Research Home

Principal investigator
Daneault Laboratory

Faculty Profile

Jean Francois Daneault, Ph.D.

Dr. Daneault obtained his B.Sc. and M.Sc. in Kinesiology at the University of Quebec in Montreal. He then completed a Ph.D. in Neuroscience at McGill University and a postdoctoral fellowship in Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation at Harvard Medical School. His research focuses on better understanding motor behavior in health and disease using technology in order to improve/optimize movements of individuals with chronic diseases, such as Parkinson’s disease, Huntington’s disease, dystonia, cerebral palsy, and stroke, through physical therapy and exercise.

His laboratory tools include motion capture, wearable sensors, electromyography, brain stimulation, and neuroimaging. The long-term goal is to develop tools based on quantitative evidence to personalize interventions for individuals with neurological disorders.

Our work focuses on combining approaches from biomechanics, neuroscience, engineering, and computer science to develop and test methods to improve the delivery of care to individuals with chronic medical conditions.


Keywords: Parkinson, Huntington, Movement disorders, Stroke, Digital Health, Wearable, ehealth, mhealth

Jean-Francois Daneault
Associate Professor and Director of the Motor Behavior Laboratory
jf.daneault@rutgers.edu

Felix Offei
Doctoral student
fo99@shp.rutgers.edu

Grant Funding 

 

Title: Using wearable and mobile data to diagnose and monitor movement disorders
Sponsor Agency: NIH
Brief Overview of Aims: Using mobile data for the characterization and differential diagnosis of different movement disorders
Funding Period: 2018-2023


Title: Using serious games to improve cognitive function, quality of life and mobility in patients with Parkinson’s disease – a pilot study
Sponsor Agency: Rutgers-SHP
Brief Overview of Aims: Examining the impact of serious games in Parkinson’s disease
Funding Period: 2020-2023


Title: Clinical phenotyping based on wearables in people with Parkinson’s disease
Sponsor Agency: Parkinson Quebec
Brief Overview of Aims: Developing methods for the characterization of Parkinson’s disease using wearable sensors
Funding Period: 2021-2024


Title: Patient-Centered Serious Games for Remote Cognitive Training in Older Adults with Mild Cognitive Impairment
Sponsor Agency: NIH
Brief Overview of Aims: Examining the impact of serious games in people with mild cognitive impairments
Funding Period: 2021-2023


Title: The impact of levodopa-induced dyskinesia on the physical and social participation of patients with advanced Parkinson’s disease and their spousal caregiver: a digital phenotyping study
Sponsor Agency: CIHR
Brief Overview of Aims: Examining the impact of dyskinesia on people with Parkinson’s disease and their spouse using wearable devices and machine learning
Funding Period: 2024-2029


Title: Real-time physiological biomarkers of post-COVID fatigue
Sponsor Agency: Rutgers
Brief Overview of Aims: Developing methods to evaluate biomarkers of post-covid fatigue using wearable sensors
Funding Period: 2022-2023

Professional Achievements

2020
Featured Article
Transactions on Neural Systems & Rehabilitation Engineering 

2019
Excellence in Research Award
New Jersey Health Foundation

2019
Featured Article
Journal of Biomedical and Health Informatics

2014-2017
Postdoctoral fellowship
Canadian Institutes of Health Research

Selected Publications

 

Espay AJ, Bonato P, Nahab F, Maetzler W, Dean JM, Klucken J, Eskofier BM, Merola A, Horak F, Lang AE, Reilmann R, Giuffrida J, Nieuwboer A, Horne M, Little MA, Litvan I, Simuni T, Dorsey ER, Burak MA, Kubota K, Kamondi A, Godinho C, Daneault JF, Mitsi G, Krinke L, Hausdorff JM, Bloem BR, Papapetropoulos S, MDS Task Force on Technology; Technology in Parkinson disease: Challenges and Opportunities; Movement Disorders; 31(9):1272-1282, 2016.

Lauzé M, Daneault JF, Duval C; The Effect of Physical Activity in Parkinson’s Disease: a Review; Journal of Parkinson’s Disease; 6(4):685-698, 2016.

Eskofier BM, Lee SI, Daneault JF, Golabchi FN, Ferreira-Carvalho G, Vergara-Diaz G, Sapienza S, Costante G, Kautz T, Kluchen J, Bonato P; Recent Machine Learning Advancements in Sensor-Based Mobility Analysis: Deep Learning for Parkinson’s Disease Assessment; Proceedings of 38th annual IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society; 2016.

Daneault JF, Carignan B, Codère CE, Sadikot AF, Duval C; Using a Smartphone as a Standalone Platform for Detection and Monitoring of Pathological Tremors; Frontiers in Human Neuroscience; 6:357, 2012.

Erb M, Karlin D, Ho B, Thomas K, Parisi F, Vergara-Diaz G, Daneault JF, Wacnik P, Zhang H, Kangarloo T, Demanuele C, Brooks C, Detheridge C, Shaafi Kabiri N, Bhangu J, Bonato P; mHealth and Wearable Technology should Replace Motor Diaries to Track Motor Fluctuations in Parkinson’s Disease. npj Digital Medicine 3(6), 2020.

If you are interested in participating in any of our studies please contact us by email at mobelabrutgers@gmail.com, by contacting our volunteer line at 973-972-9925.

Dept. Home