By Cadence Russell, editor-in-chief
It’s been seven years in the making, but the Institute for Mobility Innovation and Technology (IMIT) is opening to the public on April 30, 2025. IMIT is a state-of-the-art rehabilitation center for injuries and illnesses, in partnership with Buffalo Rehab Group and Villa Maria College, where the facility is housed.
Nestled next to Villa Maria’s Athletic Complex, the IMIT looks like any other rehabilitation facility, until you look up at the ceiling and see the tracks for dynamic body weight support system. Then you look a little closer and realize there is world-leading robotic physical therapy equipment, from an AlterG Anti-Gravity Treadmill to a Hocoma Lokomat robotic exoskeleton. Some $2 million was raised through foundations and local donations to make such a facility possible, bringing rehabilitation support few facilities across the country have to the Buffalo area.
“It’s physical therapy based, but it could be for anything from post spinal cord injury to degenerative diseases like MS or Parkinson’s to sporting injuries,” Dr. Laura Edsberg, professor of biology and director of the Natural and Health Sciences Research Center, said. “So it’s a use of technology to enhance the ability for recovery or movement.”
When individuals suffer severe injuries requiring comprehensive physical therapy, insurance, if covered, will pay for six to eight weeks of therapy, if one is lucky, Edsberg explained. Patients in Buffalo often have to travel far from home to receive the therapy they need, and when they return home, they are unable to continue with the care they need to keep getting better.
“I saw some stuff about exoskeletons and robotics, and then started looking around and realized we don’t have anything like that,” Edsberg said. “…And then when I dug into what are the different diagnoses that could benefit from this, it really seems like it’s a hole in our healthcare.”
Locally, Parkinson’s disease and multiple sclerosis have a high rate of incidence, and Edsberg hopes the IMIT is a way to meet the community’s needs.
“The more you move, the better you’re going to feel. And if you don’t have an option for that, you lose out on all the other benefits that we have, the stress relief, your body just feels better when you move it. So this gives us those opportunities for individuals,” Edsberg said.
Community has been one of the driving factors in building the IMIT, from donations that allowed for the purchasing of the equipment, to an advisory board composed of individuals in the area who’ve experienced injuries that would be serviced at the IMIT.
“Part of our big overall plan is trying to make sure that, like low-income individuals who have insurances that typically aren’t taken at other physical therapy clinics have an opportunity to come here and be able to have their insurance accepted,” IMIT Clinical Director Dr. Thomas Danat said.
While the equipment for the IMIT had been secured during, finding a facility in the area was the last hurdle, and was helped by New York State Senator Tim Kennedy (D-Buffalo) obtaining $1.2 million in grant funding to revamp the space at Villa Maria College.
Daemen students are also able to take advantage of the facility. NSC 220, Intro to IMIT, is a one-credit course that introduces students to the facility, emphasizes the clinical care, advocacy, research, and education (CARE) model the IMIT uses, and serves as the gateway to conducting projects.
“Hearing about the development of the IMIT to help those with spinal cord injuries and disabilities was very intriguing to me, and one of the main reasons I wanted to come to Daemen,” Reese Payne, third year PT major, said. “Being a physical therapy student and wanting to help those with disabilities made my decision to want to start working in this facility with cutting-edge equipment to improve my knowledge of the field and the institute.”
Several students have helped Danat test the equipment and learn how to work through technical difficulties before the opening of the facility to the public.
“After touring the facility, I asked Tom a few questions, and he mentioned that he needed volunteers to practice on the equipment. I jumped at the opportunity. Using estim [electostimulation] I held and wrote with a pen without conscious control,” Sydney Grossman, first year PT major said.
With built-in classrooms, the IMIT has dedicated space not just for community groups, but also classes and labs for Daemen students to take as part of their studies.
The class is open to all interested students, as the IMIT is looking to stress the interdisciplinary nature of physical therapy and rehabilitation, and bridging the knowledge gaps, Danat explained.
“I believe that all medical students should take the opportunity that comes with this course and work in this building as it will improve their understanding of advancing patient care before going into the medical field, as well as help improve their patient interactions before leaving Daemen,” Payne said.
For Grossman, who had a chance to use the anti-gravity treadmill to help with her joint pain, she felt her muscles working harder than her joints for the first time, and would use it every day if she could.
“Students who are on the fence on a major to come in and tour the place and just kind of see what we have here and what we’re doing, and if it would help them in their decision making for whatever major they want to pursue or whatever direction they want their career to go in,” Danat said. “I think it’d be a nice way to see, like this is what’s possible.”
“It is my goal that this brings us hope, and that we’re educating students to go out and practice with some hope, I mean, and I think as a society, we could use some hope,” Edsberg said. “I don’t believe you heal unless you have some hope.”