Equipment matters in the world of research. And when it comes to winning major research grants, having a full cadre of state-of-the-art technology is a must.

That’s why the new Human Functional Performance Laboratory in USF’s School of Physical Therapy and Rehabilitation Sciences is so important. Without it, much of the funded research for the young school would not exist and hope for future funding would be wasted.

“This type of laboratory is required for many translational and clinical studies, so to be part of cutting edge research, you have to have a cutting-edge lab,” said William S. Quillen, PT, PhD, associate dean in the College of Medicine, and professor and director of the School of Physical Therapy and Rehabilitation Sciences. Dr. Quillen has worked to create the Human Functional Performance Laboratory since joining USF in 2004.

[source]  Read all the details about USF’s new performance lab.

Years of research have advanced the field of physical therapy beyond the original vision of even the founding members of the profession. Results from this research drives us as professionals to change our approach to certain conditions or even become more aggressive. Due to the evidence based directed focus of interventions in physical therapy; rehabilitation is longer looked at as mere over rated exercise patients can do in the gym.

In order for advancement to continue future research must be directed at refining techniques and discovering new solutions to common problems. The new human performance lab at USF is a giant step for obtaining data driven research and much needed grants to be accessed by our profession. The lab is designed to test all aspects of human performance from balance to high intensity athletics.

Even though scientist’s have studied human movement for hundreds of years they are still unable to accurately duplicate human movement. The human body is maze of kinetic chains working simultaneously in all aspects to produce refined and constantly evolving motion.

Professionals should never be satisfied with the knowledge they have obtained, however they should always be focused on how they can improve treatment and diagnosis for each patient. The USF human performance lab should be the first of many doors that can be opened to advance our professional community and allow us to step into the future of physical therapy.

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