About SMI
Objectives |
The purpose of Center for Sensory-Motor Interaction (SMI) is to study basic and clinical aspects of human sensory-motor interaction and to develop new diagnostic and therapeutic methods.
Organisation
Center for Sensory-Motor Interaction (SMI) is an inter-disciplinary, international center with a scientific and technical-administrative staff of 80 persons. Approximately 50% of the researchers come from abroad.
SMI was established as a Center of Excellence in 1993 with support from the Danish National Research Foundation. In 1997, the International Doctoral School in Biomedical Science and Engineering was established in affiliation to SMI. In 2006 the School was further able to offer the first doctoral programme for elite students.
The major funding sources are private foundations, national research and research training programmes, international programmes (EU and NIH), and industrial collaboration. The annual turnover is approx. 20 mill. DKK (2.7 mill. €). In addition, a number of tenured researchers are affiliated to SMI. Approx. 1,500 m2 of office and 650 m2 of modern, fully equipped laboratories are available to SMI, which is now part of the Department of Health Science and Technology.
SMI is headed by Professor and Chairman Lars Arendt-Nielsen (co-founder) and the Management Group.
The Center has three major activities: Research, training, and innovation.
Research
Research is organised in six Research Interest Groups (RIG):
- Integrative Neuroscience (Head: Ole K. Andersen)
- Medical Physiology and Experimental Pharmacology (Head: Jens Ellrich)
- Neurophysiology and Biomechanics of Human Movement (Head: Dario Farina)
- Neurorehabilitation Technology (Head: Nico Rijkhoff)
- Pain and Motor Systems (Head: Thomas Graven-Nielsen)
- Physical Activity and Human Performance (Head: Pascal Madeleine)
Training
The International Doctoral School in Biomedical Science and Engineering offers Ph.D. programmes within the research areas of SMI and other closely related biomedical areas.
The School is headed by Associate Professor Thomas Graven-Nielsen.
In 2006, the School was awarded a grant from The Danish Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation to start a doctoral programme for elite students.
At the master level SMI offers a 5-year programme in health technology and a 5-year programme in medicine with industial specialisation.
Innovation
Based on grants from the North Jutland region and the Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation SMI launched an innovation programme in 2006. The aim is to develop SMI research results into commercial products in co-operation with biomedical and pharmacological industry.
Co-operation
SMI benefits from its participation in a number of institutional networks within biomedical science, neuroscience, and clinical disciplines. A substantial resource is present in the established research co-operation and partnerships with a wide range of research centres, hospitals, and companies.
Currently, co-operation includes more than 40 organisations in 15 countries and 20 national and international companies.
SMI has formalised research collaboration and training with three Danish research centers:
The Center for Basic and Clinical Research in Arthrosis is a research centre linking the basic pain, motor control, and biomechanical research at SMI with the orthopeadics clinic at Aalborg Hospital. The objectives are to develop new approaches for preventing chronification of pain, improve training paradigms, and the treatment of patients with arthrosis. The Center is headed by Dr. Ole Simonsen (Aalborg Hospital) and Professor Lars Arendt-Nielsen.
Center for Visceral Biomechanics and Pain is located at Aalborg Hospital. The objectives are to study the sensory-motor and biomechanical function of visceral organs (especially the gut) and to shed light on the pain and biomechanical mechanisms involved in organic diseases and in functional disorders such as, e.g. non-cardiac chest pain. The Center is headed by Professor Asbjørn M. Drewes (Aalborg Hospital and Aalborg University) and Professor Hans Gregersen (Aalborg Hospital and Aalborg University).
The Parker Institute is located at the rheumatologic research unit of Frederiksberg Hospital, Copenhagen. The objectives are research in musculoskeletal diseases to optimise diagnosis and develop new efficient treatments, both pharmacological and other kinds of treatment. The Center is headed by Adjunct Professor Bente Danneskiold-Samsøe and Research Professor Henning Bliddal.
Statistics
National/International Employees
Ph.D. Students
Conferred Ph.D. Degrees
All publications incl. Ph.D.-theses are listed here.
Published Peer-Reviewed Papers
All publications incl. articles are listed here.
