Hartford Business Journal

HCH.14 Hartford Business Journal • December 8, 2014 www.HartfordBusiness.com HealtH Care Heroes 2014 Lo works to make Ms patients' daily living easier By Krystal Overmyer Special to the Hartford Business Journal D r. Albert Lo's work to improve the lives of people with multiple sclerosis goes back to the first patient he treated. As a medical student, he provided care to a woman with a long history of living with the disease and its disabling effects. Multiple sclerosis, which has no cure, affects the brain and spinal cord and can cause problems with vision, balance, muscle control and other basic functions. Lo was struck by how this patient and others wanted to take ownership of their condition and engage with doctors. The experience sparked a lifelong endeavor to discover ways to make MS patients' daily lives better. "I appreciated the privilege of working with the individual and family to help them overcome the burden of the disorder," he said. Lo has worked to expand doctors' understanding of MS as the director of research at the Joyce D. and Andrew J. Mandell Center for Multiple Sclerosis Care and Neuroscience Research at Mount Sinai Rehabilitation Hospital, a St. Francis Care provider. His research has focused on new ways of pro- moting the rehabilitation and recovery of function for patients with MS, often incorporating new technology. His early research helped increase the understanding of the nerves MS attacks in patients. Lo was part of one of the first teams of researchers to study sodium channels and potas- sium blocking agents that could thwart nerve conduction in MS patients. Today, researchers continue to study sodium channel blockers as they search for ways to prevent the effects of MS. More recently, Lo has focused on improving physical and mental function in individuals with the disease. He was also among a few researchers in the world to study the use of robotic devices in helping MS patients walk. The "Lokomat" robotic device consists of a robotic exoskeleton mounted over a treadmill. Strapped in, patients can move limbs more fluently, strengthening motor pathways between the brain and neurons. Lo has shown that the use of such devices improves walking endurance and could one day improve patients' ability to safely walk and lower their risk of falling. Lo has also sought to better understand trends and best practices in care for MS patients. He led an effort to create a statewide MS registry, piloted in Rhode Island. The registry captured not just patients' medical history and treatment, but also the impacts of the disease on employment, daily activities and relationships. The data will ultimately provide a higher level of knowledge about the care being provided to people with MS, said Jennifer Ruiz, research manager for the Mandell Center and a physical therapy doctor. Lo's focus on MS patients' quality of life represents an exciting departure from the larger body of MS research, she said. Lo seeks to understand patients' own perspectives on quality of life and enable them to do the things they want to do, such as cook, walk or play the piano. "He makes the research more relevant, applicable and more now," Ruiz said. "When you are listening to what's hap- pening in [a patient's] everyday setting, it's now. His combina- tion of being a clinician and researcher means he really does get that feedback and is able to apply it." The research Lo is conducting today could one day lead to wearable devices, tablets or smartphones that could help doc- tors better understand how patients are functioning in the com- munity. Therapeutic devices, such as braces or eventually neu- roprosthetics, could allow patients to live more independently. Lo said he was drawn to this area of research because it has an immediate relevancy to people with MS. "Patients like that we take a disease that is difficult mentally and physically and put a more proactive view on it," Lo said. Lo received a bachelor's degree in biochemistry from the University of California at Berkeley, a certificate in public health from Harvard University, and an M.D. and Ph.D. in neu- roscience from Wake Forest University School of Medicine. From 2001 until 2007, Lo was on the faculty at the Yale School of Medicine in the department of neurology. He joined Mount Sinai Rehabilitation Hospital seven years ago as the founding director of the Mandell Center. Today, more than 1,500 MS patients receive treatment at the center. Albert Lo Director of neuroscience research at the Joyce D. and Andrew J. Mandell Center for Multiple Sclerosis Care at Mount Sinai Rehabilitation Hospital St. Francis Care Category Winner: aDvaNCeMeNT iN HealTHCare — iNNovaTioN Dr. Albert Lo, pictured above, has spent much of his career helping MS patients cope with their disease. More recently he has been studying how robotic devices, like the Lokoma device shown top right, can help MS patients walk. The device consists of an exoskeleton mounted over a treadmill that allows patients to move their limbs more fluently. P H O T O s | C O n T r i b u T e d " " Lo's focus on MS patients' quality of life represents an exciting departure from the larger body of MS research.

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