Rehabilitation Research (NIDILRR) – Field Initiated Project
Efficacy of Tele-CPASS: A Home-Based Stroke Recovery Program
Role: Principal Investigator; Collaborators: Dr. Paisith Piriyawat (TTUHSC-EP), Dr. Pete Lum (CUA)
Efficacy of Tele-CPASS: A Home-Based Stroke Recovery Program
Role: Principal Investigator; Collaborators: Dr. Paisith Piriyawat (TTUHSC-EP), Dr. Pete Lum (CUA)
Every year, about two-thirds of the 800,000 people who experience a stroke in the U.S. are left with persistent upper extremity impairments, limiting independence in daily activities such as cooking, dressing, and driving.
Motor recovery after stroke happens any time that we provide intensive neurorehabilitation. However, our prior research shows that neurorehabilitation effectiveness is time-sensitive, because the recovering brain after stroke is highly neuroplastic. Delivering an extra bolus of just 20-hrs of intensive therapy focused on arm-hand motor recovery within the first 3-4 months post stroke (during this window of hgih neuroplasticity) produces significantly greater upper extremity recovery than the same therapy administered later at 6 months after stroke.
Despite this knowledge, the rehabilitation dose in current standard of care declines sharply after patients are discharged from acute care or inpatient rehab, not because they have recovered fully but due to logistical barriers. Many patients, particularly in medically underserved areas like El Paso face barriers in access to post-stroke neurorehabilitation because of geography, costs, transportation barriers.
Despite this knowledge, the rehabilitation dose in current standard of care declines sharply after patients are discharged from acute care or inpatient rehab, not because they have recovered fully but due to logistical barriers. Many patients, particularly in medically underserved areas like El Paso face barriers in access to post-stroke neurorehabilitation because of geography, costs, transportation barriers.
Tele-CPASS adapts our evidence-based CPASS intervention for home-based delivery during this critical window of heightened neuroplasticity, using secure video sessions and wearable sensors. These sensors track real-world arm and hand use, providing objective, clinically meaningful measures of functional recovery beyond the clinical setting.
This NIDILRR grant supports a longitudinal, single-blind, non-inferiority, randomized controlled trial to evaluate if tele-CPASS is as efficacious as in-person CPASS therapy.
This stroke rehab trial is also the first of its kind to use wearable sensors to measure real-world arm and hand use. Our team and collaborators have refined and clinically validated this measure, building on prior NIDILRR-supported work (via a separate 5-year RERC-DC grant).
Unlike traditional clinical trial outcomes that only capture patient performance in a clinic, this wearable sensor approach tells us how well patients actually use their affected arm in daily life. By applying AI and machine learning to data from small wrist-worn sensors, we can objectively quantify real-world functional gains and answer a central question in neurorehabilitation: “How well can someone use the gains they made in therapy for everyday activities, on things that are meaningful for them?”
This stroke rehab trial is also the first of its kind to use wearable sensors to measure real-world arm and hand use. Our team and collaborators have refined and clinically validated this measure, building on prior NIDILRR-supported work (via a separate 5-year RERC-DC grant).
Unlike traditional clinical trial outcomes that only capture patient performance in a clinic, this wearable sensor approach tells us how well patients actually use their affected arm in daily life. By applying AI and machine learning to data from small wrist-worn sensors, we can objectively quantify real-world functional gains and answer a central question in neurorehabilitation: “How well can someone use the gains they made in therapy for everyday activities, on things that are meaningful for them?”
If successful, this neurorehab model could transform post-stroke rehabilitation nationwide, making therapy more accessible, patient-centered, and driven on real world outcomes.
📞 Interested in participating? Call 915-747-7619 or scan the QR code on the "contact us" page to complete our secure online form and our clinical research coordinator will contact you.
2. Research Pilot Project Program - NIMHD 1P50MD019494
Subaward from The Center for Community Engagement in Transdisciplinary Minority Health Disparities (COE), UTEP.
Role: PI; Co-PI: Dr. Eva Moya, PhD
Promotoras: Bridging Health Literacy and Motor Recovery Post Stroke and SCI
Subaward from The Center for Community Engagement in Transdisciplinary Minority Health Disparities (COE), UTEP.
Role: PI; Co-PI: Dr. Eva Moya, PhD
Promotoras: Bridging Health Literacy and Motor Recovery Post Stroke and SCI
Health literacy—the ability to access, understand, and use health information to make informed decisions—is a key factor in recovery after stroke and spinal cord injury. Limited health literacy can reduce therapy adherence, slow recovery, and hinder successful reintegration into the community. This study focuses on two main goals:
- Identify health literacy gaps that affect long-term motor recovery in patients in the US-Mexico borderlands, using validated screening tools in acute care and inpatient rehabilitation settings.
- Test a culturally tailored, Promotoras-led intervention to support motor recovery and community reintegration in stroke survivors in El Paso and Las Cruces.
We are evaluating the feasibility, acceptability, and early impact of the program, including its ability to:
- Improve patient understanding of their condition and treatment.
- Enhance adherence to rehabilitation.
- Connect patients with community resources for a successful transition to independent living.
By combining health literacy assessment with community-based support, this project aims to reduce disparities in post-stroke and spinal cord injury outcomes and create a scalable, patient-centered model of care for improving recovery in underserved populations.
Clinical partners: Rehabilitation Hospital of Southern New Mexico, University Medical Center of El Paso.
📞 Interested in participating? Call 915-747-7619 or scan the QR code on the "contact us" page to complete our secure online form and our clinical research coordinator will contact you.
