Biographical Information for Virtual Reality Applications for Advancing Rehabilitation

Displaying current, published revision of page Biographical Information for Virtual Reality Applications for Advancing Rehabilitation, last modified by mil72 on 2017-04-19 09:12

Course Directors

Dr. Rory A. Cooper

RORY A. COOPER, PhD
Distinguished Professor, FISA/PVA Chair, Department of Rehabilitation and Technology, University of Pittsburgh 
Director, Human Engineering Research Laboratories
VA Rehabilitation Research and Development Center of Excellence fore Wheelchairs and Associated Rehabilitation Engineering
Pittsburgh, PA

Contact Information
Human Engineering Research Laboratories
VA Pittsburgh Healthcare System
6425 Penn Avenue, Suite 400
Pittsburgh, PA 15206
(412) 822-3700
rcooper@pitt.edu 

Rory A. Cooper, PhD received the BS and MEng degrees in electrical engineering for California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo in 1985 and 1986, respectively. He received the Ph.D. degree in electrical and computer engineering with a concentration in bioengineering from University of California at Santa Barbara in 1989. He is FISA & Paralyzed Veterans of America (PVA) Chair and Distinguished Professor of the Department of Rehabilitation Science and Technology, and professor of Bioengineering, Mechanical Engineering, Physical Medicine & Rehab, and Orthopedic Surgery at the University of Pittsburgh. Dr. Cooper is Founding Director and VA Senior Research Career Scientist of the VA Rehabilitation Research and Development Center of Excellence in Pittsburgh. He is also the Co-Director of the NSF Quality of Life Technology Engineering Research Center, a joint effort between the University of Pittsburgh and Carnegie Mellon University.

He is the Editor of the journal Assistive Technology and the AT Research Book Series of IOS Press. Dr. Cooper serves or has served on the editorial boards of several prominent peer-reviewed journals in the fields of rehabilitation and bioengineering. He has received multiple prestigious awards to include the Olin Teague Award, Paul Magnuson Award, U.S. Army Outstanding Civilian Service Medal, James Peters Award, Maxwell J. Schleifer Award,DaVinci Lifetime Achievement Award, Veteran’s Leadership Program Veteran of the Year, and a member of the inaugural class of the Spinal Cord Injury Hall of Fame. Dr. Cooper has authored or co-authored over 200 peer-reviewed journal publications. He has ten patents awarded or pending. Dr. Cooper is the author of two books: Rehabilitation Engineering Applied to Mobility and Manipulation and Wheelchair Selection and Configuration, and co-editor of An Introduction to Rehabilitation Engineering, Care of the Combat Amputee, and the Warrior Transition Leader Medical Rehabilitation Handbook. Dr. Cooper is an elected Fellow of the Rehabilitation Engineering and Assistive Technology Society of North America (RESNA), the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), the American Institute of Medical and Biological Engineering (AIMBE), and the Biomedical Engineering Society (BMES). Dr. Cooper has been an invited lecturer at many institutions around the world, for example the National Academies of Sciences Distinctive Voices Lecture, and was awarded Honorary Professor at The Hong Kong Polytechnic University and Xi’an Jiatong University. He has also been elected to Eta Kappa Nu, Tau Beta Pi, and Sigma Xi honorary societies.   

Dr. Cooper is a former President of RESNA, and a member of the RESNA/ANSI and ISO Wheelchair Standards Committees, and IEEE-EMBS Medical Device Standards Committee. In 1988, he was a bronze medalist in the Paralympic Games, Seoul, Republic of Korea. He was on the steering committee for the 1996 Paralympic Scientific Congress held in Atlanta, GA, and the Sports Scientist for the 2008 U.S. Paralympic Team in Beijing, China. In 2009, Dr. Cooper was featured on a Cheerios cereal box for his many achievements. He has been a member of the U.S. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services – Medicare Advisory Committee, Steering Committee of the Academy of PM&R on Research Capacity Building. and Chair of the National Advisory Board on Medical Rehabilitation Research, National Institute of Child Health & Human Development, and National Academy of Sciences Keck Foundation Initiative on Human Health Span Steering Committee. Dr. Cooper is a U.S. Army veteran with a spinal cord injury and a Director of the Paralyzed Veterans of America Research Foundation. He currently serves as a member of the U.S. Secretary of Veterans Affairs Prosthetics & Special Disability Programs Advisory Committee, U.S. Department of Defense Health Board Subcommittee on Amputation and Orthopedics, and the Board of Directors of Easter Seals. Dr. Cooper has actively collaborated with the Indian Spinal Injuries Centre on increasing access to quality services and devices for people with disabilities in India and throughout developing countries.