Externally Financed Expenditure
1,000 DKK, current prices
DNRF: Danish National Research Foundation (contract ended 30 June 2006)
Public: Danish research councils and other public sources
Private: Private foundations and companies
EU: The European Commission's Framework Programmes
New Grants
2009
| Contributor | Grantee | Duration | Amount DKK |
Project |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Regionshospitalet Hammel Neurocenter | Uwe Kersting | 3 years | 579,550 | Ph.D study |
| Regione Autonoma della Sardegna | Silvia Muceli | 3 years | 268,200 | Ph.D study |
| Danish Agency for Science Technology and Innovationen | Deborah Falla | 2 years | 1,080,000 | Predicting responders to a neck excercise intervention |
| European Commision | Dejan Popovic | 3 years | 2,657,571 | HUman behavioral Modeling for enhancing learning by Optimizing hUman-Robot interaction (HUMOUR) |
| The Danish National Advanced Technology Foundation | Dario Farina | 3 years | 640,000 | Seizures alarm and monitoring system for people with epilepsy |
| Danish Agency for Science Technology and Innovationen | José Biurrun Manresa | 1 year | 282,000 | EliteForsk Travel Grant |
| The Obel Family Foundation | Ernest Nlandu Kamavuako | 1 year | 40,000 | Prediction of musclepower on the basis of muscleactivity |
| The Obel Family Foundation | Winnie Jensen | 1 year | 75,000 | Control of hand prostheses |
| The Obel Family Foundation | Uwe Kersting | 6 months | 208,500 | Equipment for sports lab |
| The Parker Institute | Thomas Graven-Nielsen | 3 years | 672,000 | Ph.D study "Pain in Osteoarthritis" |
| The Danish Rheumatism Association | Deborah Falla | 1 year | 100,000 | Predicting responders to a neck exercise intervention |
| Hammel Neurocenter | Knud Larsen | 1 year | 200,000 | HNC-ForskTek |
| The Obel Family Foundation | Egon Toft | 1 year | 78,000 | Collaboration with Chinese universities |
| The Obel Family Foundation | Erika G. Spaich | 1 year | 63,000 | Intelligent stimuli for rehabilitation of gait in apoplexy patients |
| Danish Agency for Science Technology and Innovation | Dario Farina | 3 years | 5,278,954 | Re-learning Motor Tasks |
| Roessingh Research and Development | Pascal Madeleine | 1 year | 706,800 | Ph.D study "Musculoskeletal Pain" |
| TKS A/S | Lotte Struijk | 8 months | 600,000 | Tongue control |
| Private Company | Lars Arendt-Nielsen | 2 years | 893,000 | Pain Studies |
| Danish Agency for Science Technology and Innovationen | Ole Kæseler Andersen | 3 years | 5,048,640 | Reflex receptive fields: A new diagnostic method for chronic pain syndromes |
| Aarhus Universitet | Lars Arendt Nielsen | 1,5 years | 750,000 | Proof-of-Concept - "Kutant Bloodflow" |
| Bayer Vital GmbH | Jens Ellrich | 1 year | 467,827 | Effects of aspirin |
| Bauerfeind AG | Jens Ellrich | 2 years | 291,053 | Propriozeptive Wirkung |
| Danish Working Environment Authority | Lars Arendt-Nielsen | 3 years | 1,996,980 | Analysis of manifestations, causal mechanisms and pain advancement with computer users |
| The Obel Family Foundation | Kelun Wang | 3 years | 260,000 | Systematic evaluation of somatosensor and motor function after ortognaatic surgery |
| TKS A/S | Lotte Struijk | 2 years | 100,000 | Tongue controlled mouse |
| Villum Kann Rasmussen Foundation | Lars Arendt-Nielsen | 2 years | 1,000,000 | Postdoc salary |
| Velux | Lars Arendt-Nielsen | 1 year | 220,000 | Velux Visiting Professor Programme |
Status per 10 December 2009
2008
| Contributor | Grantee | Duration | Amount DKK |
Project |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| The Obel Family Foundation | Pascal Madeleine | 1 year | 97,000 | Lab equipment |
