Education

Ph.D. in Aerospace Medicine, Russian Federation State Scientific Center – Institute for Bio-Medical Problems, Russian Academy of Sciences (October, 2005)
Certification in Neurology, Post-doctoral program of medical education, Institute of Neurology, Russian Academy of Medical Sciences (April, 2005)
Doctor of Medical Sciences Russian State Medical University, Medical Department (1989-1996)

Research

Project

Integration of the FES-assisted standing technology, conventional balance training exercises, and visual feedback as means to help retrain individuals with SCI to stand and balance during standing

Awards

Special Space Flight Achievement Award, 2003. Awarded by NASA Johnson Space Center, Houston, TX, USA for extraordinary performance in planning and conducting the Baseline Data Collection and Medical Assessment Team activities in Russia; for the contingency launch and landing scenarios, resulting in the highly successful completion of Expedition 6 science activities and the preparation of Expedition 7 for their stay on the International Space Station.
Award for Great Contribution in the Achievement of Bio-Medical Programs on the Orbital Complex MIR, 2001. Awarded by the Russian Federation State Scientific Center – Institute for Bio-Medical Problems, Russian Academy of Sciences for pre- and post-flight testing of crew-members of MIR station missions.
Award for the Great Contribution in the Organization and Implementation of the International Project "240-days Confinement Study: Simulation of Flight of International Crew on Space Station", 2000. Awarded by the Russian Federation State Scientific Center – Institute for Bio-Medical Problems, Russian Academy of Sciences for the development of a battery of tests for the assessment of motor function and physiological evaluation of the gravity-independent resistive exercise devices for using on the International Space Station.

Fellowships

· Postdoctoral Fellowship of Canadian Paraplegic Association Ontario (May, 2008-present), at Toronto Rehabilitation Institute, University of Toronto, Canada.

· Postdoctoral Fellowship from the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (2006-2008), at National Rehabilitation Center for Persons with Disabilities, Research Institute, Department of Rehabilitation for Movement Functions, Tokorozawa, Japan

Selected publications

Journal papers

· Sayenko D.G., Alekhina M.I., Masani K., Vette A.H., Obata H., Popovic M.R., Nakazawa K. Positive effect of balance training with visual feedback on standing balance abilities in people with incomplete spinal cord injury. Spinal Cord, 2010 (accepted for publication)

· Ogata H., Sayenko D., Yamamoto E., Kitamura T., Yamamoto S.I., Miyoshi T., Kamibayashi K., Nakazawa K. Sympathetic effect on stretch reflex of the relaxed muscle is inhibitory, not facilitatory, in humans. Journal of Physiological Sciences 2009, Vol. 59, pp. 473-473

· Sayenko D.G., Vette A.H., Obata H., Alekhina M.I., Akai M., Nakazawa K. Differential effects of plantar cutaneous afferent excitation on soleus stretch and H-reflex. Muscle Nerve, 2009, Vol. 39, No. 6, 761-769

· Sayenko D.G., Vette A.H., Kamibayashi K., Nakajima T., Akai M., Nakazawa K. Facilitation of the soleus stretch reflex induced by electrical excitation of plantar cutaneous afferents located around the heel. Neurosci Letters, 2007, Vol. 415, No. 3, pp. 294-298

· Kozlovskaya I.B., Sayenko I.V., Sayenko D.G., Miller T.F., Khusnutdinova D.R. and Melnik K.A. Role of support afferentation in control of the tonic muscle activity. Acta Astronautica, 2007, Vol. 60, Issues 4-7, pp. 285-294

· Sayenko D.G., Artamonov A.A., Ivanov O.G. Kozlovskaya I.B. Effect of 6-days of support withdrawal on characteristics of balance function. Journal of Gravitational Physiology, 2005, Vol. 12, No. 1, pp. 33-34

· Alkner B.A., Berg H.E., Kozlovskaya I., Sayenko D., Tesch P.A.. Effects of strength training, using a gravity-independent exercise system, performed during 110 days of simulated space station confinement. European Journal of Applied Physiology, 2003, Vol. 90, No. 1-2, pp. 44-49

· Saenko D., Saenko I., Shestakov M., Ivanov A., Kozlovskaya I. The effect of 120 day anti-orthostatic hypokinesia on the status of the posture regulation systems. Aviakosmicheskaya i Ekologicheskaya Meditsina (Russia), 2000, Vol. 34, No. 5, pp. 6-10

Saenko I., Saenko D., Shestakov M., Ivanov A., Kozlovskaya I. Effect of 120 days head-down tilt on characteristics of tendinous reflexes. Aviakosmicheskaya i Ekologicheskaya Meditsina (Russia), 2000, Vol. 34, No. 4, pp. 13-18

Conference papers

· Sayenko D.G., Masani K., Alizadeh-Meghrazi M., Popovic M.R., Craven B.C. The acute effect of whole body vibration on the H-reflex in subjects with intact and injured spinal cord. Presented at: 39th annual meeting of the Society for Neuroscience. Chicago, USA. October, 2009

· Sayenko D., Milosevic M., Masani K., Sanin E., McConville K.M.V., Popovic M.R. Video game-based exercise for improvement of calf muscle properties: A case study. Presented at: 2009 World Congress on Medical Physics and Biomedical Engineering. Munich, Germany. September, 2009.

