Theresa L. Bender Pape, Dr.PH, MA, CCC-SLP/L, FACRM
Dr. Pape’s research expertise lies in neural plasticity in the neurorehabilitation of traumatic brain injury (TBI). She focuses on two areas: 1. Neurorehabilitation effectiveness, also referred to as translational research, which involves translating basic science findings to advance clinical knowledge of the TBI recovery trajectory. Translational research allows robust yet customizable interventions to be developed that effectively induce, promote, and/or shape neural plasticity of the injured brain. 2. Neurorehabilitation measurement research, which provides the capacity to accurately detect meaningful treatment effects during clinical trials at behavioral and neurophysiological levels.
Ann Guernon, CCC-SLP, PhD
Dr. Ann Guernon is a Speech-Language Pathologist who works as a Clinical Research Manager/Coordinator at Marianjoy Rehabilitation Hospital of Northwestern Medicine with an appointment at the Hines VA Hospital. She is an Assistant Professor at Lewis University. Her research interests include injury prevention and management of concussion in youth sports, neuromodulation for cognitive-communication impairments, and support for decision-making and communication between clinicians and caregivers. She has coordinated multi-site national studies and overseen clinical trials involving neurobehavioral measurement and treatment development for disorders of consciousness (DoC). Dr. Guernon has presented nationally on the topic of evaluation and treatment of DoC.
Amy Herrold, PhD
Dr. Herrold is an addiction neuroscientist focused on developing neuroscience-informed treatments for co-occurring alcohol use disorder (AUD) and mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI). Her hypothesis is that exacerbated brain dysfunction with the co-occurrence of AUD+mTBI leads to exacerbated behavioral dysfunction, such as elevated alcohol craving. Customizing neuromodulatory treatments to treat this brain dysfunction are warranted given the heterogeneity of these conditions. Dr. Herrold has collaborations within the Dept. of Psychiatry and Warren Wright Adolescent Center and Radiology to examine the effects of sports-related mTBI and the impact of gender-specific factors.
Katie Kestner, PT, DPT, NCS
Katie Burress Kestner, PT, DPT, NCS is a physical therapist and research coordinator. Her clinical experience includes specialty practice in the management of patients with traumatic brain injury and vestibular rehabilitation from acute rehabilitation to outpatient levels of care. She was the Program Specialist for the Brain Injury Program at RIC from 2011-2015. She is associated faculty in Northwestern University’s Physical Therapy and Human Movement Sciences program. Katie has lectured on topics related to brain injury and vestibular rehabilitation, participated in research on disorders of consciousness and attention deficits following mild traumatic brain injury, and is published on management of patients with severe brain injury.
Sandra Kletzel, PhD
Dr. Kletzel’s research focus is neurorehabilitation and neurobiology of cognitive impairment in Parkinson’s disease (PD). Her research goals are to study and develop cognitive neurorehabilitation interventions that maximize functional outcomes for people living with PD. Current studies include examining if repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation will safely improve cognitive function in Veterans with PD and mild cognitive impairment, and to determine if there is concomitant modulation of neural networks that support cognition. She has also developed an at-home cognitive rehabilitation program that incorporates both prospective implementation intentions strategies and an existing web-based executive function computerized cognitive training program.
Dulal K. Bhaumik, PhD
Dulal is a Professor of Psychiatry, Biostatistics and Bioengineering at the University of Illinois at Chicago. He received his BS in Statistics from Calcutta University, his MS in Statistics from the Indian Statistical Institute, and his PhD in the same field from the University of Maryland. Before joining UIC, he served as a Professor of Statistics in the Department of Mathematics and Statistics at University of South Alabama. Professor Bhaumik is a long standing contributor to the lab.
Jeffrey T Rado, MD, MPH
Dr. Rado is a Psychiatrist at Stone Mental Health Outpatient Clinic and Department of General Internal Medicine Integrative Behavioral Health Program. In addition to providing mental health services, he is responsible for teaching and supervising students and residents as an associate professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences (General Psychiatry) and Medicine (General Internal Medicine). Based on his clinical expertise and strong record of clinical trial research in Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation, Dr. Rado is a valued member of this interdisciplinary lab.
Sherri Livengood, PhD
Dr. Livengood is a neuroscientist and post-doctoral fellow for Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine and Edward Hines, Jr. VA Hospital Research Service. Her research emphasizes systems-level neuroscience with a focus on producing translational sound-based therapies for a broad range of neuropathologies. Prior to her research career, she worked in systems-level engineering with a focus on communication systems. One of her goals is to bridge the gap between eastern and western medicine by demonstrating the transfer and impact of vibrational and auditory energy on the human central nervous system. Additionally, her neuroimaging expertise enables the NNR lab to employ innovative approaches to analyzing complex neuroimaging studies.
Elyse Walsh, PT, DPT, NCS
Dr. Walsh is a physical therapist, board-certified specialist in neurologic physical therapy, and clinical research coordinator for the NNR lab. She has strong clinical expertise in the management of patients with traumatic brain injuries across a wide variety of settings. She has also served as adjunct faculty in Northwestern University’s Physical Therapy and Human Movement Sciences program. Her research interests span across multiple diagnoses including traumatic brain injury and Parkinson’s Disease, and encompass a variety of interventions ranging from precision neurologic treatments, such as transcranial magnetic stimulation, to home-based cognitive interventions.
David Ripley, MD, MS, CRC, FAAPM&R
David Ripley, MD, MS, CRC, FAAPM&R is the Section Chief of Brain Injury Medicine and Rehabilitation and Medical Director of Workers Compensation Physician Practice at the Shirley Ryan AbilityLab (formerly Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago). Dr. Ripley is board certified in Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation and Brain Injury Medicine. He holds an academic appointment as Associate Professor in the Department of PM&R at Northwestern University’s Feinberg School of Medicine and is Program Director for the James and Carmelita O’Boyle Fellowship in Brain Injury Medicine. Dr. Ripley’s clinical work involves the management of patients with traumatic brain injury (TBI) throughout the continuum of their recovery. He collaborates with the NNR lab on various projects related to precision neurorehabilitation for people after TBI.
Joshua M. Rosenow, MD
Dr. Joshua M. Rosenow, MD, is the director of Functional Neurosurgery and Professor of Neurosurgery, Neurology and Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation in the Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine Department of Neurosurgery. He specializes in the surgical treatment of movement disorders such as Parkinson’s disease, tremor, and dystonia, as well as the surgical treatment of epilepsy, neuromodulation for chronic pain, and neuromodulation for neurorehabilitation. His research revolves around restorative neurosurgery and precision neurological interventions. This includes neurostimulation (deep brain, cortical), brain-machine interface (both cortical chip and EEG-based), gene therapy methods, and transcranial magnetic stimulation.
Todd Parish, PhD
Dr. Todd Parrish, PhD, director of the Northwestern University Neuroimaging Research Laboratory, is a founding member of the Northwestern Cognitive Brain Mapping Group (CBMG), a team dedicated to investigative brain research. Dr. Parrish’s role in the CBMG is to employ state-of-the-art technology, an understanding of MRI physics, and a strong collaboration with other departments to tackle the technical, philosophical and practical problems of brain mapping. His expertise has been pivotal in the execution of the NNR lab’s mission by enabling complex, innovative neuroimaging studies and analyses to facilitate understanding of neuromodulatory treatments after traumatic brain injuries and other neurological diagnoses.