NIH Awards Dr. Siyang Cao $580,000 Trailblazer Grant for Radar-based Fall Detection
Dr. Siyang Cao receives a NIH Trailblazer Award to develop mmWave radar systems for fall risk analysis and prevention in older adults.
Dr. Siyang Cao (ECE, University of Arizona) has been awarded a $580,000 Trailblazer Award from the National Institutes of Health to further his work in radar-based fall detection and fall risk analysis.
The grant supports a three-year study aiming to answer three key questions:
- How accurately mmWave radar can estimate fall risk
- How reliably radar can detect actual falls
- The acceptability of this technology among elderly users
This initiative reflects Dr. Cao's cross-disciplinary efforts to combine radar sensing, signal processing, and health informatics to create non-contact, privacy-preserving fall monitoring systems. The award also emphasizes collaboration with biomedical and clinical partners.
"Radar technology is important … the award demands that Dr. Cao work with health care practitioners to refine the system for adoption by patients," noted UA's ECE department in their announcement.