· Sayenko D.G., Alekhina M.I., Vette A.H., Nakazawa K., Popovic M.R. Balance training with visual feedback can improve balance abilities in people with spinal cord injury. Presented at: 19th Symposium of International Society for Posture and Gait Research (ISPGR). Bologna, Italy. June, 2009.

· Sayenko D.G., Vette A.H., Kamibayashi K., Nakajima T., Akai M., Nakazawa K. Can electrical excitation of plantar cutaneous afferents facilitate the soleus stretch reflex? Presented at: Festival of International Conferences on Caregiving, Disability, Aging and Technology. Toronto, Canada. June, 2007

· Sayenko D.G., Vette A.H., Kamibayashi K., Nakajima T., Akai M., Nakazawa K. Facilitation effect of electrical excitation of plantar cutaneous afferents located around the heel on the soleus stretch reflex. Presented at: 4th World Congress of the International Society of Physical and Rehabilitation Medicine. Seoul, South Korea. June, 2007

· Sayenko D., Melnik K., Miller T., Kozlovskaya I. Effect of 6-days of support withdrawal on characteristics of balance function. Presented at: European Space Agency (ESA) and International Society of Gravitational Physiology (ISGP) Joint Life Science Conference "Life in Space for Life on Earth". Cologne, Germany, 2005

· Sayenko D., Melnik K., Khusnutdinova D., Miller T., Kozlovskaya I. Effect of 6-days of support withdrawal on characteristics of corrective postural responses. Presented at: Conference of European Biomechanics Society-2004. s’-Hertogenbosch, The Netherlands, 2004

· Sayenko, D., Cleary, N., Miller, T., Fokin, K.A., Sayenko, I.V., Paloski, W.H., and Kozlovskaya, I.B Characteristics of kinematic parameters of corrective postural responses to upper and lower body perturbations. Presented at: Third Posture symposium. Human Posture Control: Physiology, Disorders, Modeling, and Balance Rehabilitation. Smolenice Castle, Slovakia, 2003

Sayenko D., Fokin K., Miller T., Sayenko I., Kozlovskaya I. Effect of 6-hours of support withdrawal on stabilographic and kinematic parameters of vertical stability. Presented at: Third Posture symposium. Human Posture Control: Physiology, Disorders, Modeling, and Balance Rehabilitation. Smolenice Castle, Slovakia, 2003

Non-refereed publications

· Kruchinin P.I., Mishanov A.Yu., Sayenko D.G. Possibility of joint data processing obtained by video-motion analyzer and stabilographic platform. In Book: "Mathematical Modeling of Movements of Healthy Subjects and Patients with Different Pathology", Moscow State University, Novozgilov I.V. & Kruchinin P.A. (Ed.) (Russia), Moscow, Russia, 2005, pp. 28-53 (In Russian)

· Sayenko I., Sayenko D., Kozlovskaya I. The effect of 120-day antiorthostatic bed-rest on the characteristics of tendon reflexes. In Book: "From Basic Motor Control to Functional Recovery: Concepts, Theories and Models", Academic Publishing House, N Gantchev & GN Gantchev (Ed), Sofia, Bulgaria, 1999, pp. 239-241

Sayenko D., I Sayenko, I. Kozlovskaya. The effect of 120-day antiorthostatic bed-rest on postural control system. In Book: "From Basic Motor Control to Functional Recovery: Concepts, Theories and Models", Academic Publishing House, N Gantchev & GN Gantchev (Ed), Sofia, Bulgaria, 1999, pp. 235-238

Interests

The neurophysiological basis and mechanisms of functional rehabilitation
The contribution of plantar cutaneous afferentation inputs to the control of posture and locomotion
Postural control mechanisms in conditions of sensory deprivation
Development of means to mitigate the negative effects of microgravity and long-term hypokinesia
Development and evaluation of therapies that promote rehabilitation in neurological patients
The impact of sensory feedback therapy on the balance abilities in SCI and stroke patients
Development of methods to increase the effectiveness of “superhigh-qualified” (elite) athletes