Ingrid Pretzer-Aboff, Ph.D., RN, FGSA
Pronouns: she/her
Associate Professor
Department of Adult Health and Nursing Systems
Education
- Ph.D. (Nursing), University of Maryland
- Clinical Nurse Specialist, University of Delaware
- M.A. (Delivery of Nursing Services), New York University
- B.S.N. (Nursing), New York University
Research/Scholarship Interests
- Optimizing function and mobility to improve quality of life in people with neurodegenerative disease
- Freezing of gait (FoG)
- Tremor
- Non-medical/surgical treatment of motor and non-motor symptoms of Parkinson's disease
- Neurofeedback, cueing
- Vibration
- Gait and mobility analysis
- Wearable medical devices
- Wifi sensing systems
- Artificial intelligence
Area of Current Clinical Practice
- Older adults with neurodegenerative disorders such as Parkinson's disease, early dementia and Alzheimer's
- Family caregivers
Teaching
Pretzer-Aboff teaches health assessment in the undergraduate program and guest speaks on various topics related to neurological nursing in the graduate program. She mentors graduate and Ph.D. students in master's and doctoral work at VCU nursing and across other disciplines on the VCU campus.
Select Publications
- Chung, J., Pretzer-Aboff, I., Bulut, E. Using a Device-Free WiFi Sensing System to Assess Daily Activities and Mobility in Low-Income Older Adults: Protocol for a Feasibility Study. JMIR, in review.
- Pretzer-Aboff, I., Elswick, RK, Gouelle, A., Helm, N., Blackwell, G, Cloud, L. Determination of Optimal Dose of Vibration to Treat Parkinson's Disease Gait Symptoms Clinical Trial. Clinical Parkinsonism and Related Disorders. Clinical Parkinsons and Related Disorders, in review.
- Koltermann, K., Jung, W., Blackwell, G., Pinney, A., Chen, M., Cloud, L., Pretzer-Aboff, I., Zhou, G. (June 2023). FoG-Finder: Real-time Freezing of Gait Detection and Treatment. In Proc International Conference on Connected Health: Applications, Systems and Engineering Technologies (IEEE/ACM CHASE ’23), Orlando, FL, USA. ACM, 12 pages.
- Sun, M., Jung, W., Koltermann, K., Zhou, G., Watson, A., Blackwell, G., Helm, N., Cloud, L., Pretzer-Aboff, I. (2023). Parkinson’s Disease Action Tremor Detection with Supervised-Learning Models. In Proc Conf CHASE 2023. ACM, New York, NY, USA, 10 pages.
- Pretzer-Aboff, I., Elswick, RK, Watson, A, Minglong, S., Woosub, J., Koltermann, K., Zhou, G., Cloud, L. (2022). Impact of Vibration on Tremor in Older Adults with Parkinson’s disease. Innovation in Aging, 6, S1. 596
Current Funded Grants
| Name of Grant | Role | Funding Agency | Period |
|---|---|---|---|
| Life-Space and Activity Digital Markers for Detection of Cognitive Decline in Community-Dwelling Older Adults: The RAMS Study | Co-I | NIH/NIA | 4/1/23 - 3/31/27 |
| A Device Free WiFi Sensing System to Assess Daily Activities and Mobility in Low-Income Older Adults with and without Cognitive Impairment | MPI | University of Pennsylvania NIH/NIA-funded P30 Center | 2023-25 |
| WiFi sensing-based device-free daily activity and mobility recognition for older adults | Co-PI | VCU School of Nursing | 2/15/22 - 5/15/24 |
| PERCEPTion of FoG | PI | VCU Parkinson’s and Movement Disorders Center | 9/1/22 - 8/31/24 |
| SCH: Context-aware Freezing of Gait mitigation in a real-world setting | PI | NIH/NINDS | 11/30/20 - 12/1/24 |
| Diversity Supplement: “Psychological Correlates of Freezing of Gait" | PI | NIH/NINDS | 7/1/21 - 9/30/24 |
Professional Service
Pretzer-Aboff is a fellow of the Gerontological Society of America (FGSA) and the American Academy of Nursing (FAAN). She serves on the board of the National Hartford Center of Gerontological Nursing Excellence. She co-directs the VCU Graduate Health Care Innovation Certificate, is a member of the Honor Society of Phi Kappa Phi, the Movement Disorder Society, Gerontological Society of America, American Geriatric Society, Sigma Theta Tau, and the Virginia Nurses Association. She works closely with the Parkinson’s disease community and enjoys sharing her research results with students, healthcare professionals and support groups.