Faces of Frazier: Harkema and the Science of Walking

Susan J. Harkema, Ph.D. is the director of research at the Frazier Rehab Institute, where she has pioneered the development of Locomoter Training that is helping many of Frazier's spinal cord patients learn to walk again. Locomotor Training re-teaches walking by providing sensory cues that can be recognized by the circuitry of the spinal cord and promote better muscle patterns for walking. The program has three components:

1. Step training: Patients are suspended in a harness to support their weight while specially trained physical therapists assist them in walking on a treadmill. This training allows the nervous system to relearn the motions associated with walking.

2. Overground Walking Training: Patients take their newly trained walking skills to the ground, concentrating on specific limitations to independent walking, including gait deviations.

3. Community Ambulation Training: Patients reach their potential for safe and effective
movement at home and in their communities, through carefully-monitored training in natural environments. A side benefit of Dr. Harkema's Locomotor Training is that patients are healthier. When wheelchair bound, patients frequently suffer from pulmonary and cardiovascular
problems, along with metabolic problems, diabetes, and muscle and bone loss. With this intervention, people experience better overall health and report a better quality of life.

“I feel particularly lucky to have access to the Locomotor Training that the gym offers," says Liz Fust, one of Frazier's patients learning to walk again through this groundbreaking therapy. "It makes a world of difference in how I feel and function.”

Dr. Harkema's research on human locomotion and the ability to recover is informing new strategies that can be used by physical therapists for the rehabilitation of patients who have experienced neurologic injury. Proceeds from the Red Carpet & Bluegrass Benefit will help Frazier extend Dr. Harkema's Locomotor Training to many more patients who hope to once again do what so many of us take for granted: put one foot in front of the other.