COL Paul F. Pasquina

PAUL F. PASQUINA, MD

Colonel (RET), U.S. Army Medical Corps
Residency Director and Chair, Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation  
Director, Center for Rehabilitation Sciences Research
Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences
Walter Reed National Military Medical Center

Contact Information
Center for Rehabilitation Sciences Research
Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences
Walter Reed National Military Medical Center
8901 Wisconsin Ave.
Bethesda, MD 20889 
Paul.F.Pasquina.mil@health.mil

 

Paul F. Pasquina, M.D. is the Residency Director and Chair, Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation and Director of the Center for Rehabilitation Sciences Research at Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences, Walter Reed National Military Medical Center.  Dr. Pasquina retired from the United States Army Medical Corps in 2012 as Chief of the Department of Orthopaedics and Rehabilitation at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center and the Director of the Center for Rehabilitation Sciences Research (CRSR) at the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences (USUHS).   He is a graduate of the United States Military Academy at West Point and USUHS.  In addition to being board certified in Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation (PM&R), he is also board certified in Electrodiagnostic Medicine and Pain Medicine.  He completed a fellowship in sports medicine and remains interested in all aspects of musculoskeletal medicine especially as it applies to individuals with disabilities. 

He is the specialty consultant to the Army Surgeon General for Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation and a Secretarial appointee on the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Advisory Committee for Prosthetics and Special Disabilities Programs.  Dr. Pasquina has authored multiple book chapters, journal articles and policy papers.  He has served as the PM&R Residency Program Director and Medical Advisor to the North Atlantic Regional Medical Command for quality healthcare. He has received multiple military awards, as well as awards for teaching and mentorship, including the U.S. Army’s “A” Proficiency Designation for academic excellence, the Order of Military Medical Merit, and Honorary Fellow of the Rehabilitation Engineering and Assistive Technology Society of North America (RESNA).


Guest Faculty and Presenters 

Dr. Richard W. Thomas

Dr. Richard W. Thomas

President

Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences

 



Dr. Richard W. Thomas is the sixth President of the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences. As president, Dr. Thomas is responsible for the academic, research and service mission of the university. He advises the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Health Affairs and the four Surgeons General on a wide array of issues related to graduate health professions education and healthcare research. Dr. Thomas retired from the Army in May 2016 at the rank of Major General. He is a physician and dentist whose last assignment was as Chief Medical Officer and Director of the Defense Health Agency Healthcare Operations Directorate.  Dr. Thomas graduated from West Virginia University (WVU) on an ROTC scholarship in 1981. He is a graduate of the WVU School of Dentistry and served in the U.S. Army Dental Corps before receiving his Doctor of Medicine degree from the WVU School of Medicine in 1994. He earned a master’s degree in Strategic Studies from the U.S. Army War College in 2006. He completed his internship at Brooke Army Medical Center, Fort Sam Houston, Texas, and residency in Otolaryngology/Head and Neck Surgery at Madigan Army Medical Center, Fort Lewis, Washington.

Dr. Brad Dicianno

Dr. Brad Dicianno

Medical Director

Human Engineering Research Laboratories

dicianno@pitt.edu

 

 

Dr. Brad Dicianno is the HERL Medical Director and Associate Professor in the Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation at the University Of Pittsburgh Medical Center. Clinically, he treats the assistive technology and rehabilitation needs of individuals with complex disabilities including spina bifida. His research interests focus on developing and studying interventions targeted to improving health and wellness in individuals with complex disabilities (wheelchairs, adaptive sports, telemedicine, virtual reality, and preventative care programs). Brad graduated from the University of Pittsburgh with a BS in Evolutionary Biology and a BA in the History and Philosophy of Science and from the University Of Pittsburgh School Of Medicine with his medical doctorate.  He completed residency in the Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center where he served as chief resident. He then completed an NIH fellowship within the Rehabilitation Medicine Scientist Training Program and obtained a Master’s Degree in Bioengineering.

Steve Spohn

Steve Spohn

Chief Operating Officer

Able Gamers

steve@ablegamers.com

Steve Spohn is the Chief Operations Officer and Community Outreach Director for AbleGamers charity, award-winning author, and advocate for people with disabilities. Featured on CNN, NBC and other mainstream news outlets as an assistive technology and game accessibility expert, Steven brings all his knowledge and much more to championing for people with disabilities in the video game space as a means of defeating social isolation. Steve has also traveled the country speaking at various prestigious events. When not writing or doing charity work, you can find him gaming, reading the latest sci-fi novels or cracking jokes on social media — @StevenSpohn or Facebook.com/StevenSpohn. He currently resides outside of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania with his fluffy white cat and new sheltie puppy.  

