Meet New Investigator Max Kurz, Ph.D.

This profile is part of a series to highlight the researchers who will be honored at a ceremony for UNMC’s 2014 Scientist Laureate, Research Leadership, Distinguished Scientist and New Investigator Award recipients.

• Name: Max Kurz, Ph.D.
• Title: Associate professor, Munroe-Meyer Institute for Genetics and Rehabilitation
• Joined UNMC: 2008
• Hometown: Omaha

Describe your research briefly in layman’s terms.
The primary focus of my research is to further our understanding of how children and adults with neurologic insults (i.e., cerebral palsy, multiple sclerosis) plan their movements and produce motor actions. My research is pioneering because I use a synergistic approach of brain imaging and advanced biomechanical analysis techniques. This innovative approach allows for me to quantify the link between the brain’s activity and movement.

How does your research contribute to science and/or health care?

The long-term goal of my research is to use my scientific insights to develop novel treatment paradigms that can accelerate the ability of individuals with neurologic impairments to learn new motor skills. Outcomes from my research have contributed to our knowledge base on the treatment parameters that have a high probability of igniting beneficial changes in the brain. My persevering interrogation of these treatment parameters has the potential to alter the course of the current neurorehabilitation trends that are being used to improve an individual’s mobility, balance and movement control.

What is the best piece of advice anyone ever gave you, professional or personal?

Scientific breakthroughs are rarely an independent effort and require a multidisciplinary research team. Advancements in my research are due to my spectacular team of collaborators and the hard work of my graduate students.

List three things few people know about you.

• My research on the penguin’s waddling gait was featured on the Discovery Channel.
• I worked in the motion capture industry where I helped develop the technology for movie and computer game animation.
• I am training for a trail run in Leadville, Colo.