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Biography

Dr. Chris Connaboy is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Sports Medicine and Nutrition, working within the Neuromuscular Research Laboratory and Warrior Human Performance Research Center. Dr. Connaboy completed his Ph.D. in Biomechanics and Motor Control and his MSc in Biomechanics at the University of Edinburgh. Prior to coming to the University of Pittsburgh, Dr. Connaboy worked at the University of Houston, TX and Edinburgh Napier University. Prior to undertaking his academic career, Dr. Connaboy was a soldier in the Black Watch, Royal Highland Regiment in the UK Armed Forces. As a researcher, he has expertise in human performance optimization with a specific focus on movement, coordination and the perceptuo-motor processes involved in performing skilled actions in elite soldiers and athletes. He currently serves as Co-Principal investigator on two studies (1) a study funded by the U.K. Ministry of Defence, to examining the Optimization of Training and Physical Performance for Women in Ground Close Combat Roles (WGCC 5.5.6: Task 0107), and (2) A NASA funded study (80JSC017N0001-HHCHFBP) examining the effects of a validated exercise regimen with guided imagery on behavioral health, fatigue, cognitive, sensorimotor, and immune system function in the Human Exploration Research Analog located at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston. He is currently a Co-investigator on a Congressionally Directed Medical Research Program award (W81XWH-16- PHTBIRP-CR3A): Characterization of Psychological Resilience and Readiness: Cross-Validation of Cognitive and Behavioral Metrics During Acute Military Operational Stress. He has also served as a co-investigator on a previous NASA funded study (NNX15AC13G) examining the Interrelationships Between Physical Health, Psychological Risk And Performance When Operating In Isolated, Confined And Extreme Environments. Also, he recently completed a project serving as PI on a study for the Air-Force the Special Operations Command (FA8650-12-2-6271): Injury Prevention and Human Performance Research Initiative. 

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Office: (412) 822-3678
Biography

Bob was 2023 HERL Staff Member of the Year.

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Office: (412) 822-3668
Biography

 

 

 

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Office: (412) 822-3695
Biography

Gina McKernan, PhD, HERL's Assistant Director for Data Science, is a data scientist and biostatistician, with over 15 years of industry and academic experience. She has a multidisciplinary background in statistics, measurement, and research, working within Integrated Delivery and Finance Systems (IDFS), the University of Pittsburgh, and the VA Pittsburgh Healthcare System. Dr. McKernan obtained her doctorate in Research Methodology from the University of Pittsburgh, concentrating on advanced statistical methods. Dr. McKernan led the healthcare marketing industry in using statistical methods and Machine Learning (ML) algorithms to design service utilization, cost-savings, and capacity planning models in both the payor and provider space. The first two years of her academic career has resulted in an immersion of primary and secondary research projects focused on the evaluation of technology, protocols, interventions, and data associated with improving the quality of life in persons with disabilities, Spina Bifida (SB) traumatic brain injury (TBI), spinal cord injury (SCI), and stroke. She has collaborated with 14 unique investigators on federally-funded grant applications and currently serve as co-investigator (CO-I) on 7 active projects, totaling over $20 million in research funds. Dr. McKernan was recently awarded a VA pilot grant to study latent relationships between disability rates and socio-geographic variables, such as: neighborhood characteristics, living conditions, access to care, and health/preventative behaviors in veterans. In addition, her current research interest and funded work includes: using ML techniques to analyze behavioral and psychosocial outcomes of people with disabilities, creating enhanced data structures by appending socio-geographic and demographic data to existing clinical data, and analysis of randomized controlled trials involving neuro-stimulation and pharmacologics for individuals who have experienced stroke, TBI, and other conditions.

Office Hours (HERL):
Mondays 9:30-10:30am and 2:00-3:00pm, and by appointment

Primary Appointment:
https://www.rehabmedicine.pitt.edu/people/ant-46

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Biography

Dan Fisher is an instructor and the Assistant Chair for Administration and Operations in the Department of Rehabilitation Science and Technology. He is responsible for planning, directing, coordinating and providing leadership for the day to day administrative operations for the Department. The Department is designed to provide leadership in research, education and clinical practice related to rehabilitation of individuals with disabilities and the elderly. He holds an undergraduate degree in Economics from Rutgers University in New Jersey and a Master's degree in Healthcare Administration from Baylor University, Waco Texas.

Fisher served in the US Army for over 25 years, retiring in 2009 with the rank of Colonel. He has over 30 years of healthcare administration and project management experience in a variety of business and healthcare delivery settings. He has a strong background in personnel management, project management, strategic and operational planning, problem solving, team building, customer service, training and decision making. In addition, he has extensive experience working with local, state and federal agencies in emergency management planning.

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Annmarie Kelleher is a Clinical Rehab Specialist in the Wheelchair Seating and Power Mobility outpatient clinic at the VA Pittsburgh Healthcare System. She is a licensed Occupational Therapist with 17+ years of hands-on clinical and research experience in the field of assistive technology (AT). Mrs. Kelleher received her BS and MS in Occupational Therapy from the University of Pittsburgh in 2001 and 2004, respectively.  She has been a RESNA certified Assistive Technology Professional (ATP) since 2004. In prior roles, Mrs. Kelleher provided direct clinical AT services to individuals with diverse mobility-related disabilities at the UPMC Center for Assistive Technology. She is also the former Assistant Director for Clinical and Regulatory Affairs at the Human Engineering Research Laboratories. In 2010, Mrs. Kelleher became a certified Clinical Research Coordinator (CCRC) by the Association of Clinical Research Professionals (ACRP). Most recently, she completed a Healthcare Compliance graduate certification program through the University of Pittsburgh’s School of Law. With extensive experience in the provision of AT and regulatory compliance, she is committed to helping people with disabilities to live life to the fullest through advancements in clinical care and research. 

