Gonzaga human physiology student works on research that could help Parkinson's patients keep quality movement longer

May 8-Kate Barnett won't take her steps for granted when she walks to accept her diploma during commencement at Gonzaga University this weekend.

Barnett, 21, came to Gonzaga with several interests, but eventually landed on a bachelor's degree in human physiology.

During her time at the university, Barnett was selected to research how movement and mobility looks for people with Parkinson's disease. Under the direction of associate professor Clint Wutzke, who teaches human physiology at Gonzaga, Barnett said she learned a lot about life, not just science.

"Learning about someone's story, that's always cool," Barnett said. "Someone with Parkinson's, that is a huge part of their life. I think if I were to do research in the future, I would like for it to be like with an impaired population. In my heart, there's a little more of an emphasis on helping people like that. You can just learn more about life that way."

Wutzke's research, which is ongoing, focuses on ground reaction forces and what variability in movement is like for people with Parkinson's compared to people without the disease. The hypothesis is that Parkinson's patients have less variability in their movements, which means their steps are less consistent with each other, making them more susceptible to fall because their body does not adapt to changes as they're walking. Wutzke's team, including Barnett, used a special treadmill that records ground reaction forces and has two belts - one for each foot - that can move at different speeds.

Barnett studied 14 people - seven with Parkinson's and seven without - assessing them through cognitive or physical tests to identify impairments, tremors or bradykinesia, when one side of the body is slower than the other. The study began in June 2025 and ended with Barnett presenting at a medical school research symposium that Gonzaga holds every year.

Barnett has a personal connection to Parkinson's, too. Just last month, she attended her boyfriend's aunt Bonnie Mandel's funeral. Barnett knew her for several years.

"Bonnie and her husband, their entire house is filled with all these awesome pictures of her swimming with dolphins and traveling," Barnett said. "After she got diagnosed with Parkinson's, she developed some esophageal issues and her GI tract suffered. That was devastating to watch."

Mandel had a feeding tube after her diagnosis, but the disease did not stop her from traveling or living her life, Barnett said.

"She was fierce," Barnett said. "She would always dye her hair. She grayed pretty early and it turned white, so she was like, 'This is prime time to dye my hair,' so it would always be, like, blue or, like, purple. It was so awesome."

Wutzke selected Barnett to participate in his research on Parkinson's because of her excellence in the classroom, after she took several classes from him her sophomore year.

"She's an exceptional student and human being," Wutzke said. "Human physiology is a really demanding program. Amongst great students, Kate is a fantastic student."

The research Barnett participated in found that Parkinson's patients do have less variability as they're walking, but according to Wutzke, there's more data that needs to be collected before the research is complete. Wutzke plans on studying this aspect of human physiology as long as he's teaching at Gonzaga, he said, with a goal to create movement programs that will help Parkinson's patients maintain quality movement for as long as possible.

"The number of individuals that are being diagnosed with Parkinson's disease is increasing at an alarming rate, and even more so, the number of people who are being diagnosed are at younger ages. Therefore, we're not only seeing more people diagnosed with Parkinson's, but they're getting younger and younger. Their ability to walk and maintain their balance is such a critical component of an individual's quality of life," Wutzke said. "If they're not able to navigate their environment, if they're not able to walk comfortably in their community, that suggests that they're going to have a reduced quality of life."

Research like this is exactly how change can come for people with Parkinson's, Wutzke said. And it showed undergraduate students like Barnett what it's like to walk with Parkinson's.

"That was hard to watch ... but those people are the most resilient. They don't let Parkinson's define their life, and that's probably the best thing I learned from working in the lab with Wutzke's team," Barnett said.

After graduation, Barnett is planning on working as a medical assistant at an orthopedic clinic in her hometown of Montrose, Colorado. She has plans to continue her education, but isn't sure which path is right for her just yet.

"I'm very blessed to have the mentality that, I don't really have to rush. I've got the rest of my life to do it, and I don't want to apply to any programs rushed. I would like to have a pretty polished application," Barnett said.

"As a parent, I'm happy to see her grow up and move on," said J.O. Barnett, Kate's dad. "It's amazing to see her have the opportunity to do something like that and be smart enough and pragmatic enough to work through things."

Helping other people is exactly why she ended up studying human physiology, J.O. Barnett said.

"She's very empathetic," he said. "She's very determined, very motivated and hardworking."

It's safe to say that like all the students who will walk in Sunday's graduation ceremony, Barnett's journey is just beginning.

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This story was originally published May 7, 2026 at 11:43 PM.