Mentored research is the backbone of the CADRRE program. All scholars are matched with a Lead Mentor from the University of Florida (UF) or the University of Southern California (USC). Lead Mentors are senior investigators with extensive histories of publications, funded research, and mentorship. They provide expert scientific guidance, coordinate the mentoring team, and play a central role in supporting the Scholar’s career development. Scholars based at partner institutions, also have an Institutional Mentor who provides complimentary content expertise, critical institutional knowledge, and supports the scholar’s development as a successful independent investigator.
Additionally, Scholars have the support of an Interdisciplinary Research Team who serve as an advisory committee to the Lead Mentor and Institutional Mentor, as appropriate.
Lead Mentors are matched to scholars based on alignment of research interests and career development goals.
| Lead Mentors | Institution | Title | Expertise |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lisa Aziz-Zadeh, PhD | USC | Professor, Department of Psychology | RN, PNDD |
| Karla Ausderau, PhD, OTR/L, FAOTA | USC | Professor of Occupational Science and Occupational Therapy | |
| Grace Baranek, PhD, OTR/L, FAOTA | USC | Associate Dean, Chair and Professor of Occupational Science and Occupational Therapy | PNDD |
| Mark Bishop, PT, PhD, FAPTA | UF | Professor and Director, Doctor of Physical Therapy Program | RN, ACC, MSF |
| Barry Byrne, MD, PhD | UF | Professor and Director Powell Gene Therapy Center | RN, MSF, PNDD |
| Evangelos Christou, PhD | UF | Professor, Applied Physiology & Kinesiology; Director of Human Motor Neuroscience Lab | RN, ACC,MSF |
| David Clark, ScD | UF | Professor, Neurology | RN |
| Manuela Corti, PT, PhD | UF | Associate Professor, Pediatrics | MSF, PNDD |
| Sean Curran, PhD | USC | Professor and Chair of Gerontology; Dean of Faculty and Research | ACC |
| Stacey Dusing, PT, PhD, FAPTA | USC | Professor in Pediatric Health and Development; Chair in Pediatric Physical Therapy | PNDD |
| Daniel Ferris, PhD | UF | Professor of Engineering Innovation; Director, Center for Engineering Human Performance and Wellness | RN, MSF |
| Roger Fillingim, PhD | UF | Distinguished Professor in the College of Dentistry; Associate Dean of Planning and Institutional Effectiveness; Director of the UF Pain Research and Intervention Center of Excellence. | RN, ACC |
| James Finley, PhD | USC | Associate Professor, Department of Biokinesiology and Physical Therapy | RN |
| Sean Forbes, PhD | UF | Associate Professor, Department of Physical Therapy | PNDD, MSF |
| Emily Fox, PT, PhD | UF | Associate Professor, Department of Physical Therapy; Director of Neuromuscular Research at Brooks Rehabilitation | RN, ACC |
| David Fuller, PhD | UF | Associate Dean for Research; Associate Director of the BREATHE Center | RN, MSF, PNDD |
| Elisa Gonzalez-Rothi, PT, PhD | UF | Associate Professor, Department of Physical Therapy | RN |
| Marientina Gotsis, MFA | USC | Professor, Practice of Cinematic Arts | RN |
| Karen Hegland, Ph.D., CCC-SLP | UF | Associate Professor, Speech, Language and Hearing Sciences; Director MA Communication Sciences & Disorders | RN |
| Benjamin Henwood, PhD | USC | Professor of Social Policy and Health; Director, Center for Homelessness, Housing and Health Equity Research; Director, Homelessness Policy Research Institute | ACC |
| Andrew Judge, PhD | UF | Professor, Department of Physical Therapy | MSF |
| Jessica Kramer, PhD, OTR/L | UF | Associate Professor and Associate Chair for Research Department of Occupational Therapy | ACC |
| Jason Kutch, PhD | USC | Professor, Department of Biokinesiology and Physical Therapy | RN |
| Christiaan Leeuwenburgh, PhD | UF | Professor and Vice Chair of Research, Aging and Geriatrics; Director CTSI Professional Development | MSF |
| Sook-Lei Liew, PhD, OTR/L, FAOTA | USC | Professor, Occupational Science and Occupational Therapy; Director of the PhD Program in Occupational Science | RN |
