Jesse Loar

Jesse Loar

Medical Student, U-M School of Medicine
International Institute Individual Fellowship
School of Medicine’s Student Biomedical Research Program 

“My project in Mongolia would have been impossible without funding from the International Institute. The results of my work are being used to validate a new tool allowing health care workers to better assess and meet the needs of disabled persons living in developing nations.”

Jesse Loar spent last summer living and working in Arvaikheer, Uvurkhangai, Mongolia. While there, he utilized the Language Independent Functional Evaluation (L.I.F.E.) tool, developed by U-M doctor Andrew Haig in collaboration with the University of Michigan 3D Lab, to determine the prevalence and degree of physical disability among individuals in this semi-urban community.

By randomly screening community members, Jesse was able to demonstrate that L.I.F.E. effectively identifies disabled persons and accurately assesses the degree of functional deficit. Many members of Mongolia’s disabled community are under-educated and dissuaded from working outside of the home. Jesse’s research confirmed that many of these individuals would have little to no functional deficits if rehabilitation services were available. The data he collected is being prepared for publication in a peer-reviewed journal.