PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR
Competitive Spirit Colorado researcher’s findings influence the world of organized sports
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.
T
HE CONTROVERSY surrounding
the use of running prostheses by Oscar Pistorius, a South African sprinter with bilateral leg amputations, served a positive purpose for Alena M. Grabowski, PhD: “It captivated me and got me involved in prosthetic research,” she says. Ten years ago, Pistorius achieved a time for the 400-meter sprint that qualified him to compete in the Olympics; however, he was initially denied the opportunity to compete by the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF, now
World Athletics), which claimed that prostheses provided an advantage to their user. At the time, Grabowski was part of a research team that concluded the opposite: that the use of prosthetic legs does not provide amputees with an advantage compared with elite nonamputee sprinters. “Our team’s research was used in the Court of Arbitration in Sport (CAS) to successfully appeal the IAAF’s decision,” and Pistorius was allowed to compete in the 2012 Olympic Games. Over the past decade, Grabowski—a runner herself—has been captivated by how devices such as prostheses and orthoses affect the physiology and biomechanics of people with physical disabilities and has pursued several groundbreaking research projects to better understand the use of these devices.
Studying Human Movement
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APRIL 2021 | O&P ALMANAC
PHOTO: Patrick Campbell/University of Colorado
Alena Grabowski, PhD, works in the Applied Biomechanics Lab at University of Colorado Boulder.
The Pistorius prosthetic controversy ignited a career rich in movement research. Grabowski earned a bachelor’s degree in kinesiology from University of Colorado Boulder (UC Boulder) in 1998, followed by a doctorate degree from the same university in 2007. Grabowski completed postdoctorate work at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Media Lab and at the Providence VA Center for Restorative and Regenerative Medicine in 2011.
