Opportunity Description
The REINVENT-PT lab (REhabilitation INnoVations & Emerging Novel Technologies in Physical Therapy, PI: Dr. Sudha Srinivasan) at the University of Connecticut (UConn) is interested in understanding developmental trajectories of individuals with developmental disabilities including Autism, Cerebral Palsy, Down syndrome, etc. across the lifespan.
Based on our understanding of the developmental trajectories of individuals with disabilities, our goal is to develop multisystem, engaging, evidence-based, behavioral interventions and assistive technologies to empower the lives of people with disabilities.
At present, the lab has 1 federally funded (funded through the National Institutes of Health) research project: a randomized control trial exploring the feasibility and efficacy of a novel upper extremity home-based training program using ride-on toys and navigational games to improve upper extremity function and spontaneous use in children with hemiplegia. Specifically, we are interested in comparing our novel ride-on toy intervention (called SPEED training) with a program based on conventional occupational therapy involving seated arts and craft activities (called CRAFT program).
We are currently looking to fill one student position for the Fall 2026 semester. The current position involves scoring and analyzing accelerometer watches that are worn by children during our training and testing sessions using the ActiLife software and/or a custom designed code. This data provides us with information related to the duration and type of activity that the upper extremities are engaged in. With this information, we can analyze the proportion of use of the child’s dominant and non-dominant upper extremities which allows us to gain a better understanding of motor improvements across sessions and testing timepoints.
Student Qualifications
We are looking for passionate, energetic, and empathetic undergraduate students interested in working on projects involving infants, children, and adults with disabilities. Students can pursue research at the lab for credit, work study, and with the potential of converting a subset of the research into an honors thesis. Students are required to commit to pursuing research in the lab for at least 2-3 semesters for the experience to be meaningful for students. Time commitments for students are set to a minimum of 6 hours/week per semester. Students are required to complete CITI training given that our research is with human subjects (details will be provided by the study PI).
How to Apply
Students from diverse backgrounds including but not limited to psychology, physiology and neurobiology, biology, exercise science, communication sciences, allied health, and education are encouraged to contact Dr. Sudha Srinivasan at sudha.srinivasan@uconn.edu and cc the lab’s research specialists; Madeline Jakubowski at madeline.jakubowski@uconn.edu and Ashley Guillot at ashley.guillot@uconn.edu. Please attach your CV/Resume and your unofficial transcript to your email.
Mentor: Dr. Sudha Srinivasan, Assistant Professor
Department: Physical Therapy Program, Department of Kinesiology
Email: sudha.srinivasan@uconn.edu
Timing: Summer 2026, Ongoing
Campus: Storrs