| Pat Levitt, PhD | USC | Professor in Neurogenetics Department of Pediatrics, Keck School of Medicine of USC; Chief Scientific Officer, Senior Vice President and Director, The Saban Research Institute Simms/Mann; Chair in Developmental Neurogenetics Children’s Hospital Los Angeles | PNDD |
| Gerald E. Loeb, PhD | USC | Professor, Biomedical Engineering and Neurology | RN |
| Todd Manini, PhD | UF | Professor; Division Chief of Clinical and Population Health Integration; Co-Director of the Claude D. Pepper Older Americans Independence Center | ACC |
| Amy Merrill-Brugger, PhD | USC | Associate Professor and Chair, Department of Biomedical Sciences, Herman Ostrow School of Dentistry | MSF |
| Lori Michener, PhD, PT, ATC, SCS, FAPTA | USC | Professor, Clinical Scholar Physical Therapy | MSF |
| Gordon Mitchell, PhD | UF | Professor and Director of the UF BREATHE Center | RN |
| Shrikanth (Shri) Narayanan, PhD | USC | Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Computer Science, Linguistics, Psychology, Pediatrics, and Otolaryngology; Chair in Engineering | PNDD |
| Michael Okun, MD | UF | Director, Norman Fixel Institute for Neurological Diseases | RN |
| Bobbi Pineda, PhD, OTR/L, CNT | USC | Associate Professor, Occupational Science and Occupational Therapy | PNDD |
| Federico Pozzi, PhD | UF | Associate Professor, Department of Physical Therapy | MSF, ACC |
| Catherine Price, Ph.D., ABPP | UF | Professor, Department of Clinical and Health Psychology | RN |
| Beth Pyatak, PhD, OTR/L, CDCES, LRC, FAOTA | USC | Associate Professor, Occupational Science and Occupational Therapy; Director of the Lifestyle Redesign® Knowledge Mobilization Initiative | ACC |
| Shawn Roll, OTR/L, FAOTA, FAIUM | USC | Professor, Occupational Science and Occupational Therapy; Director of Research Training and Development | MSF |
| Dorian Rose, PT, PhD, FAPTA | UF | Research Professor, Department of Physical Therapy | RN, MSF |
| Barbara Sargent, PT, PhD, | USC | Associate Professor of Clinical Physical Therapy; Co-Director, USC/CHLA Pediatric Physical Therapy Residency Program | PNDD |
| Nicholas Schweighofer, PhD | USC | Professor, Department of Biokinesiology & Physical Therapy | RN |
| Rachael Seidler, PhD | UF | Professor, Department of Applied Physiology and Kinesiology | RN, MSF |
| Beth Smith, PT, DPT, PhD | USC | Associate Professor of Pediatrics; Director, Infant Neuromotor Control Laboratory | PNDD |
| Leah Stein Duker, PhD, OTR/L | USC | Associate Professor of Occupational Science and Occupational Therapy | PNDD |
| David Vaillancourt, PhD | UF | Chair and Distinguished Professor, Department of Applied Physiology and Kinesiology | RN |
| Thomas W. Valente, PhD | USC | Professor of Population and Public Health Sciences | ACC |
| Francisco Valero-Cuevas, PhD | USC | Professor, Department of Biokinesiology & Physical Therapy | RSN |
| Krista Vandenborne, PT, PhD | UF | Professor and Chair; Department of Physical Therapy | MSF, PNDD |
| Carol Winstein, PT, PhD, FAPTA | USC | Professor Emerita, Department of Biokinesiology & Physical Therapy | RN |
Key
RN – Rehabilitation Neuroscience: Work helps to understand, develop, and optimize new rehabilitation approaches for persons with neurologic injury (such as stroke, traumatic brain and spinal cord injury) and neurodegenerative conditions such as Parkinson’s disease.
PNDD – Pediatrics and Neuromuscular Developmental Disorders: Work helps to understand, optimize, and develop new rehabilitation approaches for conditions which impair development and movement in children such as muscular dystrophies or autism.
MSF – Musculoskeletal Structure and Function in Health and Disease: Work includes the study of human biomechanics, optimizing muscle imaging as a prognostic tool, and cancer related muscle wasting (“cachexia”).
ACC – Aging and Chronic Conditions, including Health Services and Community Participation: Work focuses on the impact of ageing and chronic health conditions on neurological and neuromuscular function.