Sheryl Flynn, PhD

Sheryl Flynn, PhD

Founder & CEO

Blue Marble Rehab Inc.

sheryl@bluemarblehealthco.com

 

 

Dr. Sheryl Flynn is the co-founder and CEO of Blue Marble Health, a wellness and rehabilitation software platform. The platform addresses the healthcare triple aim; to improve patient satisfaction, improve outcomes and lower cost; by enabling providers to track and remotely monitor progress while empowering the users to adhere to cognitive and physical exercise programs. Blue Marble is actively piloting the platform with healthcare organizations, and providers to demonstrate the population health management value proposition. Blue Marble has received over $8M from the DOD and NIH to develop the platform. Dr. Flynn received her Physical Therapy degree from New York University, and she completed a PhD in motor learning along with a 3-year postdoctoral fellowship at the McKnight Brain Institute at the University of Florida. Her academic research focused on the use of technology, specifically video games, to motivate adherence to exercise programs. She lectures nationally and internationally on the use of technology in rehabilitation.

Dr. Flynn is the recipient of numerous prestigious awards for academic achievement, leadership and service; is a reviewer for NIH and a manuscript reviewer for several scientific journals. She is a graduate of the Babson College Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small Businesses Program, Google Next Program, DOD and NIH LARTA program, HealthBox Accelerator and Circular Board Incubator for female CEOs. Dr. Flynn is most proud of her team and the tremendous accomplishments they have achieved in building the Blue Marble Health Platform.

Alex Bowers, PhD

Alex Bowers, PhD

Associate Scientist 

Schepens Eye Research Institute / Harvard Medical School

alex_bowers@meei.harvard.edu

 

 

Alex Bowers, MC (Optom), PhD is a research scientist whose primary focus is low vision assessment and rehabilitation. She has made significant contributions to the field as an Optometrist in clinical practice in the UK, as well as an educator and researcher, first at Glasgow Caledonian University and, currently, at Schepens. Her achievements were recognized in 2010 when she was awarded the Borish Outstanding Young Researcher Award from the American Academy of Optometry. In 2013, Dr. Bowers received the prestigious Low Vision Research Award from Envision University, which provides multidisciplinary continuing education and research opportunities for low vision rehabilitation professionals. Dr. Bowers devotes the majority of her time to research, which includes the supervision and mentoring of trainees within the research environment.

A major focus of Dr. Bowers’ research has been the implementation of assessment tools in a high-fidelity driving simulator to enable systematic evaluations of drivers with a range of vision impairments. Two studies of drivers with hemianopia resulted in a series of four papers in Investigative Ophthalmology and Visual Science, with fifth in preparation. These studies have also resulted in numerous invited conference presentations. A study of drivers with central visual field loss has provided the first data to demonstrate the extent to which a blind area in central vision can delay detection of hazards when driving, and was highlighted in an editorial in JAMA Ophthalmology


 

 

Levi Hargrove, PhD

Levi Hargrove, PhD

Associate Professor of Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation

Feinberg School of Medicine

Northwestern University

l-hargrove@northwestern.edu

 

Levi J. Hargrove, PhD, P.Eng, received his MScE and PhD in Electrical Engineering from the University of New Brunswick (2005, 2008). He is currently the Associate Director of Center for Bionic Medicine at the Shirley Ryan AbilityLab, formerly the Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago (RIC), and an Associate Professor in the Departments of Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation and the McCormick School of Engineering at Northwestern University. His research interests include signal processing, pattern recognition, and myoelectric control of powered prostheses. A major goal of his research is to develop clinically realizable myoelectric control systems that can be made available to persons with limb loss in the near future. In 2012, Dr. Hargrove co-founded Coapt, a company to commercialize control algorithms for prosthetics and orthotics. His research addresses all levels of amputation and has been published in the Journal of the American Medical Association and the New England Journal of Medicine and multiple patents. Key projects include the development of advanced and adaptive control systems for prosthetic legs, improving control of robotic hand prostheses, and intramuscular EMG signal processing.  