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Katya Hill, Ph.D., CCC-SLP is an internationally recognized speaker in the field of augmentative and alternative communication (AAC), assistive technology and evidence-based practice. Her career reflects her mission of improving the quality of life for individuals who rely on AAC by advocating for the most effective communication possible. Dr. Hill has over thirty years of clinical, teaching and research experience. She is an Associate Professor in the Department of Communication Science and Disorders at the University of Pittsburgh with a secondary appointment in the Department of Rehabilitation Sciences and Technology where she teaches classes in AAC and conducts research on AAC performance measurement and Language Activity Monitoring (LAM) methods and tools. Dr. Hill has funding from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the National Institute on Disability, Independent Living, and Rehabilitation Research (NIDILRR) to develop, test and trial brain computer interface (BCI) technology as an access method to AAC devices. Dr. Hill provides in person and tele-AAC clinical AAC and AT services at the UPMC ALS Clinic and AAC Institute Clinic in Pittsburgh.

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Bradley C. Nindl, PhD, FACSM is the Director of the Neuromuscular Research Laboratory/Warrior Human Performance Research Center and Professor in the Department of Sports Medicine and Nutrition in the School of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences at the University of Pittsburgh. He also has dual appointments as the Senior Military and Scientific Advisor for the University of Pittsburgh Center for Military Medicine Research and at the McGowan Institute for Regenerative Medicine. Prior to coming to the University of Pittsburgh, Nindl worked for over 20 years as an Army Medical Department government scientist working for the US Army Research Institute of Environmental Medicine within the US Army Medical Research and Materiel Command and the Army Institute of Public Health within the US Army Public Health Command. Nindl received a BS in biology from Clarkson University in 1989, a MS in physiology of exercise from Springfield College in 1993, a PhD in physiology from the Pennsylvania State University in 1999, and a Master of Strategic Studies from the US Army War College in 2012.

Nindl's research interests span human performance optimization /injury prevention and biomarker domains with a focus on adaptations of the neuromuscular and endocrine systems (growth hormone/insulin-like growth factor-I axis) to both exercise and military operational stress. He is internationally recognized for his work in these areas and was Co-Chair of the 3rd International Congress on Soldiers' Physical Performance in 2014 and has performed research sabbaticals at the University of Jyvaskyla in Finland (2009) and the University of Wollongong in Australia (2014) with the Finnish and Australian Defence forces, respectively. His previous awards include the American College of Sports Medicine Young Investigator Award in 2002 and the US Army's Surgeon General "9A" Proficiency Designator (the Army Medical Department’s highest award for professional excellence, bestowed on less than 2% of AMEDD military officers) in 2013. He is an associate editor for Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise and the Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research and a Fellow in the American College of Sports Medicine. He has over 146 peer-reviewed publications indexed on PubMed that have been cited over 3900 times with an h-index of 35. Nindl is also an Army Reservist (COL) and Commander of the Southeast Medical Area Readiness Group in Nashville, TN having been deployed in 2004-2005 in Mosul, Iraq where he was awarded a Bronze Star and the Combat Action Badge. He and his wife Jeanne live in Gibsonia, PA have 5 children: Ashley, Lyndsey, Zachary, Joshua, and Cooper.

 

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Bambang Parmanto is a professor of Health Information Management. His research interests have been in developing technologies and in using advances in information technologies such as telehealth, mobile and wearable technologies, to deliver adaptive and personalized interventions for individuals with chronic and complex conditions.

He leads the Health and Rehabilitation Informatics (HARI) research group at the University of Pittsburgh. Parmanto is the director of Rehab Engineering Research Center on Information & Communication Technology (ICT) Access and Principal Investigator of a large project on self-management for individuals with chronic and complex conditions using mobile health (mHealth). He is the recipient of the American Health Information Management Association (AHIMA)'s Triumph Research Award.  

 

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Evan Facher is Vice Chancellor for Innovation and Entrepreneurship and Director of the Innovation Institute at the University of Pittsburgh. In this role, Evan promotes the commercial and societal potential of faculty and student discoveries as well as works with regional businesses to enhance the local innovation ecosystem.  Most recently, Evan was President/CEO of SironRX Therapeutics, a private, clinical-stage company developing novel drug therapies.  Prior to this, Evan worked in Bayer Healthcare’s medical device division as General Manager of its Pittsburgh Interventional business. During this tenure Evan also served as Executive Director of Corporate Development overseeing company strategy and M&A. Evan started his career as Senior Manager Business Development at the biotechnology company Athersys, where he was a business development leader creating partnerships with global pharmaceutical companies.  Over his career, Evan has been involved with corporate fundraisings bringing in nearly $100 million from venture, strategic partner and grant sources as well as a leader in company and product acquisitions totaling over $600 million of investments.  Evan holds a Ph.D. in Human Genetics from the University of Pittsburgh an MBA with a concentration in Entrepreneurship from Case Western Reserve University and a B.S. in Biology from the University of Miami (FL).

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