NMPT Internal Steering Committee Members

photo of T32 committee members

Committee Member Title/Role Research Focus

Director

David Fuller, PhD, Professor, Physical Therapy; Director, Rehabilitation Science PhD Program. Dr Fuller’s research focus is in neuroplasticity, neuromuscular disease.

Translational Science Advisor

Krista Vandenborne, PT, PhD, Distinguished Professor and Chair, Department of Physical Therapy. Dr. Vandenborne’s research focus is in program management, imaging, clinical neuromuscular research.

Curriculum Coordinator

Andrew Judge, PhD, Associate Professor, Department of Physical Therapy. Dr. Judge’s research focus is in muscle biology and cancer cachexia.

Committee Member

Janis Daly, PhD, Professor and Director, VA Brain Rehabilitation Research Center. Dr. Daly’s research focus is in Clinical movement disorders and stroke.

Committee Member

Barry Byrne, MD, PhD, Professor, Pediatrics and Molecular Genetics & Microbiology; Director, Powell Gene Therapy Center; Associate Chair, Pediatrics. Dr. Byrne’s research focus is in clinical trials, neuromuscular disease, gene therapy and program management.

Committee Member

Scott Powers, PhD, Professor,Department of Applied Physiology and Kinesiology. Dr. Powers research focus is in muscle biology, atrophy mechanisms and oxidative stress.


Internal Advisory Board

  • Christine Schmidt, PhD, Professor and Chair, Dept. of Biomedical Engineering Biomaterials, translational science, program management
  • Lucia Notterpek, PhD, Professor and Chair, Dept. of Neuroscience Neuropathy, demyelinating disorders, program management
  • Todd Golde, MD, PhD, Professor, Neuroscience; Director, Center for Translational Research in Neurodegenerative Disease; Director, McKnight Brain Institute Neurodegenerative disease research, program management

External Advisors

Ken Ottenbacher, PhD, OTR

University of Texas Medical Branch, UTMB, Galveston, TX

Dr. Ottenbacher is the Director of the Center for Recovery, Physical Activity and Nutrition as well as the Division of Rehabilitation Sciences.  He is also the Senior Associate Dean for Graduate Education and Research in the School of Health Professions.  Lastly, Dr. Ottenbacher directs two federally funded rehabilitation training grants including an institutional career development K12 program for faculty with clinical backgrounds, and a postdoctoral training grant in interdisciplinary rehabilitation research. His research focuses on clinical and community outcomes in post-acute care with a focus on functional assessment, disability, and frailty in older adults

Marcas Bamman, PhD

University of Alabama at Birmingham

Dr. Bamman is the Director of the Center for Exercise Medicine and the Director of an NIH T32 Program: Interdisciplinary Training in Pathobiology and Rehabilitation Medicine.  His own research program focuses on the cellular and molecular mechanisms driving muscle regeneration following damage or injury and understanding the physiologic processes responsible for myofiber hypertrophy to promote muscle re-growth in patients with atrophied muscles due to neuromuscular disease or injury.