Research and clinical space in the Ellmer College of Health Sciences is located across three buildings on Old Dominion University’s main campus: the Ellmer College of Health Sciences Building, the Student Recreation and Well-Being Center, and the Child Study Center. Together, these facilities provide modern labs and clinic space that support a collaborative approach, where resources are shared and available to multiple faculty.
Ellmer College of Health Sciences Building
This brand-new building opened in August 2024 and features 120,000+ square feet housing state-of-the-art research labs, faculty offices, teaching spaces, and two public-facing clinics. This building primarily houses faculty in the School of Dental Hygiene, School of Medical Diagnostic & Translational Sciences, and School of Rehabilitation Sciences.
The DHRC provides designated clinical and laboratory space which centers around the development of safe, effective measures to prevent and treat common oral conditions; expand knowledge of occupational risk assessment and ergonomic issues related to the practice of dental hygiene and other health care professionals; expand knowledge related to dental techniques, products, and devices; and explore the relationship between oral and systemic health.
This public-facing clinic provides physical, occupational, and speech therapy services for the community. Services for pediatric, orthopedic, neurological, and general conditions/injuries are provided by licensed therapists. Having a restorative therapies public-facing clinic on the first floor and research labs on the second and third floors provides unique research and recruitment possibilities.
A new state of the art molecular and cellular biology laboratory housing a GLP qualified production room, multiple furnished cell culture rooms, a radioisotope laboratory, microscope suite with epifluorscent and confocal microscopes, and ample cryostorage. Additional shared equipment includes, but is not limited to, high speed centrifuges, a Genexus Next Generation Sequencer, lyophilizer, flow cytometer and several PCR and qRT-PCR machines. Current researchers in the laboratory focus on stem cell biology in aging and cancer, neurodegeneration, tissue engineering, and telomeres/telomerase.
This lab features 18 Vicon cameras for high-speed three-dimensional motion capture, four AMTI force plates embedded in the floor for kinetics, wireless EMG from Noraxon and Delsys, and software to integrate the systems.
This lab features an open space for overground gait and balance testing. Equipment in this lab includes four portable Protokinetics mats, a Zebris treadmill with an embedded pressure mat, BTrackS and Bertec portable force plates, reaction time testing, and equipment for standardized clinical assessment of fall-risk and gait energetics analysis.
This lab features a transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) machine to examine the neural contributions to human movement, along with a Biodex Dynamometer to measure neuromuscular performance.
This lab focuses on early-stage interventions for infants and children relative to motor development.
This lab focuses on implementing physical activity promotion interventions, measuring physical activity, and social connectedness in relation to physical activity.
This clinic is also public facing, providing dental hygiene services to ODU students, faculty, staff, and the community. Dental hygiene students provide the services under the supervision of the licensed dental hygiene faculty.
This lab features the Motek Gait Realtime Analysis Interactive Lab (GRAIL) system that integrates a 180-degree screen to show virtual reality (VR) scenes, 10 Vicon cameras for high-speed three-dimensional motion capture, and a force plate instrumented treadmill that can pitch and sway for perturbation testing. The GRAIL treadmill can run in VR and non-VR conditions, allowing for a wide range of gait biomechanics testing. An Aretech Luminaire body weight support system is mounted to the ceiling so participants can safely walk on the treadmill in VR and non-VR conditions.
Student Recreation and Well-Being Center
This building houses the School of Exercise Science, Department of Human Movement Studies & Special Education (part of the Darden College of Education and Professional Studies), student recreation facilities, Student Health Services, Health Promotion Office, and the Office of Counseling Services. The School of Exercise Science maintains the following research labs and one center.
This lab is dedicated to improving our understanding of the effects of exercise, nutrition, and ergogenic aids on health and human performance. It includes a ScienTemp -80 degree Celsius freezer, cardiovascular/metabolic equipment (e.g., Parvo Medics TrueOne 2400 metabolic cart, Cosmed K4B2 portable metabolic unit, high-speed treadmill, Q-Stress ECG and stress testing system), body composition equipment (e.g., Styku 3D Body Scanner, BodyMetrix ultrasound system, Bod Pod body composition chamber, custom underwater weighing tank), and health/fitness equipment (e.g., Alere Cholestech blood lipid and glucose analyzer, Actigraph GT3XP activity monitors).
This lab is within the WIRC housed in the School of Exercise Science. It maintains the major equipment relative to cardiovascular health (GE Ultrasound Machine, continuous glucose monitoring systems, blood draw supplies, Beckman Allegra 21R Centrifuge etc.).
This lab is used to perform interdisciplinary research involving neuromuscular biomechanics. The lab contains a 12-camera, 3D motion capture system (Vicon Vantage), 5 force platforms (Bertec), wireless electromyography system (Delsys Trigno), 2 dynamometers (HUMAC NORM Isokinetic & handheld), and office space/computers for graduate students.
The mission of the WIRC is to enhance the health and wellness of adults living in Hampton Roads through education, community wellness programs, fitness assessments, and research. This facility is equipped with 6 treadmills, 4 elliptical machines, 4 recumbent bicycles, 3 rowing machines, and weight training equipment. Two public-facing programs are run out of the WIRC: (1) Therapeutic Exercise to Maximize Participant Outcomes (TEMPO) and (2) Forever Fit.
Lions Child Study Center
This building primarily houses faculty in the School of Speech-Language Pathology.
It is the home of the Speech and Hearing Clinic, which provides diagnostic and speech therapy services for adults and children with speech, language, and hearing disorders. Services are provided by graduate students under the direct supervision of speech-language pathology faculty certified by the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association and licensed by the Commonwealth of Virginia. The clinic is part of the RiteCare Childhood Language Program sponsored by the Scottish Rite across the United States and also offers a summer therapy program. Research space for Speech-Language Pathology faculty is located within the Speech and Hearing Clinic.
Questions?
For more information on labs and clinics at the Ellmer College of Health Sciences, please contact Dr. Christopher Rhea, Associate Dean for Research & Innovation.