Brooks/UF-PHHP Research Collaboration

Vision statement

The Brooks/UF-PHHP Research Collaboration will be a national leader in advancing rehabilitation science, education, and practice through patient-centered research, striving for an immediate impact on the health and well being of individuals and communities.

Primary collaboration goals

• Create a contemporary model for collaborative and interdisciplinary research between an academic center and a rehabilitation centric health care system
• Enhance the existing missions of UF PHHP and Brooks by providing opportunities for high quality rehabilitation research that positively impacts the delivery of clinical services
• Obtain external grants in order to engage in interdisciplinary research activities that are focused on studying, improving and creating new approaches to treatment that can improve the outcomes and quality of life for individuals who receive rehabilitation services
• Develop an organizational structure that fosters the advancement and productivity of UF and Brooks scholars at different stages of their career development
• Contribute to an environment that supports and promotes inquiry and curiosity in the area of rehabilitation practice and science

Accomplishments

2013-2016

• Brooks-PHHP Research Collaboration researchers have been awarded more than $2.5 million in grants from organizations such as the Veterans Affairs Administration, the American Physical Therapy Association, the Craig H. Neilsen Foundation, the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute and the National Institutes of Health.
• Studies by collaboration researchers work have appeared in more than 60 peer-reviewed publications, including the journals Physical Therapy, PAIN, Topics in Stroke Rehabilitation, Physiotherapy Theory and Practice and Archives of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation.
• Collaboration researchers have made more than 100 presentations at local, national and international professional conferences, such as the American Congress of Rehabilitation Medicine, the International Federation of Orthopaedic Manipulative Physical Therapists annual meeting and the Combined Sections Meeting of the American Physical Therapy Association.
• Collaboration clinicians have made 34 presentations at national meetings.

About Brooks Rehabilitation

Brooks Rehabilitation, based in Jacksonville, Florida, is one of the largest independent and not-for-profit rehabilitation-centric providers of post-acute services. The inpatient hospital houses 160 beds with over 3,100 admissions annually.

The Brooks system of care also includes a network of 28 outpatient therapy centers serving approximately 27,000 patients per year, the region’s largest home health agency serving 23 counties, in addition to skilled nursing and other rehabilitation, post-rehabilitation, and community benefit programs and services.

About PHHP

Unique among its peers, the UF College of Public Health and Health Professions’ eight departments encompass both public health and the health professions, thereby providing a fertile environment for the integration of population-based problem solving and individual patient care. These opportunities for collaboration in education, research and service further the college’s mission to preserve, promote and improve the health and well-being of populations, communities and individuals.

Meet the Team

Meet the faculty and doctoral students who are members of the Brooks-PHHP Research Collaboration team.

Meryl J Alappattu DPT, PhD

Research Assistant Professor

Department: HP-PHYSICAL THERAPY

Email: meryl@phhp.ufl.edu

CV: View Curriculum Vitae:

Grants:

• Sep 2022 ACTIVE
  Phenotyping Responses to Optimize the Management of Pain Treatment in Endometriosis
  NATL INST OF HLTH NICHD · Principal Investigator

• Jun 2021 ACTIVE
  Underserved and undertreated: musculoskeletal pain and dysfunction following gender affirmation surgery
  ACADEMY OF ORTHOPAEDIC PHYSICAL THERAPY · Principal Investigator

• May 2020 ACTIVE
  Mechanisms and Modification of Pain Modulatory Capacity
  NATL INST OF HLTH NIAMS · Co-Investigator

• Jul 2017 ACTIVE
  Brain Imaging and Pain: Analysis of Placebo Analgesia
  NATL CTR FOR COMPLEM AND INTEGRATIVE HLT · Project Manager

Full Profile

Jason M Beneciuk

RES AST PROF

Department: HP-PHYSICAL THERAPY

Email: beneciuk@phhp.ufl.edu

CV: View Curriculum Vitae:

Grants:

