PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR
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Offering Evidence to Support Clinical Decision-Making
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AOPA/COPL grant recipient shares her research into socket suspension and other O&P technologies
O&P Almanac introduces individuals who have undertaken O&P-focused research projects. Here, you will get to know colleagues and healthcare professionals who have carried out studies and gathered quantitative and/ or qualitative data related to orthotics and prosthetics, and find out what it takes to become an O&P researcher.
JUNE/JULY 2021 | O&P ALMANAC
ARAH R. CHANG, PhD, embraced a
career in O&P research with the goal of making a positive impact on people’s lives. “Learning about the international O&P needs in low- and middle-income countries when I was younger was one of the initial starting points for my interest in this field,” says Chang, director of research and development (R&D) at Orthocare Innovations. That interest developed over time throughout college and graduate school as she became more exposed to the opportunities and needs in O&P. Chang—one of the recipients of a 2020-2021 grant from AOPA and the Center for Orthotic and Prosthetic Learning (COPL)—was awarded funds to develop evidence-based clinical practice guidelines for vacuum-assisted socket suspension systems (VASS) based on the best available evidence evaluated in a systematic review. “We’ve completed a systematic review to gather all of the available published evidence on VASS,” she explains, “drawn from more than 60 peer-reviewed articles.” Chang and her team at Orthocare are currently evaluating the data, evidence, and clinical applications to provide guidelines for clinicians who may be
deciding whether elevated vacuum is the appropriate technology for a patient. The work will support prosthetists in their clinical care, says Chang, as well as offer the necessary evidence to support decisions on the best possible technology for each prosthesis user’s needs.
Overseeing R&D
Chang earned a bachelor’s degree in biomedical engineering from California Polytechnic State University in 2011, followed by a doctorate in biomedical engineering from Case Western Reserve University in 2017. She served as a postdoctoral fellow at Northwestern University Prosthetics-Orthotics Center in 2017, then took a job with Orthocare—an R&D company. “We develop prosthetic, orthotic, assistive, and rehabilitation devices as well as tools and approaches to assist O&P clinicians,” Chang explains. In her current position at Orthocare, Chang is responsible for leading and collaborating with the multidisciplinary R&D team, which includes a mix of engineers and clinicians. She also initiates and oversees areas of R&D— both new and ongoing projects—which can include acquiring grant funding
PHOTO: Sarah Chang, PhD
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