Keith Knurr, DPT, PhD, SCS, an assistant professor in the UW Department of Orthopedics and Rehabilitation and an Institute for Clinical and Translational Research (ICTR) KL2 Scholar, has received a pilot award from ICTR to support innovative research exploring how wearable technology could help people modify their walking patterns and reduce stress on their knee joints. 

ICTR awarded five pilot awards in August 2026 to advance early-stage clinical and translational research at UW–Madison. Designed to support investigators’ career development and catalyze future funding, the awards provide up to 12 months of support for projects that seek to translate biomedical discoveries into practical health solutions.

Dr. Knurr’s project, “Feasibility of Real-time Wearable Kinematic Biofeedback to Modulate Knee Kinetics,” will investigate whether small, wearable motion sensors can provide real-time feedback to help individuals change their gait and reduce potentially harmful forces on the knee. Darryl Thelen, PhD, a professor and the chair of the UW Department of Mechanical Engineering, is serving as co-principal investigator.

Gait and movement disorders associated with chronic stress or excessive forces can limit physical activity, community accessibility, and quality of life. Evaluating these disorders, however, often requires access to specialized laboratories equipped with large motion-analysis systems. This research aims to determine whether wearable sensors could provide a more accessible way to assess movement and deliver feedback outside these specialized settings.

Ultimately, the study’s findings could inform new approaches to physical therapy and movement assessment for people with a range of gait and musculoskeletal disorders, while also laying the groundwork for future research and funding.

ICTR pilot awards are supported by the National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences (NCATS) Clinical and Translational Science Awards (CTSA) Program, which supports a national network of more than 60 academic medical institutions. Since the CTSA pilot program began at UW–Madison in 2013, ICTR has awarded more than $2.7 million across 55 projects focused on translational science.