The 21st annual Rehabilitation Institute Research Day was held on Wednesday, June 11th in it’s new location in the 4th floor suites of the new UPMC Mercy Pavilion. Co-sponsored by the Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation in the School of Medicine, the School of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences and the UPMC Rehabilitation Institute, the day was a celebration of academic achievement, featuring a mix of lectures, student presentations, and award ceremonies.
This year’s distinguished keynote speakers included Dr. W. David Arnold, Professor of PM&R at University of Missouri and Executive Director of the NextGen Precision Health Initiative, and Dr. Heather Feldner, Associate Professor of Physical Therapy, University of Washington.
The event highlighted the innovative work of students and residents, with several awards handed out for excellence in poster presentations and abstract submissions. In each category, the abstract winner was awarded a $250 prize and an invitation to present a 15-minute oral presentation. All other abstracts had the opportunity to compete as poster presentations for $50 awards in various trainee categories. The day culminated with the announcement of the top honor, the Rehabilitation Institute Pilot Award, which was granted to two deserving
recipients. Each of these winners will receive approximately $35,000 to support the completion of their grant submissions, further advancing their groundbreaking research.
RI Pilot winners for 2025:
Julie Marie Faieta, MOT, PhD (Quantifying a Mechanistic Pathway for Long-COVID)
Nicolo Macellari, PhD (Motor Thalamus Deep Brain Stimulation to restore hand and upper limb motor functions after cerebral lesions)
Poster presentation winners:
Undergrad: Jennifer Genell (Neuroendocrine-Immune Responses to Severe Traumatic Brain Injury in the Context of Chronic Stress and Sex in Mice)
Pre-doctoral student: Arianna Damiani (Deep Brain Stimulation of the Motor Thalamus Alleviates Post-Stroke Upper-Limb Motor Deficits in Monkeys)
Post-doctoral student: Prashanta Silwal (Establishing an in vitro model to study sustained oxidative damage and clearance mechanisms in intervertebral disc cells)
Medical student: Sirisha Nouduri (Thalamocortical Connectivity and Neuromodulation in Drug-Resistant Epilepsy: Focus on the Pulvinar)
Resident: Rahul Ramanathan (Development Of a Reproducible In Vivo Rat Model for Investigating Ligamentum Flavum Hypertrophy and Pain-Related Behaviors)
Non-trainee: Oluwasanmi Adenaiye (Variability in Renal Function Estimation by Cystatin C and Creatinine across Functional Lesion Levels and Sub-Phenotypes of Spina Bifida: Implications for Rehabilitation Practice)
Abstract winners:
Undergrad: Maeve O’Brien (Rescuing Neurobehavioral Capability In Aged Rats Using A Combined Therapy Of Nicotinic Acetylcholine Receptor Allosteric Modulation And Environmental Enrichment After Experimental Brain Trauma)
Pre-doctoral student: Prathibha Bondili (Evaluation and Usability of Mobile Dental Apps Using the MARS Framework and IMS Functionality Criteria)
Post-doctoral student: Mariana Pacheco Busquets (Investigating the Services and Costs Associated with Manual and Power Wheelchair Evaluation in a Seating and Mobility Clinic)
Medical student: Joseph Yap (The Impact of Nutritional Care on Obesity in Adults with Spina Bifida)
Resident: Drew Redepenning (Relationship Between Depression During Inpatient Rehabilitation and Health, Participation, and Satisfaction with Life at One-Year Post-Injury for Persons with Spinal Cord Injury: Findings from the Spinal Cord Injury Model Systems Database)
Non-trainee: Shamseldin Metwally (Acute Serum Cortisol Associations with Moderate-to-Severe TBI, Irrespective of Progesterone Treatment)