UC Davis School of Medicine

Erik K. HenricsonPhD, MPH, FAACPDM

Professor and Interim Vice Chair for Research
Associate Director, Neuromuscular Research Lab
Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation

Building the evidence base for rare neuromuscular disease therapies, from international natural history studies and clinical trial endpoints to AI-driven, real-world measures of mobility.

Get in touch Google Scholar Publications
Portrait of Erik Henricson
25+years in
neuromuscular research
10K+citations
Google Scholar
10,213Total citations
50h-index
82i10-index
136Peer-reviewed articles
49Papers in NIH top 10%
About

Measuring what matters to patients and families

Erik Henricson is a Professor in the Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation at UC Davis, where he serves as Interim Vice Chair for Research and Associate Director for Clinical Research of the Neuromuscular Research Center.

He has studied Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) since the late 1990s. As co-founder and Director of Operations of the Cooperative International Neuromuscular Research Group (CINRG), he helped build one of the field's longest-running natural history studies. Researchers, industry, and regulators around the world use its data to design trials and evaluate new therapies.

His work covers multicenter international trials in pediatric rare diseases, disease epidemiology, clinical trial outcome measures and biomarkers, study design, and person-reported outcomes of mobility and daily activity. His current research uses wearable and mobile-device sensors with machine learning to measure how people move in their communities, outside the clinic.

He is also a long-serving leader in research ethics and regulatory science at UC Davis. He chairs and vice-chairs Institutional Review Board committees, and he directed the Regulatory Knowledge and Support program of the Clinical and Translational Science Center from 2017 to 2026.

Research

Areas of focus

International natural history studies

He co-chairs the CINRG Duchenne Natural History Study and the expanded eDNHS. These long-term datasets describe how DMD progresses and supply external comparison data for many drug development programs.

Clinical trial endpoints

He helped establish the 6-minute walk test, the Performance of the Upper Limb (PUL) module, and timed function tests as reliable, clinically meaningful endpoints for DMD trials.

Wearables & AI for mobility

He leads ROAM-AI (NSF) and Walk4Me, which apply machine and deep learning to accelerometer data to measure gait, steps, and travel distance in children's daily lives.

Person-reported outcomes

He developed the DMD Lifetime Mobility Scale and applies Rasch and bioecological frameworks to quality of life, function, and participation across the lifespan.

Biomarkers & genetic modifiers

His collaborative work on serum protein biomarkers and on genetic modifiers of disease severity (SPP1, LTBP4) helps explain why DMD varies so much from person to person.

Research ethics & regulatory science

He provides IRB leadership, oversees research compliance, and serves on the Critical Path Institute's Duchenne Regulatory Science Consortium.

Scholarly impact

Two decades of growing influence

Citations (all time)10,213
Citations since 20215,026
h-index / since 202150 / 37
NIH iCite mean Relative Citation Ratio3.37
ResearchGate Interest Score97th %ile

Citations per year

Source: Google Scholar

2026 shows citations through October (year to date).

Publications

Selected publications

Selected from more than 136 peer-reviewed articles in The Lancet, JAMA, PNAS, Neurology, Annals of Neurology, Muscle & Nerve, Sensors, and other journals.

Full list on Google Scholar → NCBI bibliography →
Funded research

Research funding

Funders include the NSF, NIH (NINDS, NIAMS, NIDDK), the U.S. Department of Defense, the U.S. Department of Education, the Muscular Dystrophy Association, CITRIS, and industry partners.

Current

Principal Investigator

$966KROAM-AI: Real-world Outcomes in Ambulation and Mobility through Artificial Intelligence

National Science Foundation
Dual PI & International Study Co-Chair

The Expanded DMD Natural History Study (eDNHS): Impairment, Activity Limitation, Participation and Quality of Life

UC Davis, CINRG, and a consortium of industry and advocacy partners
Principal Investigator

$50KGait evaluation algorithm development for STRIDE-AI

CITRIS and the Banatao Institute
Site Co-I, Operations Director & IRB Liaison

$2.2MNINDS Network for Excellence in Neuroscience (NeuroNEXT): UC Davis Clinical Research Site

National Institutes of Health

Selected prior

Principal Investigator

$429KMachine learning of neuromuscular disease gait patterns from single sensors

Muscular Dystrophy Association
Protocol Principal Investigator

$1.2MValidating community-based measures of activity in ambulatory DMD, age two and older

U.S. Department of Defense
Co-Principal Investigator

$1M(+)-Epicatechin in Becker muscular dystrophy

Levine Foundation and Epirium, Inc.
Protocol Principal Investigator

$1.2MDevelopment and validation of the DMD Lifetime Mobility Scale (DMD-LMS)

U.S. Department of Defense
Co-Principal Investigator

$4MRehabilitation Research and Training Center: Enhancing the health and wellness of individuals with neuromuscular disease

NIDRR, U.S. Department of Education
Protocol Co-PI & International Study Co-Chair

$1.2MBiomarker discovery and validation in a Duchenne dystrophy natural history study

