Chase Rock

Chase joined the Sensorimotor Learning Laboratory at the University of Pittsburgh in January 2026 as a Post-doctoral Scholar under a T32 for training in the Neurobiology of Neurological Disease. Prior to joining the lab, Chase completed his Ph.D. in Applied Physiology at Georgia Tech, where he worked with Dr. Young-Hui Chang on understanding the cognitive and motor aspects of sensorimotor adaptation to altered gravity. Previously, he worked with Dr. Kota Takahashi at the University of Nebraska at Omaha, where he investigated gait variability, energy expenditure, and prosthesis use, earning a M.S. in Exercise Science preceded by a B.S. in Neuroscience. 

Chase is passionate about understanding how people gain motor expertise: whether it's an athlete becoming an elite player or a patient learning to walk in the way that's best for them. His projects combine principles and techniques from neuroscience, biomechanics, and psychology to evaluate the cognitive and motor aspects of learning and predict who may become an expert in the future. Outside the lab, Chase enjoys trivia, rock-climbing, baking, hiking, video games, and hanging out with his cats.

  • PhD, Georgia Institute of Technology, 2017 - 2024
  • MS, University of Nebraska at Omaha, 2015 - 2017
  • BS, University of Nebraska at Omaha, 2010 - 2014

  • Herrin, K.R., Kwak, S.T., Rock, C.G., & Chang, Y.H. (2024). Gait quality in prosthesis users is reflected by force-based metrics when learning to walk on a new research-grade powered prosthesis. Front Rehabil Sci, 5, 1339856.Frontiers. doi: 10.3389/fresc.2024.1339856.
  • Herrin, K.R., Kwak, S.T., Rock, C.G., & Chang, Y.H. (2024). Identifying gait quality metrics sensitive to changes in lower limb constraint. COGENT ENGINEERING, 11(1).Taylor & Francis. doi: 10.1080/23311916.2024.2312697.
  • Rock, C.G., Kwak, S.T., Luo, A., Yang, X., Yun, K., & Chang, Y.H. (2024). Realizing the gravity of the simulation: adaptation to simulated hypogravity leads to altered predictive control. Front Physiol, 15, 1397016.Frontiers. doi: 10.3389/fphys.2024.1397016.
  • Rock, C.G., Marmelat, V., Yentes, J.M., Siu, K.C., & Takahashi, K.Z. (2018). Interaction between step-to-step variability and metabolic cost of transport during human walking. J Exp Biol, 221(Pt 22).The Company of Biologists. doi: 10.1242/jeb.181834.
  • Rock, C.G., Wurdeman, S.R., Stergiou, N., & Takahashi, K.Z. (2018). Stride-to-stride fluctuations in transtibial amputees are not affected by changes in push-off mechanics from using different prostheses. In Jan, Y.K. (Ed.). PLoS One, 13(10), e0205098.Public Library of Science (PLoS). doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0205098.