Human Engineering Research Labs | More than three decades of innovation - from HERL to the world.

Biography

Nithin Ayiluri is a computer engineer at the Human Engineering Research Laboratories (HERL) assisting faculty, researchers and staff on software projects. He has over four years of professional experience working in startups and enterprises. Ayiluri has participated on various large software projects created for web, desktop and mobile platforms as a full stack developer. He earned his Master of Science degree in Computer Science from The University of New Orleans.

andrea.fairman@sru.edu

Biography

Andrea D. Fairman, PhD, MOT, OTR/L, CPRP entered the occupational therapy profession as a Master’s Level OT in 2001 when she became certified and licensed to practice. Now with 20 years+ of clinical experience, she has practiced with both children and adults in a wide variety of clinical settings, including: community mental health, school-based practice, home health, skilled nursing facilities, and in-patient, hospital settings. She presently practices clinically at specialized school called CITE (Center for Individualized Training and Education) located in North Providence, Rhode Island.

In addition to these various clinical practice settings, Dr. Fairman has also served in supervisory and administrative positions. These roles have included the oversight in the development and implementation of several community-based programs and also leading the Spina Bifida Association of Western Pennsylvania as their Executive Director prior to entering academia full-time. In these roles she was responsible for grant writing, program development, personnel management, preparation and oversight of budgets, management and reporting to funding agencies and the governing board of directors.

Dr. Fairman has over 10 years of experience working full-time in academia. Before earning her PhD in Rehabilitation Science and Certificate in Assistive Technology from the University of Pittsburgh in 2013, Dr. Fairman served as the Academic Fieldwork Coordinator (AFWC) and Assistant Professor at Philadelphia University from Jan. 2012 – July 2013. Once Dr. Fairman completed her PhD, she accepted a tenure track position as Assistant Professor at Duquesne University in Pittsburgh, PA, and then moved to MGH Institute of Health Professions (IHP) in Boston, MA, as an Associate Professor in July 2015 - December 2019. She served as the Program Director of a newly developed Occupational Therapy Doctoral (OTD) Program at Slippery Rock University. Dr. Fairman currently serves as the Capstone Coordinator and Associate Professor of Johnson & Wales University OTD Program in Providence, RI. She has developed and taught a wide variety of courses reflective of her diverse experiences and skill set.

Dr. Fairman also has extensive evidence of scholarship including over 30 publications and numerous professional presentations at international, national, state and local conferences. She is one of the inventors of the Interactive Mobile Health and Rehabilitation (iMHere) system which has been further refined and tested with the support millions of dollars of support provided by grant funding for this research and development over the past 10 years. Dr. Fairman’s research interests are focused on how technology can help to support persons with disabilities and chronic conditions. She has worked extensively with mobile health (mHealth) and technologies to support persons in the home and community settings.

bec87@pitt.edu

Office: (412) 822-3700

njg29@pitt.edu

Office: (412) 822-3664

shs220@pitt.edu

Biography

Shantanu A. Satpute, M.S. is a currently a graduate student researcher at the Human Engineering Research Laboratories. He is working towards his Ph.D. in Bioengineering at the University of Pittsburgh.

Shantanu received his Bachelor of Engineering degree in Electronics and Telecommunications from the University of Pune, India. He received his M.S. in Bioengineering from the University of Pittsburgh where he worked in the Visualization and Image Analysis (VIA) Laboratory, developing an assistive device for people deprived of sight. His research interests include haptics, computer vision, human-computer interaction, development of assistive technologies and ideation, and prototyping of medical devices.

emurphy@pitt.edu

Biography

Emily Murphy MPAS, PA-C is the Vice Chair for Academic and Administrative Affairs and an Assistant Professor in the Department of Physician Assistant Studies. She is also the Director of the Physician Assistant Studies Program. She joined SHRS in 2009 at the program's inception. Murphy graduated from Saint Francis University in 2005 with her Master of Physician Assistant Science degree. Her main role in the PA Studies Program is Clinical Coordinator, and she also teaches the Introduction to the PA Profession course. Her clinical background is in Neurosurgery and Interventional Radiology. Murphy currently holds a clinical appointment in Addiction Medicine.

dbeck@pitt.edu

Biography

David Beck MPAS is the inaugural chair of the Department of Physician Assistant Studies. He has served the PA Studies Program as Director and as Academic Coordinator. He earned his BS and MPAS at Saint Francis University. His research interests are in the areas of quality and process improvement in physician assistant education and the professional development of health care practitioners.

MJM385@pitt.edu

Biography

Matt holds a bachelor's degree in psychology from West Virginia University and graduated from the University of Pittsburgh with a bachelor's in actuarial mathematics. He is a Data Curator working at HERL and within the Dept. of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation at the Univ. of Pittsburgh School of Medicine.

lzhou1@pitt.edu

Biography

Leming Zhou, PhD is associate professor within the Department of Health Information Management. He also holds secondary appointments in the Department of Bioengineering in the School of Engineering and McGowan Institute for Regenerative Medicine. His current research focus is in the areas of information integration, data analytics, health IT system development, and comparative genomics. Zhou's research goal is to provide computational methods and tools to facilitate high quality and low cost healthcare services.

rag53@pitt.edu

Biography

Robert Gaunt, PhD is an Assistant Professor in Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation at the University of Pittsburgh. Robert earned a B.Eng. degree in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Victoria (Victoria BC, Canada) and a Ph.D. in Biomedical Engineering at the University of Alberta (Edmonton AB, Canada) in 2008. He completed his postdoctoral training with Doug Weber at the University of Pittsburgh. His primary research interests are in the area of sensorimotor control and the development and translation of advanced neuroprosthetic devices. Active research topics include developing novel neural interfaces to regulate bladder function, developing prosthetic control systems for amputees that enable dexterous hand movements through implanted myoelectric interfaces, and developing bidirectional implantable brain machine interfaces to restore movement and sensation to people with upper-limb paralysis. He holds a number of patents and his work has been covered by numerous national and international media outlets.