Professors David Armstrong and Charles Liu at first seemed to be an unlikely pair.
But the podiatric surgeon and neurosurgeon clicked on a personal level and promptly realized they had a lot to offer each other as Keck School of Medicine of USC collaborators.
Both were already studying how much information a person takes in through the nerves of the feet, how to preserve, repair or replace that information system, and how nerve damage can affect a patient’s mobility.
Armstrong is interested in metabolic health, mobility and neuropathy—the loss of nerve sensitivity that can occur in patients with diabetes, Liu noted.
“As a neurosurgeon, I’m interested in lower-extremity function and metabolic health, too,” he said. “In my work, I think about how to restore mobility to patients who can’t feel their legs. It’s a similar problem to diabetic foot ulcers.”