Dr. Max Kurz: Pioneering Research at IHN
On a rainy Sunday afternoon in March 2023, Max Kurz, Ph.D., walks through a bustling gymnasium on Boys Town’s main campus nestled within Omaha, Nebraska. The gym contains wall-to-wall activities including bounce houses, games, food stands, and tables sponsored by community organizations handing out candy and information. The occasion was the second annual Cerebral Palsy Awareness Day Celebration, an event Dr. Kurz has wanted to hold since he began working with individuals with cerebral palsy over 14 years ago.
Dr. Kurz is a Senior Research Scientist at Boys Town National Research Hospital and Director of the Physiology of Walking and Engineering Rehabilitation (PoWER) Laboratory at the Institute for Human Neuroscience. His research marries neuroscience and biomechanical engineering with the goal of developing innovative, rehabilitative solutions for individuals with developmental disabilities, ultimately “helping to move the therapy needle in a beneficial way.”
Dr. Max Kurz and his team of researchers at the 2023 Cerebral Palsy Day Celebration at Boys Town
Where it all began
Dr. Kurz’s passion for supporting and advocating for individuals with cerebral palsy is at the heart of his research. For example, one aspect of individuals with cerebral palsy is an impairment in the ability to walk. This impairment can vary from person to person. In the early years of his career, he used his biomechanical skills to assist surgeons and physical therapists with their clinical decisions for children with cerebral palsy.
In 2011, Dr. Kurz’s research took a new turn when he met a colleague, Dr. Tony Wilson, at a seminar Dr. Wilson was presenting. Dr. Wilson specializes in magnetoencephalography (MEG), a type of neuroimaging that allows researchers to record and measure brain activity. “We got to talking and haven’t stopped,” says Dr. Kurz, as conversation turned into collaboration. It was this new partnership and method to image the brain that Dr. Kurz attributes the “increase in richness” of his research questions. Now, Dr. Kurz can not only measure external variations in walking patterns, such as foot placement or severity of a limp, but also visualize how an individual’s brain processes sensory information such as touch (pressure and weight distribution) and sight (uneven path or obstacles). “Programs like MEG allow our questions to be richer and have more weight,” says Dr. Kurz. “Before I was looking at the end product of movement, measuring what the foot was doing. Now we can measure the source [of mobility] and how the somatosensory cortex processes sensory output.”
Dr. Kurz in front of one of two MEGs at IHN.
Where we are headed
Today, Dr. Kurz’s research dives deeper into how movement, mobility, and physical therapy approaches can be tailored to the individual and their unique brain connections using MEG neuroimaging technology. For example, one study found that individualized physical therapy 3x/week for eight weeks improved not only movement outcomes, such as balance in individuals with cerebral palsy, but also neural outcomes, including sensory processing, movement control and planning.
It is his work with individuals with cerebral palsy, finding tangible solutions to their everyday mobility obstacles that Dr. Kurz finds the most rewarding aspect of his research. It’s through this work that he gets to connect with and personally know each of these individuals and their families and watch them grow up. This is why he sought to create a special time and space at Boys Town to specifically celebrate them.
Back in the bustling Boys Town gym, Dr. Kurz stands at the registration table smiling at people entering through the doors. He is greeted by a family he’s known for several years. As he hands them a t-shirt, he points out the therapy dogs lying in the corner to one of the children whose face immediately lights up. This is a tradition Dr. Kurz aims to carry on through the years.
You are welcome to join Dr. Kurz and friends at the World Cerebral Palsy Day celebration held at Boys Town on October 6th, 2024, from 1-5 PM. Click HERE to register.