Ka-Chun(Joseph) Siu, P.T., Ph.D.

Assistant Professor

University of Nebraska Medical Center
College of Public Health

Professional Summary

• 2009-present  Assistant Professor, Department of Environmental, Agricultural, and Occupational Health, UNMC
• 2009-present  Adjunct Assistant Professor, School of Health, Physical Education and Recreation, UNO
• 2009-present  Adjunct Assistant Professor, Department of Surgery, UNMC
• 2009-present  Faculty Member, Center for Advanced Surgical Technology, UNMC
• 2007-2009  Instructor, School of Health, Physical Education and Recreation, UNO
• 2005-2006  Graduate Research Fellows, Institute of Neuroscience, University of Oregon
• 2003-2005  Instructor, Department of Human Physiology, University of Oregon
• 1999-2001  Physical Therapist, Department of Rehabilitation Medicine, Kaohsiung Municipal Hsiao-Kang Hospital, Taiwan

Education

• Post-Doc  Biomechanics, UNO, 2006-2009
• Ph.D.  Human Physiology, University of Oregon, 2006
• B.S.  Physical Therapy, Kaohsiung Medical University, Taiwan, 1999

Research Interest & Projects

My primary research area is occupational health and biomechanics, focusing on elderly population and minorities. It includes fall prevention in aging, rehabilitation, and intervention. I am interested in studying the mechanism of human balance control, locomotion and developed training program for community-dwelling older adults, and currently extending this research in minority populations. My second research area is focusing on motor learning and control in human performance. It includes skill acquisition, medical education, simulation technology and telemedicine. One of my current projects is developing training protocols for medical fellows to learn robotic surgical technology in medicine using virtual reality.

Selected Publications

• Siu KC, Chou LS, Mayr U, van Donkelaar P, Woollacott MH: Attentional Mechanisms Contributing to Balance Constraints during Gait: The Effects of Balance Impairments. Brain Research 2009; 1248: 59-67.
• Siu KC, Chou LS, Mayr U, van Donkelaar P, Woollacott MH: Does Inability to Allocate Attention Contribute to Balance Constraints during Gait in Older Adults? Journals of Gerontology. A, Biological Sciences and Medical Sciences 2008; 63(12): 1364-9.
• Siu KC, Lugade V, Chou LS, van Donkelaar P, Woollacott MH: Dual-task interference during obstacle clearance in healthy and balance-impaired older adults. Aging Clinical and Experimental Research 2008; 20(4): 349-54.
• Siu KC, Catena R, Chou LS, van Donkelaar P, Woollacott MH: Effects of Secondary Task on Obstacle Avoidance in Healthy Young Adults. Experimental Brain Research 2008 Jan; 184(1): 115-20.
• Siu KC, Woollacott MH: Attention Demands of Postural Control: The Ability to Selectively Allocate Information-Processing resources. Gait & Posture 2007 Jan; 25(1):121-6.
• Silsupadol P, Siu KC, Shumway-Cook A, Woollacott MH: Training of Balance under Single and Dual Task Conditions in Older Adults with Balance Impairment. Physical Therapy 2006 Feb; 86(2):269-81.
• Suh IH, Siu KC, Mukherjee M, Monk E, Oleynikov D, Stergiou N: Consistency of Performance of Robot-Assisted Surgical Tasks in Virtual Reality. Studies in Health Technology and Informatics 2009; 142: 369-373.
• Mukherjee M, Siu KC, Suh IH, Andrew K, Oleynikov D, Stergiou N: A Virtual Reality Training Program for Improvement of Robotic Surgical Skills. Studies in Health Technology and Informatics 2009; 142: 210-214.
• Katsavelis D, Siu KC, Brown-Clerk B, Lee IH, Lee YK, Oleynikov D, Stergiou N: Validated Robotic Laparoscopic Surgical Training in Virtual Reality. Surgical Endoscopy 2009; 23(1): 66-73.

Professional Affiliations

• American Public Health Association 
• International Society for Posture and Gait Research
• Society of Neuroscience
• American Physical Therapy Association