# Mississippi Center for Clinical and Translational Research

> **NIH NIH U54** · UNIVERSITY OF MISSISSIPPI MED CTR · 2024 · $779,372

## Abstract

Project Summary. Clinical scientists from the University of Mississippi Medical Center and Mississippi State
University in collaboration with Mississippi Center for Clinical and Translational Research and Mississippi Center
of Excellence in Telehealth are leading this “team science” project that seeks to validate immersive virtual reality
(VR)-based tools to enhance neurocognitive and neuromotor control assessment and treatment techniques. In
the future, these types of tools will enhance provision of specialty care through telehealth, increasing access to
care for the rural poor. Neurocognitive and neuromotor management, including assessment and rehabilitative
treatments, are critical components of care for patients with neurological conditions and impairments. Wearable
technology, integrated with telehealth, can enhance the objectivity of tests, and make treatments more
accessible. The overall project has three separate co-projects, each with its own co-project leads, but provides
a collaborative effort from all team members with the goal of combining neuromotor and neurocognitive
assessments through novel approaches in wearable technology. Co-project #1 will attempt to validate immersive
VR delivered neuro-cognitive tests with clinical test correlates through the use of functional near-infrared
spectrometry to measure hemodynamic response in the large hemispheric regions of the brain in young healthy
individuals. This project will also explore subject performance variability on the tests and compare differences
between real-world and virtual environment test delivery. Co-project #2 will attempt to assess the efficacy of a
custom-made immersive VR fall prevention neuromotor training program that provides virtual, visual postural
perturbations compared to real-world treadmill-based physical postural perturbations. This will be completed
among both a young healthy (18-40 years) and older adult (>60 years) population, and quantified through
comprehensive biomechanical, neuromuscular, cognitive, and subjective measures. Co-Project #3 will attempt
to test the efficacy of a custom-made wearable smart sock with stretch and pressure sensors capable of
capturing foot and ankle kinematics and kinetics, to assess postural stability during dual-task neurocognitive
examination tests in VR among older adults (>60 years). This proposed team-science project is in direct
alignment with many new and ongoing strategic initiatives in Mississippi around the concept of innovation and
wearable and/or medical device technologies for potential use with telehealth. In the future, these types of tools
will enhance provision of specialty care through telehealth, increasing access to care for the rural poor.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 11047183
- **Project number:** 3U54GM115428-09S1
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF MISSISSIPPI MED CTR
- **Principal Investigator:** Joey P. Granger
- **Activity code:** U54 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2024
- **Award amount:** $779,372
- **Award type:** 3
- **Project period:** 2016-08-18 → 2026-07-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/11047183

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 11047183, Mississippi Center for Clinical and Translational Research (3U54GM115428-09S1). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-22 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/11047183. Licensed CC0.

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