Rehab Sciences Alumni

	Ashley Collimore, PhD is a postdoctoral fellow in the Physical Therapy department at Boston University. Her research goals are to create and evaluate accessible assistive and rehabilitative technologies targeting walking for individuals with neurological conditions. Her current project is focused on investigating use of a body-weight support harness for improving mobility in infants with Down Syndrome.
	Ariel Schwartz, PhD, OTR/L, is a Research Assistant Professor and the Director of the UNH-4U program at the Institute on Disability at the University of New Hampshire. She is committed to advancing knowledge about the use of inclusive/participatory research approaches with individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities. She is also pursuing research that addresses the unmet needs of individuals with intellectual/developmental disabilities who have co-occurring mental health conditions. In this area, she has conducted research related to peer-delivered intervention and employment. Schwartz has also contributed to the development of an accessible patient-reported outcome measure (the PEDI-PRO) for young adults with intellectual/developmental disabilities and co-developed a framework of cognitive accessibility for patient-reported outcome measures.
	Danny Shin, PhD, MOT, is a postdoctoral research fellow in the department of Mechanical Engineering at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, MI. His research focuses on the use of wearable technologies to assess fall prevention interventions.
	Cristina Colón-Semenza, PT, MPT, PhD, is an Assistant Professor at the University of Connecticut in the Doctor of Physical Therapy program. Dr. Colón-Semenza is focused upon determining best strategies to enhance the use of physical activity and physical therapy in the management of neurodegenerative diseases, specifically in underrepresented groups. Additionally, she is interested in physical therapy management of mental health conditions. She is active in the American Physical Therapy Association nationally and locally. Through the APTA Connecticut chapter, she chairs the DEI committee and Neurologic Physical Therapy Special Interest Group. She is a board member of the Connecticut chapter of the American Parkinson Disease Association and a member of the DEI Action Group Network with the Ujima Institute.
	Daekyoo Kim, PhD, is a postdoctoral fellow in the Department of Biomedical Engineering at Case Western Reserve University (CWRU) in Cleveland, OH. His research focuses on the use of neuroprostheses to restore sensorimotor function in unilateral lower-limb amputees.
	I-Ting Hwang, PhD, OT, is an Assistant Professor of the Department of Occupational Therapy at the National Cheng Kung University in Taiwan. She is interested in the lived experiences of individuals with disabilities, parents of children with disabilities, and individuals with suicidal thoughts and self-harm behavior. Her current research projects focus on exploring such experiences using qualitative approaches and developing remote interventions that may facilitate individuals’ participation and mental health using a co-design approach. Click here to learn more about her lab.
	Jasin Wong, MS, PhD, is a postdoctoral fellow in the Center for Rehabilitation Outcomes Research, Shirley Ryan Ability Lab at the Feinberg School of Medicine at Northwestern University. Wong assists with eight research projects focusing on (1) providing national leadership on the critical need of employment of persons with physical disabilities, (2) understanding contextual challenges and supports in transition to adulthood for youth and young adults with brachial plexus injury, and (3) using motivational interviews to improve therapy participation for patients with Parkinson’s disease and spinal cord injury. Her research is funded by the National Institute on Disability, Independent Living, and Rehabilitation Research (NIDILRR), National Institutes of Health (NIH), and the Craig H. Nielsen Foundation.
	Jing-Sheng, PT, PhD, is a postdoctoral scholar at the University of Washington and RR&D Center for Limb Loss and MoBility, Department of Veterans Affairs. He is conducting a clinical trial of footwear on patients with ankle osteoarthritis using the biplane fluoroscopy imaging. He is also expanding his expertise in 3D printing technology and robotics in the rehabilitation field.
	Kari McKenzie (Loverro), PhD, EP-C, is a research physiologist on the Biomechanics and Engineering Team at the US Army Combat Capabilities Development Command Soldier Center. She is currently a principal investigator on two projects. First, she is investigating the impacts of neurostimulation on muscle performance in soldier populations. She is also investigating if individual traits of soldiers affect performance during and recovery from a simulated 72-hour mission scenario.
	Elizabeth Munsell, MS, PhD, is the Research Director for Occupational Therapy at Pearson where she directs the development of clinical assessments used worldwide by clinicians and researchers. Dr. Munsell received her masters in Occupational Therapy and PhD in Rehabilitation Sciences at Boston University Sargent College of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences and completed a post-doctoral fellowship at the Center for Rehabilitation Outcomes Research at Shirley Ryan AbilityLab and the Center for Education in Health Sciences at Feinberg School of Medicine of Northwestern University. She has clinical occupational therapy experience in several settings including public school-based therapy, community life skills programs, and acute rehabilitation. Her research interests focus on measuring outcomes and assessment development with a particular focus on understanding the needs of youth with neurodevelopmental disabilities entering adulthood and how to assess meaningful transition outcomes to inform clinical intervention.
	Other Alumni: Sam Abplanalp Rawan Al Heresh Jennifer Chen Chitra Khare Anne Khuu Aileen Ledingham Kendra Liljenquist Mario Munoz Xiaolin Ren Peter Stein Joshua Tanor Richard Vartanian Sigal Vax Molly Vaughan