Dennis M. Levi, PhD

Dennis M. Levi, PhD

Professor of Vision Science and Optometry

Dean of Optometry

University of California, Berkeley

dlevi@berkeley.edu

 

 

 

Dennis Levi, O.D., Ph.D. is Professor of Optometry and Vision Science at UC Berkeley. He served as Dean of the School of Optometry from 2001 – 2014. His research on amblyopia and spatial vision has been continuously funded by the National Eye Institute (NEI) since 1976, and he has published over 275 scientific papers and two books. Levi served as Chair of the Vis B. study section, and was a member of the Strabismus, Amblyopia & Visual Processing Panel of the National Eye Institute. He also served on the National Research Council (NAS) Committee on Disability Determination for Visual Impairments. He currently serves on the National Advisory Eye Council. Levi served as Editor-In-Chief and Chairman of the Board of Vision Research from 2004-2012, and was elected as Editor-In-Chief of Journal of Vision from 2013-2018. He also serves on a number of other Editorial Boards, including, Ophthalmic and Physiological Optics, Scientific Reports and Annual Reviews of Vision Science. Levi was elected Fellow of the Optical Society of America for his research contributions in the areas of amblyopia and spatial vision. He has received numerous awards including the Glenn Fry Award, the Garland Clay Award and the Prentice Medal from the American Academy of Optometry, and most recently the 2016 Edgar D. Tillyer Award from the Optical Society of America. 

Emily Keshner, PT, Ed.D

Emily Keshner, PT, Ed.D

Professor and Department Chair

Virtual Environment and Postural Orientation Laboratory

Temple University

emily.keshner@temple.edu

Dr. Emily Keshner Emily Keshner received her Certificate in Physical Therapy at the College of Physicians and Surgeons, Columbia University. She received her doctoral degree in Movement Science at Teachers College, Columbia University. She then pursued postdoctoral fellowships at the University of Oregon and the University Hospital in Basel, Switzerland; both in the area of postural control in healthy and vestibular deficient adults. Following that Keshner was a Research Associate in the Dept. of Physiology, Northwestern University, where she performed both animal and human research. She then worked as a Research Scientist in the Sensory Motor Performance Program at the Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago with a faculty position in the Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation at Northwestern University until she came to Temple University in 2006.  Keshner has been continuously funded from the National Institutes of Health since 1989. She currently teaches in the PhD program in the Department of Physical Therapy. 

Judith E. Deutsch, PT, PhD

Judith E. Deutsch, PT, PhD

Director

RiVERS (Research in Virtual Environments and Rehabilitation Sciences) Lab

Rutgers University

deutsch@shp.rutgers.edu

 

Judith E. Deutsch PT PhD FAPTA received her BA in Human Biology from Stanford, her MS in Physical Therapy from USC and her PhD in Pathokinesiology from NYU. She completed a post-doctoral fellowship in Rehabilitation Research at UMDNJ. Dr. Deutsch is Professor and Director of the Research in Virtual Environments and Rehabilitation Sciences (Rivers) Lab in the Doctoral Programs in Physical Therapy at the Rutgers Biomedical and Health Sciences. Her current research includes the development and testing of virtual reality, and off-the shelf gaming systems to improve functional mobility and fitness of individuals with neurologic conditions and knowledge translation relative to evidence based practice and adoption of video games in practice. She is the immediate past-Editor in Chief of the Journal of Neurologic Physical Therapy and a member of the Editorial Boards of the Journal of Neural Engineering Research and Games for Health. The AHA, NSF and NIH fund her work.

Pinata H. Sessoms, PhD

Pinata H. Sessoms, PhD

Director, Physical and Cognitive Operational Research Environment

Naval Health Research center (NHRC)

pinata.h.sessoms.civ@mail.mil

 

 

Dr. Pinata Sessoms is a Research Biomedical Engineer and Biomechanist, as well as the director of the Physical and Cognitive Operational Research Environment (PhyCORE) laboratory within the Warfighter Performance Department at the Naval Health Research Center (NHRC).  She earned her B.S.E. in Biomedical Engineering from Duke University and received her M.S. and Ph.D. in Biomedical Engineering at Northwestern University.  Dr. Sessoms leads a team of engineers, project managers, and research assistants, on a multitude of projects spanning rehabilitation of the warfighter to operational performance and injury prevention.  These projects focus primarily on performance, assessment, and rehabilitation of the Warfighter, where virtual reality technology and advanced clinical care are combined to treat a variety of patients including those with vestibular dysfunction, lower limb injury and amputation, and motion sickness.  In addition to her work at NHRC, she is a lecturer and adjunct professor at San Diego State University and serves on several working groups related to military operational medicine and clinical and rehabilitative medicine.