• Nov 2019 ACTIVE
  The Aging and Integrative Pain Management Initiative
  UF FOUNDATION · Co-Investigator

• Jan 2019 – Mar 2022
  Discriminant and Predictive Validity Assessment of the Keele STarT MSK Tool for Patients with Musculoskeletal Pain in Outpatient Physical Therapy Settings
  FOU FOR PHYSICAL THERAPY RES · Principal Investigator

• Jan 2018 – Apr 2021
  Multi-Institutional Center on Health Services Training and Research (CoHSTAR)
  UNIV OF PITTSBURGH · Principal Investigator

• Jul 2015 – Jul 2020
  BROOKS FUND FOR HUMAN SUBJECT PAYMENTS
  UF FOUNDATION · Principal Investigator

• Jul 2015 – Jun 2018
  Targeted Interventions to Prevent Chronic Low Back Pain in High Risk Patients: A Multi-Site Pragmatic RCT
  UNIV OF PITTSBURGH · Principal Investigator

• Oct 2013 – Sep 2017
  Mid-Thoracic Spine Thrust Manipulation for Individuals Status Post-Surgical Cervical Fusion
  AMER ACAD ORTHOPAEDIC MANUAL PHYS THERAP · Principal Investigator

Full Profile

Joel E Bialosky

CLIN ASO PROF

Department: HP-PHYSICAL THERAPY

Email: bialosky@phhp.ufl.edu

CV: View Curriculum Vitae:

Grants:

• Aug 2018 ACTIVE
  Evaluating Specific and Non-Specific Mechanisms in Two Distinct Complementary/Integrative Interventions for Chronic Pain
  RUSH UNIV MED CTR · Principal Investigator

• Jan 2013 – Jan 2017
  Creation of the Orthopaedic Physical Therapy Investigative Network (OPT-IN) for the Optimal Screening for Prediction of Referral and Outcome (OSPRO) Cohort Study
  AMER PHYSICAL THERAPY ASSOC · Principal Investigator

Full Profile

Emily J Fox PT, PhD

Research Associate Professor; Director Of Neuromuscular Research, Brooks Rehabilitation; Clinical Research Scientist, Brooks-PHHP Research Collaboration

Department: HP-PHYSICAL THERAPY

Email: ejfox@phhp.ufl.edu

CV: View Curriculum Vitae:

Emily Fox, PT, DPT, MHS, PhD is a Research Associate Professor in the Department of Physical Therapy and Director of Neuromuscular Research at Brooks Rehabilitation. She is a key member of the Brooks-PHHP Research Collaboration, an established collaboration between Brooks Rehabilitation and the UF College of Public Health and Health Professions. At Brooks Rehabilitation, she also serves as the Director of the Motion Analysis Center, a clinical and research assessment facility.

Dr. Fox’s research is focused on control and recovery following neurologic injury and disease. Her objective is to apply intrinsic neural and biomechanical control principles to enhance rehabilitation and promote recovery. As a physical therapist and researcher, she has extensive experience working with individuals with stroke, spinal cord injury, and older adults. Her research represents an interdisciplinary, translational approach to investigate mechanisms underlying motor control and the use of activity-based interventions to restore function.

The specific objectives of her research are to: 1) identify mechanisms associated with motor function and recovery, 2) develop innovative approaches to enhance walking control and recovery, including community ambulation, 3) investigate novel technologies to enhance the delivery and effectiveness of rehabilitation interventions and 4) advance strategies to enhance respiratory recovery after spinal cord injury. Dr. Fox’s current funded projects investigate novel therapeutic approaches such as transcutaneous electrical stimulation and acute intermittent hypoxia to enhance neuromuscular plasticity and recovery.