📞 Interested in participating? Call 915-747-7619 or scan the QR code on the "contact us" page to complete our secure online form and our clinical research coordinator will contact you.
3. Sobel-Duncan Border Health Research Award
Role: PI
The study examines cortical inhibitory function in individuals post stroke.
Would you like to participate?
Please call us on 915-727-7619, if you have experienced a stroke 30-days prior, and are able to open the more impaired hand. Study honorarium and transportation is provided.
Role: PI
The study examines cortical inhibitory function in individuals post stroke.
Would you like to participate?
Please call us on 915-727-7619, if you have experienced a stroke 30-days prior, and are able to open the more impaired hand. Study honorarium and transportation is provided.
4. RESTORE Center Pilot Project Grant
Role: Co-PI
We are extending the Restore Center’s Sit2Stand assessment into a clinically valid tool to measure mobility and community gait in stroke for telerehabilitation.
Would you like to participate?
Are you concerned about your balance? Would you like to asses your risk for falls as you age using a simple at-home test? Please call us, if you have experienced a stroke at least 6-months prior and can walk unassisted. We are also testing typically aging individuals (>60-yrs) without a history of neurological conditions. Please call us at 915-747-7619 if interested. Study honorarium and transportation is provided.
Role: Co-PI
We are extending the Restore Center’s Sit2Stand assessment into a clinically valid tool to measure mobility and community gait in stroke for telerehabilitation.
Would you like to participate?
Are you concerned about your balance? Would you like to asses your risk for falls as you age using a simple at-home test? Please call us, if you have experienced a stroke at least 6-months prior and can walk unassisted. We are also testing typically aging individuals (>60-yrs) without a history of neurological conditions. Please call us at 915-747-7619 if interested. Study honorarium and transportation is provided.
NIDILRR Rehabilitation Engineering Research Center (RERC) Project R2
Role: Co-I, (PI: Lum)
Wrist-worn accelerometers are a small-footprint way to measure how much the arm moves. However, we do not have robust methods to accurately measure "purposeful" arm movements using accelerometers. The study is developing machine learning methods to classify functional movements (like feeding, dressing, typing) from the universe of all other arm movements.
In a second aim, we clinically validate the machine learning classification, and determine the minimal clinically important difference across a range of arm impairment severities.
This line of research is significant because it directly gets to the desired rehabilitation outcome: how much did the individual move their impaired arm in meaningful activities in their own ecosystem?
Would you like to participate?
Please call us if you had a stroke <28 prior. Study honorarium and transportation is provided.
Role: Co-I, (PI: Lum)
Wrist-worn accelerometers are a small-footprint way to measure how much the arm moves. However, we do not have robust methods to accurately measure "purposeful" arm movements using accelerometers. The study is developing machine learning methods to classify functional movements (like feeding, dressing, typing) from the universe of all other arm movements.
In a second aim, we clinically validate the machine learning classification, and determine the minimal clinically important difference across a range of arm impairment severities.
This line of research is significant because it directly gets to the desired rehabilitation outcome: how much did the individual move their impaired arm in meaningful activities in their own ecosystem?
Would you like to participate?
Please call us if you had a stroke <28 prior. Study honorarium and transportation is provided.
NIDILRR Rehabilitation Research Training Center (RRTC)
Role: Statistician for clinical trials in Research projects R1 and R3
Role: Statistician for clinical trials in Research projects R1 and R3
NIH Career Development Award
K12HD093427
Role: PI
The study examines cortical inhibitory function longitudinally in patients recovering from stroke. A second aim examines cortical inhibition and grip force modulation in aging individuals.
Would you like to participate?
Please call us, if you have experienced a stroke < 28-days prior and are able to open the more impaired hand. We also test typically aging individuals (>60-yrs) without a history of neurological conditions, please call us if interested. Study honorarium and transportation is provided.
K12HD093427
Role: PI
The study examines cortical inhibitory function longitudinally in patients recovering from stroke. A second aim examines cortical inhibition and grip force modulation in aging individuals.
Would you like to participate?
Please call us, if you have experienced a stroke < 28-days prior and are able to open the more impaired hand. We also test typically aging individuals (>60-yrs) without a history of neurological conditions, please call us if interested. Study honorarium and transportation is provided.
MedStar Health Research Institute New Investigator Grant
Role: PI
The study is investigating EEG (electroencephalography) biomarkers of critical period neuroplasticity, longitudinally, at 1, 2, 3, and 6-mo post stroke.
Would you like to participate?
Please call us, if you have experienced an ischemic stroke (clot in the brain) <28-days prior, and you can open and close your more affected hand voluntarily. Study honorarium and transportation assistance is available, just inquire.
Role: PI
The study is investigating EEG (electroencephalography) biomarkers of critical period neuroplasticity, longitudinally, at 1, 2, 3, and 6-mo post stroke.
Would you like to participate?
Please call us, if you have experienced an ischemic stroke (clot in the brain) <28-days prior, and you can open and close your more affected hand voluntarily. Study honorarium and transportation assistance is available, just inquire.
Charles and Mary Latham Foundation
Role: PI
The study is examining genetic polymorphisms underlying neuroplasticity post stroke.
Would you like to participate?
We take a blood sample and cheek swab, alongside simple tests in the lab using transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS), which allows us to test the brain activity. Please give us a call to inquire more. Study honorarium and transportation is provided.
Role: PI
The study is examining genetic polymorphisms underlying neuroplasticity post stroke.
Would you like to participate?
We take a blood sample and cheek swab, alongside simple tests in the lab using transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS), which allows us to test the brain activity. Please give us a call to inquire more. Study honorarium and transportation is provided.