Alison L. Pruziner, PT, DPT, ATC

Alison L. Pruziner, PT, DPT, ATC

Research Physical Therapist

Walter Reed National Military Medical Center

alison.l.pruziner.civ@mail.mil

 

 

Dr. Alison Pruziner is a Research Physical Therapist with the Extremity Trauma and Amputation Center of Excellence at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center. She earned her Doctorate of Physical Therapy from Duke University and is currently a practicing therapist and researcher who is helping drive the development of evidence based practice within the Department of Rehabilitation. Dr. Pruziner currently leads multiple projects that utilize advanced technologies and are aimed at identifying assessments and interventions that can have immediate and long-term impacts on a service members’ quality of life. She is also an assistant professor in the Department of Rehabilitation Medicine at the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences.

Christopher A. Rábago, PT, PhD

Christopher A. Rábago, PT, PhD

Research Physical Therapist

Extremity Trauma and Amputation Center of Excellence

Center for the Intrepid

Christopher.A.Rabago.civ@mail.mil

 

Dr. Christopher A. Rábago is a Research Physical Therapist with the Extremity Trauma and Amputation Center of Excellence at the Center for the Intrepid. He earned a PhD in biomedical engineering while at the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio where he also received a Masters in Physical Therapy.  He also holds a Masters in Biomechanics from the University of Texas at Austin.  He is a practicing physical therapist and researcher in the Military Performance Laboratory at the Center for the Intrepid where a majority of his patient referrals are for biomechanical motion analyses and virtual reality based interventions.  He is a lead investigator on multiple funded projects ranging from the evaluation of novel prosthetic devices to the development of Virtual Reality-based and Serious Game-based treatment interventions; all with the goal of returning injured service members to their highest level of functioning. He is also an adjunct professor at the U.S. Army-Baylor University Doctoral Program in Physical Therapy and the University of Texas Health Science Center Medical School.

Michael J. Roy, MD, MPH, FACP

Michael J. Roy, MD, MPH, FACP

Director of the Division of Military Internal Medicine

Uniformed Services University

michael.j.roy.civ@mail.mil

 

 

Dr. Christopher A. Rábago is a Research Physical Therapist with the Extremity Trauma and Amputation Center of Excellence at the Center for the Intrepid. He earned a PhD in biomedical engineering while at the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio where he also received a Masters in Physical Therapy.  He also holds a Masters in Biomechanics from the University of Texas at Austin.  He is a practicing physical therapist and researcher in the Military Performance Laboratory at the Center for the Intrepid where a majority of his patient referrals are for biomechanical motion analyses and virtual reality based interventions.  He is a lead investigator on multiple funded projects ranging from the evaluation of novel prosthetic devices to the development of Virtual Reality-based and Serious Game-based treatment interventions; all with the goal of returning injured service members to their highest level of functioning. He is also an adjunct professor at the U.S. Army-Baylor University Doctoral Program in Physical Therapy and the University of Texas Health Science Center Medical School.

Faculty Disclosure

No members of the planning committee, speakers, presenters, authors, content reviewers and/or anyone else in a position to control the content of this education activity have relevant financial relationships with any proprietary entity producing, marketing, re-selling, or distributing health care goods or services, used on, or consumed by, patients to disclose.   

 

CME Accreditation and Designation Statement 

This activity has been planned and implemented in accordance with the accreditation requirements and policies of the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME) through the joint providership of University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine and the Center for Rehabilitation Science Research at the Uniformed Services University for the Health Science. The University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine is accredited by the ACCME to provide continuing medical education for physicians

The University Of Pittsburgh School Of Medicine designates this live activity for a maximum of 6.5 AMA PRA Category 1 Credits™. Physicians should claim only the credit commensurate with the extent of their participation in the activity.

Other health care professionals are awarded 0.6 continuing education units (CEU’s) which are equal to 6.5 contact hours.

 

Disclaimer Statement

The information presented at this CME program represents the views and opinions of the individual presenters, and does not constitute the opinion or endorsement of, or promotion by, the UPMC Center for Continuing Education in the Health Sciences, UPMC / University of Pittsburgh Medical Center or Affiliates and University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences or the Department of Defense.  Reasonable efforts have been taken intending for educational subject matter to be presented in a balanced, unbiased fashion and in compliance with regulatory requirements. However, each program attendee must always use his/her own personal and professional judgment when considering further application of this information, particularly as it may relate to patient diagnostic or treatment decisions including, without limitation, FDA-approved uses and any off-label uses.