Kenneth Weber, DC, PhD

Position:

Past Graduate Student
Interdepartmental Neuroscience Program
Department of Radiology
Northwestern University
737 N. Michigan Avenue Suite 1600 Chicago, IL 60611
kweber@u.northwestern.edu
Curriculum Vitae

Education:

Doctor of Philosophy in Neuroscience
Northwestern University
Chicago, IL

Doctor of Chiropractic
Palmer College of Chiropractic Florida
Port Orange, FL

Bachelor of Science in Biology
Saginaw Valley State University
University Center, MI

Research Interests:

As a chiropractic physician, my clinical training has focused on the non-surgical management of spinal pain syndromes. Spinal pain remains a widespread problem, causes much suffering, and places a large burden on the health care system. From my experience, I have learned that spinal pathophysiology is a challenging topic, and a great disparity exists between our understanding of the spine and its response to therapy. The aims of my research are to fill these gaps in our knowledge of spinal pain and its treatment to advance current management strategies and create a quantitative foundation for continued scientific investigation.

Current Projects:

Investigating Pain Processing in the Brain, Brainstem, and Spinal Cord with fMRI

Chronic pain syndromes remain a widespread problem in the United States. Recent advancements in brain imaging techniques are increasing our understanding of the role of the brain in the perpetuation of chronic pain. The proposed project aims to expand our research to include functional imaging of the brainstem and spinal cord, and we will study and compare pain processing along the entire neuraxis in healthy controls and chronic neck pain patients.

In Vivo Three-Dimensional Kinematic Analysis of the Cervical Spine

Manual therapies are a common treatment for neck and back pain, and they have traditionally been taught and practiced from a biomechanical viewpoint. Manual therapists detect areas of restricted spinal segmental motion and then apply treatments in a manner to increase motion and restore proper function to the joint. However, the question of whether manual therapies alter spinal motion has not been thoroughly investigated. MRI can be used to non-invasively measure 3D spinal segmental motion in vivo following controlled rotation of the spine. We aim to utilize these techniques to better understand how spinal pain syndromes influence spinal motion and to investigate the effects of manual therapies on the biomechanics of the spine.

Publications:

Weber II KA, Chen Y, Wang X, Kahnt T, Parrish TB. Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging of the Spinal Cord During Thermal Stimulation Across Consecutive Runs. (In review).

Weber II KA, Chen Y, Wang X, Kahnt T, Parrish TB. Lateralization of Cervical Spinal Cord Activity During an Isometric Upper Extremity Motor Task. NeuroImage 2016;125:233-243.

Wang X, Casadio M, Weber II KA, Parrish T, Mussa-Ivaldi F. White Matter Microstructure Changes Induced by Motor Skill Learning Utilizing a Body Machine Interface. NeuroImage 2013;88C:32-40.

Dishman JD, Weber II KA, Corbin RL, Burke JR. Understanding Inhibitory Mechanisms of Lumbar Spinal Manipulation Using H-reflex and F-wave Responses: A Methodological Approach. J Neurosci Methods 2012;210:169-177.

Madhavan S, Weber 2nd KA, Stinear JW. Non-invasive Brain Stimulation Enhances Fine Motor Control of the Hemiparetic Ankle: Implications for Rehabilitation. Exp Brain Res 2011;209:9-17.

Weber II KA, He X. Chiropractic Students and Research: Assessing the Research Culture at a North American Chiropractic College. J Chiropr Educ 2010;24:35-45.

Conference Presentations:

Suleiman L, Weber II K, Parrish T, Savage J, Hsu W, Patel A. High-Resolution Magnetization Transfer Correlates with Cervical Stenosis in Patients with Cervical Myelopathy, American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons, Orlando, FL (Accepted).

Weber II KA, Chen Y, Wang X, Kahnt T, Parrish TB. Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging of the Spinal Cord During Thermal Stimulation, Neuroscience 2015, Chicago, IL.

Weber II KA, Chen Y, Wang X, Kahnt T, Parrish TB. Lateralization of Cervical Spinal Cord Activity During a Simple Isometric Upper Extremity Motor Task, poster presentation at the 21st Annual Meeting of the Organization for Human Brain Mapping 2015, Honolulu, HI.