| Danish Agency for Science Technology and Innovation | Ernest Nlandu Kamavuako | 1 year | 250,000 | EliteForsk Travel Scholarship |
| German Headache Consortium | Jens Ellrich | 1 year | 576,204 | Pathophysiologival mechanisms of tension-type headache |
| The Danish Rheumatism Association | Lars Arendt-Nielsen | 3 years | 320,000 | Chronicle pain in patients with arthritis before and after total knee-alloplasty |
| Hammel Neurocenter | Knud Larsen | 9 months | 150,000 | HNC-ForskTek |
| Aalborg Hospital / Århus University Hospital | Lars Arendt-Nielsen | 3 years | 962,874 | Levels in the pain system |
| Redcord AS | Deborah Falla | 3 year | 146,500 | Effect of short time vibration |
| TKS A/S | L. Andreasen Struijk | 1.5 years | 1,446,486 | Tongue Control |
| Danish Agency for Science Technology and Innovation | L. Andreasen Struijk | 3 years | 300,000 | Industrial Ph.D. - Sahva |
| Private Company | Lars Arendt-Nielsen | 2 years | 3,957,280 | Multi-tissue Education of Pain Modulation |
| The Lundbeck Foundation | Jens Ellrich | 2 years | 1,000,000 | ATP Mediated Mechanisms |
| The Lundbeck Foundation | Ole Kæseler Andersen | 1 year | 410,000 | Sensitisation and Spinal nociceptive neurons following tissue injury |
| The Sahva Foundation | Thomas Graven-Nielsen | 3 years | 395,000 | The effect of insoles |
| Danish Enterprise and Construction Authority | Charlotte Villadsen | 3 years | 1,707,217 | Sitting position and functional ability |
| The Foundation for Promotion of Chiropractic Research and Postgraduate Education | Deborah Falla | 3 years | 426,750 | PhD study: Cervical Muscular weakness |
| Danish Agency for Science Technology and Innovation | Winnie Jensen | 1 year | 50,000 | Coordinator grant |
| The Obel Family Foundation | Winnie Jensen | 1 year | 31,000 | Phantom limb pain in amputees |
| Research Foundation for Work Environment | Pascal Madeleine | 3 years | 1,017,000 | PhD study: Identification of sick-leave causes among workers with musculo-skeletal disorders |
| The Novo Nordisk Foundation | Jens Ellrich | 3 years | 200,000 | The effect of cellular influx via L-type voltage gated calcium channels on long-term depression of nociception and pain. |
| International Association for th Study of Pain | Ole K. Andersen | 3 years | 116,395 | Spatiotemporal processing of nociceptive information in humans. |
| The American Fibromyalgia Syndrome Association, Inc. | Hong-You Ge | 1 year | 154,500 | Role of myafascial trigger points in fibromyalgia syndrome |
| European Union | Winnie Jensen | 4 years | 6,729,000 | Transverse, Intrafascicular Multichannel Electrode system for induction of sensation and treatment of phantom limb pain in amputees |
| Danish Agency for Science Technology and Innovation | Johannes Struijk | 3 years | 675,000 | Proof-of-Concept "Pacemaker Impulse" |
| Danish National Advanced Technology Foundation and Coloplast | Johannes Struijk | 3 years | 1,820,395 | Acoustic CAD Patch |
| European Union | Dejan Popovic | 3 years | 1,950,992 | An ambulatory BCI-driven tremor suppression system based on functional electrical stimulation |
| Danish Agency for Science Technology and Innovation | Thomas Graven-Nielsen | 3 years | 945,000 | Aspects of Myofascial Pain |
| Foreningen Østifterne | Deborah Falla | 5 months | 50,000 | An analysis of neck muscle characteristics in patients with chronic neck pain |
| The Spar Nord Foundation | Parisa Gazerani | 3 years | 200,000 | The Spar Nord Research Award |
Status per 27 November 2008
| SMI, Fredrik Bajers Vej 7 D3, DK-9220 Aalborg, Denmark, Tel: +45 9940 8827, Fax: +45 9815 4008, E-mail: Contact-SMI | | | Updated 2010-02-09 |