National Institutes of Health
Leadership & service

Service to UC Davis and the field

UC Davis

  • Interim Vice Chair for Research, Dept. of PM&R (2026–)
  • Vice Chair, IRB Biomedical & Clinical Committee B (2017–)
  • Chair, IRB Social & Behavioral Committee C (2018–)
  • Director, CTSC Regulatory Knowledge & Support (2017–2026)
  • Chair, Translational Research Integration & Compliance Committee (2019–2025)
  • Provost's Institutional Data Council (2019–2023)
  • Executive Committee, Human Development Graduate Group (2017–)

National & international

  • Co-founder, Cooperative International Neuromuscular Research Group (CINRG); Executive Committee
  • DHHS/NIH Muscular Dystrophy Coordinating Committee Action Plan Workgroup (2024–2026)
  • Parent Project Muscular Dystrophy Scientific Advisory Board (2023–)
  • World Duchenne Organization Accredited Centers Advisory Board (2022–)
  • Critical Path Institute Duchenne Regulatory Science Consortium (2015–)
  • NINDS NeuroNEXT Publication & Education Committees

Editorial & review

  • Editorial Board, Journal of Clinical Medicine (2023–)
  • Grant reviewer: NSF Smart & Connected Health; NIH/NIAMS Wellstone Centers; DoD CDMRP DMD Program; MDA
  • International reviewer: Prinses Beatrix Spierfonds (NL), Duchenne Parent Project NL & Italy
  • Referee: Annals of Neurology, Lancet Child & Adolescent Health, Nature Reviews, Muscle & Nerve, Neuromuscular Disorders
Recognition

Awards & honors

2023

Clinical Research Forum Top 10 Clinical Research Achievement Award

HOPE-2: CAP-1002 in ambulatory and non-ambulatory patients with DMD

2018

Best Poster, UC Davis Human Genomics Symposium

A community-based gait monitor for children with DMD

2015

Top Cited Articles, Muscle & Nerve 2014

6-minute walk test: 48-week multicenter natural history observations

2015

AAN Scientific Program Highlight, Top 5% Clinical Impact

Also recognized in 2008 (×2) and 2009 (×2)

2013

Fellow, American Academy of Cerebral Palsy and Developmental Medicine

FAACPDM

2013

Best Paper, BODYNETS International Conference on Body Area Networks

Energy expenditure estimation using smartphone body sensors

Career

Appointments

  • 2026 – Present
    Interim Vice Chair for Research
    Dept. of Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation, UC Davis
  • 2025 – Present
    Professor in Residence
    PM&R · Human Development & Computer Science Graduate Groups
  • 2020 – 2025
    Associate Professor in Residence
    UC Davis
  • 2016 – 2020
    Assistant Professor in Residence
    UC Davis
  • 2012 – Present
    Associate Director for Clinical Research
    Neuromuscular Research Center, UC Davis
  • 2011 – Present
    Site Operations Director & Central IRB Liaison
    NINDS NeuroNEXT, UC Davis
  • 1999 – 2006
    Co-Founder & Director of Operations
    CINRG, Children's National Medical Center, Washington DC
Training

Education

  • 2016
    Ph.D., Human Development
    University of California, Davis
  • 2003
    Research Fellow, The Genetics and Society Project
    University of Montreal
  • 1999
    M.P.H., Health Promotion & Disease Prevention
    The George Washington University
  • 1998 – 1999
    Collaborative Evaluation Fellow
    American Cancer Society
  • 1993
    B.S., Health Policy & Administration
    The Pennsylvania State University
  • Additional
    NCATS/NSF I-Corps · Rasch Analysis (Newcastle) · NIH Clinical Bioethics Fellows' Seminar
    2001 – 2021
Teaching & mentoring

Training the next generation

He teaches graduate and undergraduate courses in clinical research methods and has mentored doctoral students, postdoctoral scholars, residents, and fellows who now hold faculty and leadership positions.

CLH216 Clinical Research Implementation HDE220 Research Methods in Human Development HDE120 Research Methods (undergraduate core) EEC193 Engineering Senior Design Mentor CLH203 Methods in Clinical Research (invited) BIM189c Clinical Physiology for Engineers (invited)
Albara Ah Ramli, PhDCS doctoral student (co-major professor); now postdoctoral scholarROAM-AI Co-Investigator, UC Davis
Amy Wagner, PhDHuman Development doctoral student (major professor)Executive Director, UW–Madison Child Development Lab
Gunnar Buyse, MDTranslational Research Fellow, Children's NationalProfessor of Child Neurology, University of Leuven
Carolina Tesi Rocha, MDTranslational Research Fellow, Children's NationalDepartment of Neurology, Stanford
Lisa Williams, MDNeuromuscular Fellow, UC Davis PM&RAssociate Professor, UC Davis PM&R
Kevin Mullins, MDPM&R Resident · 2019 Resident Research AwardAssistant Professor, UC Davis PM&R
Contact

Let's collaborate

He welcomes inquiries about research collaborations, natural history data, digital outcome measures, mentoring, and speaking invitations.

Email Dr. Henricson Google Scholar UC Davis Health profile UC Davis Profiles
Emailehenricson@health.ucdavis.edu
Phone · Fax916-734-5057 · fax 916-734-6199
Office
Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation
UC Davis School of Medicine
4860 Y St., Suite 3850
Sacramento, CA 95817