The 22nd annual Rehabilitation Institute Research Day was held on Wednesday, June 3, at UPMC Mercy Pavilion. Co-sponsored by the Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation (PM&R) in the School of Medicine, the School of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences (SHRS) and the UPMC Rehabilitation Institute, the day was a celebration of academic achievement, featuring a mix of lectures, scientific presentations and award ceremonies.
This year’s distinguished keynote speakers included Dr. Walter Koroshetz, immediate past director, National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, National Institutes of Health, and senior advisor to the Dana Foundation; and Julius Fridriksson, vice president for research, SmartState Endowed Chair of Memory and Brain Function, and University of South Carolina Health Sciences distinguished professor.
Keynote Speaker – Julius Fridriksson
Michael Walsh “Mike” Dickey, SHRS associate dean for graduate studies and professor, and Hari Bharadwaj, vice chair for research for the Department of Communication Science and Disorders (CSD) and assistant professor, had nominated and ultimately recruited Fridriksson to speak at this year’s event. Dickey, Bharadwaj and Fridriksson spent the entire day before the event touring SHRS and meeting with the faculty and chairs of the CSD department, touring the Pittsburgh VA and enjoying a luncheon with the aphasia group, and meeting SHRS PhD students and Dean James “Jimmy” Oñate.
About Rehabilitation Institute Research Day
The event, co-organized by Corina Bondi, associate professor, PM&R, and Michael Walsh Dickey, highlighted the innovative work of trainees from various categories and staff members who were selected as oral and poster winners. 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. See below for full list of winners.
The top honor, the Rehabilitation Institute Pilot Award, 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. The two winners of last year’s Pilot Award were also invited back to present 30-minute oral presentations of their innovative research.
At the conclusion of Rehabilitation Institute Day, attendees were invited to an engaging and insightful art tour of the Rehabilitation and Neural Engineering Laboratory. Led by Carleigh May and Jared Quinteros, artist and leader of the art therapy program at UPMC Mercy, the thoughtfully curated collection highlighted the intersections of rehabilitation, collaboration and resilience, offering a powerful reflection on healing and hope through creative expression.
Awards
Rehabilitation Institute Pilot Winners for 2026
- Amrita Sahu, PhD (PM&R), “Understanding the Effects of Hormonal Contraception on Resilience of Female Skeletal Muscle”
- Alicia Koontz, PhD, RET, ATP (SHRS), “REVIVE: Rehabilitation Engagement Via Immersive Virtual Environments for Wheelchair Users with SCI”
Poster Presentation Winners
- Undergrad: Prajeet Santra, “Amantadine Augments the Efficacy of Delayed and Abbreviated Environmental Enrichment After Pediatric Traumatic Brain Injury”
- Pre-doctoral student: Antea Ceko, “Human electrophysiological setup to test the neural mechanisms of spinal hyperexcitability in children with cerebral palsy,” and Sreya Pothuraju, “Wrist posture-aware decoders improve prosthetic finger decoding after amputation”
- Post-doctoral student: Shantanu Satpute, “Transfers Transformed: Development and Evaluation of a Robotic Wheelchair Transfer System for Powered Wheelchair Users”
- Medical student: Charles Patterson, “Comparison of Intra-organ Characteristics of Matrix-Bound Nanovesicles”
- Resident: Arielle Hall, “Beyond Birth Control: How Combined Oral Contraceptives Influence Skeletal Muscle Health”
- Non-trainee: Harsha Nagar, “Chronic Low Back Pain Is Associated with Accelerated Epigenetic Aging,” and Vicki Wang, “Inertial motion capture comparison of L5-S1 moments in squat vs stoop lifting posture”
Abstract Winners
- Undergraduate: Jake Justeson, “Impact of biomechanics-focused interventions on caregiver low back muscles during assisted transfers”
- Pre-doctoral student: Mara Goodman, “Are Complex Words Harder to Relearn? Examining the Effects of Word Complexity in Anomia Intervention via Bayesian Analysis”
- Post-doctoral student: Hiroki Kaneta, “Validation of Experimental Rat Achilles Tendinopathy Models”
- Medical student: Shovan Bhatia, “Long-Term Effects of Cervical Epidural Spinal Cord Stimulation for Upper Limb Motor Recovery in Individuals with Chronic Post-Stroke Hemiparesis”
- Resident: Paige Matijasich, “Air Travel Barriers and Avoidance of Air Travel Among Wheeled Mobility Device Users”
- Non-trainee: Thea Aquino, “Current Hormonal Contraceptive Use May Not Influence Body Shape in Healthy Young Adult Physically Active Females”
