Maximizing Human Performance
A new center will use technology to drive better health and fitness
By Alan Gomez
Illustration and Animation by Elia Sampo
Researchers believe the newest technologies should not be available only to elite athletes.
Revolutionary advancements in technology, from wearable devices that monitor every step to artificial intelligence systems that guide rehabilitation after injuries, have changed the medical treatment of college and professional athletes.
Researchers at the Miller School believe that these technologies should not be reserved for elite athletes. They should be available to everyone, from those diagnosed with a disease or recovering from a surgery to individuals seeking better health and fitness.
That’s why the Frost Institute for Data Science and Computing (IDSC) and the UHealth Sports Medicine Institute have partnered to democratize and enhance these technologies to maximize human performance.
“Professional teams spend millions of dollars for these kinds of things,” IDSC Director Nick Tsinoremas, Ph.D., said. “We want this technology to be available to people who are middle-aged and need a knee replacement or elderly people who need to be more active.”
Dr. Tsinoremas developed the partnership by working with Lee Kaplan, M.D., a UHealth orthopedic surgeon who is director of the UHealth Sports Medicine Institute and medical director for the Miami Hurricanes sports teams. It’s currently called “Design Thinking for Human Performance.” Drs. Tsinoremas and Kaplan envision it becoming a full center at UM that develops its own degree programs, hires its own staff and patents its products to be sold on the open market.
The partnership will bring together the expertise of the Miller School’s Sports Medicine Institute, which has decades of experience treating more than 50 Olympians and collegiate athletes on 21 national championship teams, and IDSC, which has two supercomputers and dozens of experts trained in data science, artificial intelligence and machine learning.
“If you’re able to move and exercise and walk and cycle, you’re decreasing your body mass index, you’re decreasing your cardiac risk, you’re decreasing your diabetes risk. And your joints work better if you’re using them,” Dr. Kaplan said. “So our thought process was, ‘If we can apply current technologies and develop new ones toward people maximizing their own bodies, their own physical performance, we can contribute to making them healthier.’” 
