Virginia Chu, PhD, OR/L (Associate Professor). Dr. Chu is the director of the Sensorimotor Processing and Rehabilitation Engineering lab. This lab studies the role of somatosensory processing in motor control and development to better understand the development process of somatosensory function in children and how impairments and delays in sensory development affect motor development and learning. Dr. Chu can be contacted at vchu@vcu.edu.
Benjamin Darter, Pt, PhD (Associate Professor). Dr. Darter’s primary research and clinical interests are to develop and investigate measurement systems for use in research and clinical practice in persons with limb loss, limb difference, or other polytraumatic injury, as well as interventions that facilitate optimal functional performance. Dr. Darter can be contacted at bjdarter@vcu.edu.
Brooke Dexheimer, PhD, OTD, OTR/L (Assistant Professor). Dr. Dexheimer is director of the Novel Environments for Reducing Disability & Dysfunction (NERDD) Lab. This lab investigates how sensory information informs movement and perception from two perspectives: (1) a basic neuroscience perspective, with the aim of increasing our understanding of how movement is specified and learned, and (2) a translational and clinical perspective, with the goal of identifying targeted interventions to treat movement deficits following neurological injury. Dr. Dexheimer can be contacted at dexheimerb@vcu.edu.
Chelsea Duppen, PT, PhD (Assistant Professor). Dr. Duppen’s research focus is on assessing motor control impairments in Parkinson’s disease and development of innovative solutions for maintaining function in this cohort. She is part of the team of scholars in Physical Therapy working in the biomechanics/motor control lab spaces. Dr. Duppen can be contacted at duppenc@vcu.edu.
Micheal Kiefer, PT, DPT, PhD (Assistant Professor). Dr. Kiefer is an investigator in the Center for Inherited Myology Research in the School of Medicine where his research is focused on developing clinical outcome measures and understanding variability in motor performance in children and adults with neuromuscular disorders. Dr. Kiefer can be contacted at kieferm@vcu.edu.
Paul Kline, PT, DPT, PhD (Assistant Professor). Dr. Kline studies mobility in people with chronic musculoskeletal conditions such as amputation, arthritis, and complications from diabetes using lab-based and wearable technologies. Dr. Kline can be contacted at klinep@vcu.edu.
Peter Pidcoe, PT, DPT, PhD (Professor). Dr. Pidcoe directs the Engineering and Biomechanics Lab, a transdisciplinary cross-over lab that studies human movement using novel and state-of-the-art instrumentation. The common theme of projects is promoting improvement in patient treatment. Applicants should be interested in working with both engineers and clinicians in a dynamic environment. Dr. Pidcoe can be contacted at pepidcoe@vcu.edu.
James Thomas, PT, PhD (Professor). Dr. Thomas is the director of the Motor Control Laboratory. The MCL primarily studies trunk control in participants with orthopedic and neurologic impairments and test novel virtual reality interventions to reduce pain and disability associated with low back pain. Dr. Thomas can be contacted at jthomas32@vcu.edu.