Anne Bryden PhD, OTR/L is the Director of Clinical Trials and Research for the Institute for Functional Restoration (IFR) of Case Western Reserve University, a non-profit organization with the mission of restoring function to people with spinal cord injury (SCI) and other paralytic disorders. Additionally, she is part-time lecturer in the Occupational Therapy Doctorate Program at Cleveland State University and Staff Scientist in the MetroHealth Center for Rehabilitation Research. Anne received her Bachelor of Science in Occupational Therapy from Cleveland State University, and PhD in Sociology from Case Western Reserve University. Anne has over 25 years of experience specializing in upper limb management of people with tetraplegia. Her research interests include upper extremity assessment, surgical interventions, outcomes measurement, and the social determinants of health and wellness in people with chronic, physical disability. Her current work focuses on the utility of human rights discourse to frame the barriers and limitations experienced by people with disabilities and their support persons in attaining services and technology to improve quality of life.

Dr. Davies, director of the Brainwaves Research Laboratory at Colorado State University, focuses on understanding the development of neurophysiological mechanisms that underlie cognitive and motor behaviors in children with and without disorders.

Davies holds joint appointments in the Departments of Occupational Therapy, Psychology and Human Development and Family Studies, and is a faculty member in the Molecular, Cellular, and Integrated Neuroscience Program. She is a member of three interdisciplinary research teams: one developing brain-computer interfaces, one applying universal design for learning and post-secondary opportunities for college students with disabilities, and one developing and implementing obesity prevention interventions for young children. Davies has served on editorial boards for the American Journal of Occupational Therapy, the Occupational Therapy Journal of Research, and Occupational Therapy in Pediatrics. Davies received her B.S. in occupational therapy from CSU. She earned her M.S. and Ph.D. in neuroscience and developmental psychology from the University of Wyoming.

Dr. Mulcahey is a Professor of Occupational Therapy and Director of the Center for Outcomes and Measurement in Jefferson College of Rehabilitation Sciences (JCRS) at Thomas Jefferson University, Philadelphia, PA. She has over 30 years of experience as a practitioner, educator and researcher, and is a certified health coach, competent coach and life care planner.  Her primary area of research is on the development, validation and utilization of new and existing outcome measures of impairment, physical function, activity, and participation for children, youth and adults with spinal cord injury (SCI), and other chronic conditions. She served as Principal Investigator for a seminal multi-center study on the psychometric properties of the International Neurological Classification of Spinal Cord Injury in children, which subsequently lead to evidence-informed guidelines on evaluation of the neurological consequence of SCI in children, and the first study aimed at establishing imaging biomarkers of pediatric SCI. Engaging and working collaboratively with others, Dr. Mulcahey has developed and validated IRT-based child and parent reported outcome measures, conducted psychometric studies to establish lower age guidelines for outcome instruments used in SCI clinical trials, established pediatric recommendations for the NINDS SCI CDE and International SCI basic data sets, and developed and validated estimates to allow linking between pediatric and adult patient reported outcome scores. Dr. Mulcahey is currently studying the feasibility and outcomes of coaching caregivers of children with SCI and developing an IRT-based clinical trial outcomes assessment. 

Dr. Mulcahey has published over 180 peer-reviewed manuscripts and 24 chapters, and served as editor for nine books/special journal issues. She has received research funding from the National Institutes of Health, Craig H. Neilsen Foundation, Rick Hansen Institute and the Shriners Hospitals for Children. Dr. Mulcahey is past-president of the American Spinal Injury Association (2015-2017) and past-vice president of the Pediatric Spine Foundation (2015-2020) current chair of the Board of Governance of the Steel Assembly for Pediatric SCI\D, associate editor for Topics in SCI Rehabilitation,  and editorial board member of Spinal Cord and the Physical Therapy Journal. Dr. Mulcahey is a member of the Academy of Research. 

Dr. Janet Poole is Professor and Division Chief of the Occupational Therapy Graduate Program at the University of New Mexico. Dr. Poole’s research has primarily focused on the impact of systemic sclerosis (SSc, scleroderma) on participation in daily life. She and a colleague developed TOSS (Taking Charge Of Systemic Sclerosis), the only comprehensive self-management program for people with systemic sclerosis. The development and evaluation of the effectiveness of this internet program was funded by the Patient Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI). This program has received much acclaim nationally and internationally, leading to collaborations with other health professionals in Europe to develop similar culturally relevant programs for people with SSc. Dr. Poole also created a brochure with hand and face exercises for people with SSc that is available on the Scleroderma Foundation website; she was honored with the Foundation’s Volunteer of the Year award in 2011. Dr. Poole just concluded her term as President of the Association of Rheumatology Professionals (ARP), and currently, as Immediate Past President, is the Chair of the ARP Membership and Nominations Committee. The ARP honored Dr. Poole with the Distinguished Lecturer Award in 2018; the Master Clinician Award in 2012 and the Distinguished Educator Award in 2011. Dr. Poole is a Fellow of the American Occupational Therapy Association and was elected to the AOTF Academy of Research in 2008.

Dr. Reistetter is Professor and Associate Dean for Research in the School of Health Professions at the University of Texas Health Sciences Center in San Antonio (as of January 2019). He is widely recognized for his leadership in health services research within rehabilitation in general, and in occupational therapy specifically. Through Dr. Reistetter’s K12, K01, and subsequently his currently funded Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality R01, he has brought the discussion of how to measure rehabilitation geographic regions to the forefront. Specifically, he is translating methodology from the hospital-centric research conducted at Dartmouth College and implementing these approaches to a rehabilitation context to define rehabilitation geographic services areas. Prior to Dr. Reistetter’s seminal work, any researchers examining geographic variations in rehabilitation quality of care were limited to the hospital-based regions, called Hospital Service Areas, even if they did not adequately reflect the context and environment in which rehabilitation was provided across the country, as this was the accepted approach. Thus, it has been Tim’s work, which has focused on developing and evaluating Rehabilitation Service Areas that has provided health services researchers with the necessary tools to effectively measure variations in service delivery, access, and quality.