Weber II KA, Chen Y, Wang X, Parrish TB. Spinal Cord and Brainstem Activity During Tactile Stimulation Across Multiple Dermatomes, poster presentation at the 21st Annual Meeting of the Organization for Human Brain Mapping 2015, Honolulu, HI.

Weber II KA, Chen Y, Parrish TB. Characterization of the Magnetization Transfer Ratio in the Healthy Cervical Spinal Cord, poster presentation at the 21st Annual Meeting of the Organization for Human Brain Mapping 2015, Honolulu, HI.

Weber II KA, Chen Y, Wang X, Kahnt T, Parrish TB. Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging of the Spinal Cord During Thermal Stimulation Across Multiple Sessions, 10th Annual NIH Pain Consortium Symposium, Bethesda, MD.

Bitra J, Phung J, Weber II KA, Inoue N, Espinoza Orías AA, Parrish TB. Use of a Novel MRI Compatible Head-Positioning Device for the Three Dimensional Kinematic Analysis of the Cervical Spine in Axial Rotation, American Society of Neuroradiology 53rd Annual Meeting 2015, Chicago, IL.

Weber II KA, Chen Y, Wang X, Parrish TB. Choice of motion correction method affects spinal cord fMRI results, poster presentation at the 20th Annual Meeting of the Organization for Human Brain Mapping 2014, Hamburg, Germany.

Weber II KA, Chen Y, Wang X, Parrish TB. A search for an optimal neuronal marker for spinal cord fMRI, poster presentation at the International Society for Magnetic Resonance in Medicine 21st Annual Meeting & Exhibition 2013, Salt Lake City, UT.

Zhang N, Weber K. Effects of test stress on chiropractic student physical examination laboratory testing – a pilot study, platform presentation at the 2012 Association of Chiropractic Colleges Research Agenda Conference, Las Vegas, NV.

Wang X, Casadio M, Weber K, Parrish T, Mussa-Ivaldi F. White matter microstructure changes induced by motor skill learning, poster presentation at Neuroscience 2011, Society for Neuroscience Annual Meeting, Washington, DC.

Weber II KA, Wang X, Casadio M, Mussa-Ivaldi FA, Parrish TB. Does White Matter Change FollowingMotor Training?: A Pilot Study, poster presentation at the 17th Annual Meeting of the Organization for Human Brain Mapping 2011, Quebec City, Canada.

Weber II KA, Parrish TB, Inoue N, Espinoza Orías AA, Rogers LM, Stinear JW. Using Three-Dimensional MRI to Study the Effects of Spinal Manipulation on Cervical Kinematics In Vivo: Discussion and Study Protocol, poster presentation at the 2011 World Federation of Chiropractic Biennial Congress, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

Butler JE, Weber II KA. Research Output in Spinal Manipulative Therapy: A Profession-Based Analysis of Studies Published in 2009, platform presentation at the 2011 World Federation of Chiropractic Biennial Congress, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

Dishman JD, Weber II KA, Corbin RL, Burke JR. Inhibitory Mechanisms of Lumbar Spinal Manipulation: an H-reflex and F-response Study, platform presentation at the 2009 World Federation of Chiropractic Biennial Congress, Montreal, Canada.

Weber II KA, He X. Chiropractic Students and Research: Forecasting Scientific Progress, platform presentation at the 2009 Association of Chiropractic Colleges Research Agenda Conference, Las Vegas, NV.

Research Project Funding:

Trainee Stipend to attend the International Society for Magnetic Resonance in Medicine 21st Annual Meeting & Exhibition 2013, Salt Lake City, UT.

Investigating Pain Processing in the Brain, Brainstem, and Spinal Cord with fMRI, NIH F32 AT007800-01, NRSA Individual Postdoctoral Training Grant, National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine. Dec 2012 – Nov 2015.

Training Program in the Neurobiology of Movement and Rehabilitation Sciences, NIH T32 HD057845, NRSA Institutional Predoctoral Training Grant, Northwestern University. March 2012 – Nov 2012.

Weber II KA, Stinear JW. NCMIC Foundation, Inc. Investigating the biomechanical and neurophysiological effects of spinal manipulation. Oct 2010 – Sep 2014.