Program Faculty
The faculty mentors selected for this training program are skilled in building multidisciplinary collaboration.
The faculty mentors selected for this training program know how to build multidisciplinary collaboration as they have successfully brought together professionals from diverse fields for similar initiatives. They believe that cohesive groups are built on mutual respect, support, and shared opportunity and reward. Measures of their effectiveness include:
- their continued success at recruiting and retaining interdisciplinary research team members;
- the number of publications in which young investigators are given first authorships along with extensive support and mentoring; and
- their ongoing ability to maintain complex research projects in neuroscience with multiple team members.
Both basic and clinical scientists participate in the Neurological and Rehabilitation Sciences Training Program. Many of our program mentors focus primarily on animal models, while others utilize human models of the three program themes:
- basic "mechanisms"
- characterization of pathology
- therapeutic intervention
| Name/Degree(s) | Rank | Primary (& Secondary) Appointment(s) | Role in Program | Research Interest |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Arnold, Paul M., M.D. | Professor, Vice Chair of Research | School of Medicine, Neurosurgery | Mentor | Complex and degenerative spine disorders |
| Barohn, Richard J., M.D. | Professor & Chair | School of Medicine, Neurology | Mentor | Myopathies, motor neuron disease, neuropathies, and myasthenia gravis |
| Billinger, Sandra, Ph.D., PT, FAHA | Professor | School of Medicine, Neurology | Mentor | Cellular mechanisms that influence vascular function after stroke and how exercise, as a therapeutic intervention, may affect vascular health |
| Brooks, William M., Ph.D. | Professor & Director, Hoglund Brain Imaging Center | School of Medicine, Neurology | Mentor | Brain imaging approaches to CNS disorders, traumatic brain injury & aging |
| Burns, Jeffrey M., M.D. | Professor & Director, Alzheimer and Memory Center | School of Medicine, Neurology | Mentor | Alzheimer's Disease & Brain Aging |
| Cheney, Paul D., Ph.D. | Professor & Chair | School of Medicine, Cell Biology and Physiology | Mentor | Cortical mechanisms of motor function |
| Choi, In-Young, Ph.D. | Associate Professor | School of Medicine, Neurology | Mentor | In vivo imaging of brain energy metabolism |
| Durham, Dianne, Ph.D. | Professor | School of Medicine, Otolaryngology | Mentor | Noise-induced hearing loss |
| Griebling, Tomas L., M.D., MPH | Professor, Assistant Dean | School of Medicine, Urology | Mentor | Geriatric Urology |
| Kluding, Patricia, Ph.D., PT | Professor and Chair | School of Health Professions, Physical Therapy, Rehabilitation Science and Athletic Training | Mentor | Rehabilitation interventions in people with stroke; exercise interventions in people with diabetes |
| Levant, Beth, Ph.D. | Professor | School of Medicine, Pharmacology, Toxicology & Therapeutics | Mentor | Neuropharmacology; Neurochemistry |
| Liu, Wen, Ph.D. | Associate Professor | School of Health Professions, Physical Therapy, Rehabilitation Science and Athletic Training | Mentor | Human Sensorimotor control, Neurological & orthopedic rehabilitation |
| McIff, Terence E., Ph.D., MPPM | Assistant Professor | Orthopedic Surgery, (Physical Therapy & Rehab Science, & Mechanical Engineering) | Mentor | Orthopedics, Extremity War Injuries, Wound Healing, Orthopedic Biomechanics, Trancutaneous Prosthetic Attachment, Bone Fracture and Defect Healing, Fat Embolism, Peripheral Nerve Injury, Surgical Instrument and Implant Design |
| Nudo, Randolph J., Ph.D. | Professor, Director Landon Center on Aging | School of Medicine, Cell Biology and Physiology | Principal Investigator, Mentor, Chair IAC | Motor dysfunction; Mechanisms of stroke recovery; Novel interventions after stroke |
| Siengsukon, Catherine F., PT, Ph.D. | Associate Professor | School of Health Professions, Physical Therapy, Rehabilitation Science and Athletic Training | Mentor | Role of sleep in motor skill learning in individuals with stroke. Understand the sleep characteristics of individuals with stroke and how these sleep characteristics influence overnight skill enhancement. |
| Sharma, Neena, Ph.D., PT | Associate Professor | School of Health Professions, Physical Therapy, Rehabilitation Science and Athletic Training | Mentor | Biochemical and neural mechanisms contributing to chronic pain syndromes and the efficacy of various physical therapy interventions in modulating pain |
| Smirnova, Irina V., Ph.D. | Associate Professor | School of Health Professions, Physical Therapy, Rehabilitation Science and Athletic Training | Mentor, IAC member, Rehab Sci Director | Diabetic heart disease, diabetic neuropathy and benefits of exercise on these diabetic complications; proteomics |
| Smith, Peter G., Ph.D. | Professor and Director, Kansas Intellectual Disabilities Development Research Center | School of Medicine, Cell Biology and Physiology | Mentor | Reproductive physiology; Mechanisms governing neuronal growth and degeneration |
| Staecker, Hinrich, Ph.D. | Professor | Otolaryngology | Mentor | Cochlear implantation effect on the Vestibular Evoked Myogenic Potential (VEMP) and sudden hearing loss-induced tinnitus |
| Stanford, John A., Ph.D. | Associate Professor | School of Medicine, Cell Biology and Physiology | Mentor | Basal ganglia dysfunction in animal models of aging and Parkinson's disease |
| Swerdlow, Russell H., M.D. | Professor | School of Medicine, Neurology (School of Medicine, Molecular and Integrative Physiology) | Mentor, IAC member | Molecular basis of neurodegenerative diseases (Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, ALS) |
| Wright, Douglas E., Ph.D. | Professor | School of Medicine, Anesthesiology | Mentor | Sensory biology; Neurotrophins; Peripheral neuropathy |
| Zhu, Hao, Ph.D. | Professor | School of Health Professions, Clinical Laboratory Sciences | Mentor | Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes; lipid metabolism |