Grants:

• Sep 2022 ACTIVE
  Transcutaneous Spinal Direct Current Stimulation to Enhance Locomotor Rehabilitation after SCI
  CRAIG H NEILSEN FOU · Principal Investigator

• Jan 2022 ACTIVE
  Swallowing and respiratory function in chronic spinal cord injury
  BROOKS REHABILITATION CLINICAL RES CNTR · Co-Project Director/Principal Investigator

• Jan 2021 – Jan 2023
  Locomotor Training with Testosterone to Promote Bone and Muscle Health
  NORTH FL FOU FOR RES AND EDU · Principal Investigator

• Sep 2020 – Aug 2022
  Acute Intermittent Hypoxia to Improve Breathing in Humans with SCI
  CRAIG H NEILSEN FOU · Other

• Jun 2019 – May 2021
  Perceptions of individuals living with spinal cord injury toward autonomous vehicles
  PARALYZED VETERANS OF AMERICA · Co-Investigator

• Dec 2018 – Dec 2020
  VA IPA for Emily Fox
  US DEPT OF VET AFF GAINESVILLE MED CTR · Principal Investigator

• Oct 2018 – Jun 2021
  National Resource Center for High-Impact Clinical Trials in Medical Rehabilitation: Pilot Projects Component
  UNIV OF ALABAMA BIRMINGHAM · Principal Investigator

• Sep 2018 ACTIVE
  Acute Intermittent Hypoxia and Respiratory Strength Training to Improve Breathing Function after SCI
  US ARMY MED RES ACQUISITION · Principal Investigator

• Aug 2018 – Mar 2020
  Phrenic Afferents and Neuromuscular Plasticity Following Spinal Cord Injury
  NATL INST OF HLTH NHLBI · Consultant

• Jul 2018 – Jun 2020
  Neuromodulation of spinal circuits to enhance practice-related performance on a complex walking task (Pilot Project).
  MEDICAL UNIV OF SOUTH CAROLINA · Principal Investigator

• Sep 2016 – Jul 2022
  Functional mapping of peripheral and central circuits for airway protection and breathing
  NATL INST OF HLTH OD · Project Manager

• Sep 2015 – Dec 2019
  Intramuscular pacing to enhance voluntary diaphragm activation
  CRAIG H NEILSEN FOU · Principal Investigator

• Jul 2007 – Aug 2016
  Clinical and Translational Science Institute
  UF RESEARCH FOU · Project Manager

Full Profile

Dorian K Rose

Research Associate Professor

Department: HP-PHYSICAL THERAPY

Email: dkrose@phhp.ufl.edu

CV: View Curriculum Vitae:

Grants:

• Jan 2023 ACTIVE
  Cortical Processes during Walking Post-stroke
  AMER HEART ASSOCIATION · Other

• May 2022 ACTIVE
  Synergizing home health rehabilitation therapy to optimize patients activities of daily living
  NATL INST OF HLTH NIA · Co-Investigator

• Jun 2020 ACTIVE
  Augmenting a PostStroke Wellness Program with Respiratory Muscle Training: A Randomized Controlled Trial
  FL DEPT OF HLTH BIOMED RES PGM/J&E KING · Principal Investigator

• Jun 2019 – May 2021
  Extension 2 IPA for Sudeshna Chatterjee
  US DEPT OF VET AFF GAINESVILLE MED CTR · Other

• Feb 2019 – Jul 2020
  Data Coordinating Center for Parkinson Foundations PDGENE Study
  PARKINSONS FOU · Project Manager

• Mar 2018 – May 2019
  IPA for Sudeshna Chatterjee
  *NF/SGVHS Malcom Randall VA Medical Cent · Principal Investigator

• Sep 2017 – Jan 2018
  National Descriptive Study of the Home Health Physical Therapy Environment
  OHIO STATE UNIV · Principal Investigator

• Jun 2017 – May 2020
  Combining tDCS and neurorehabilitation to treat age-related deficits of mobility and cognition
  NATL INST OF HLTH NIA · Co-Investigator

• Jul 2015 – Jun 2018
  Novel Strategy to Improve Gait and Fall-Related Efficacy Post-Stroke
  AMER HEART ASSOCIATION · Principal Investigator

Full Profile

Doctoral students supported by the Collaboration