In her PhD work she conducted a meta-analysis of environmental enrichment in animal models of stroke, and then designed and conducted a pilot clinical study, and showed that enriching the environment of stroke patients in rehabilitation resulted in significantly increased activity. She already has 5 published first authorship papers, one further under review, and 3 more manuscripts as middle author very close to submission.
Heidi has a strong translational focus in her work and was the first to translate the use of environmental enrichment from the laboratory into the clinical setting for use with patients undergoing inpatient stroke rehabilitation.