Researchers at SHP

SHP’s research agenda explores novel interventions to solve clinical dilemmas related to chronic and acute diseases, investigates new methodologies aimed at health promotion and prevention, as well as develops technological strategies that will improve overall health outcomes, including quality of life.

SHP Methodology and Statistics Support Team (MSST)

 The SHP Methodology and Statistics Support Team provides various services to support research and scholarship for the school. In addition to providing consultation and support for quantitative and qualitative methods and procedures, we also provide training, develop interprofessional and team initiatives, and provide IRB help and grant support.

As a methodologist, my mission is to advance health-related research by applying cutting-edge quantitative methods to enhance our understanding of complex health, psychological, and educational issues. I am committed to providing robust and rigorous quantitative methodological support across a variety of research areas.

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Director: Rutgers School of Health Professions Methodology and Statistical Support Team.

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My scholarly mission is to understand and mitigate biopsychosocial impacts on health to reduce health inequities and to advance qualitative and mixed methods research. My clinical expertise is in pediatric nutrition, and my scholarly agenda focuses on participatory problem-solving approaches.

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Rehabilitation

 Faculty in these programs are national and international leaders in their field. They are committed to offering students opportunities for scholarship, research and professional leadership. Scholarly work by faculty and students is regularly accepted for dissemination at national and international conferences, and by top journals in our faculty members’ fields of expertise.

My research directions respond to critical professional challenges in speech-language pathology resulting from national and global demographic and epidemiological trends.

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Our research focuses on better understanding motor behavior in health and disease using technology in order to improve/optimize movements of individuals with chronic diseases, such as Parkinson’s disease, Huntington’s disease, dystonia, cerebral palsy, and stroke, through physical therapy and exercise.

His laboratory tools include motion capture, wearable sensors, electromyography, brain stimulation, and neuroimaging. The majority of students enroll part-time and typically complete the program in 3 to 5 years. Students must complete the program within 6 years (12 semesters) of enrollment.

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The RiVERS lab is an inter-disciplinary applied rehabilitation research lab. We study motor control, behavioral and neural plasticity that form the basis of rehabilitation science. We document the validity and efficacy of interventions that will accelerate recovery of mobility and fitness for individuals with neurologic conditions.

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Our lab has produced several systems utilizing haptically rendered virtual environments that present intensive motor training interventions designed to normalize arm and hand function. We have designed and tested lab-based, hospital based and now home based equipment.

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The NeuREI lab applies knowledge of neurophysiology to advance rehabilitation research.  Its mission is to improve function and quality of life for individuals with motor and cognitive disabilities.

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Dr. Toosizadeh’s research focus is computational model, sensor-based engineering approach, and machine learning tools to diagnose and treat older adults with aging-related conditions, focusing on frailty and cognitive impairment assessment and fall rehabilitation.

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Dr. Wages’ research focuses on pragmatic approaches to identify neuromuscular mechanisms of muscle weakness, physical function/mobility limitations, and fatigue with aging, injury, and neurodegenerative disease.

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Informatics

 Health informatics is the most promising biomedical science and information technology frontier of the 21st century. The health informatics field is revolutionizing the health care and pharmaceutical industries in countless ways, using information and technology to improve health care and advance biomedical research.

Areas of focus include the synergistic enhancement of TNF-mediated tumor cell killing by specific classes of DNA topoisomerase II inhibitors, the function of the chitinase family protein YKL-40 as a tumor cell survival factor, the regulation of DNA replication initiation in leukemia cells, and most recently disease-related informatics projects and laboratory-based investigations into differences in the biophysical properties of low grade and highly malignant cancer cells.

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Neuroinformatics lab at Rutgers focused on understanding human brain function during resting state and in task conditions, and how it is disrupted by cognitive challenges and in neuro-clinical populations. Specifically, we use multiband neuroimaging data to understand and quantify frequency specific changes in functional brain integration.

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Dr. Kachroo’s lab develops computational methods to identify clinically relevant multi-omic biomarkers with a focus on primordial prevention central to respiratory disease outcomes and other complex age-associated inflammatory diseases.

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My laboratory develops computational algorithms to elucidate genomic, transcriptomic, and epigenomic mechanisms of therapeutic resistance in oncology and to identify optimal treatment strategies for cancer patients.

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Dr. Niu’s research lab focuses on the intersection of media psychology and behavioral science, particularly in the context of new media technologies and health.

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The mission of the Addiction Neuroimaging Lab is to elucidate the neurocognitive mechanisms underlying addictive behaviors by utilizing cognitive tasks, functional magnetic resonance imaging and computational tools.

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Barbara Tafuto, PhD is an Assistant Professor at the Rutgers School of Health Professions. She teaches advanced courses in Clinical Research Management and Heath Informatics. Barbara is also an Element C module co-lead for the New Jersey Alliance for Clinical and Translational Science (NJ ACTS). In this role, Barbara (1) develops the Clinical Research Management Workforce Educational Webinar Series, (2) mentors interns, and (3) conducts research designed to understand the effects training and education has on the clinical research workforce.

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Nutrition

 Faculty in our nutrition programs have national and international reputations within their field of study. They offer exceptional opportunities for our graduate students in education, research and clinical care. The scholarly works generated by our faculty are widely disseminated through peer-level presentations and high impact journals within the field of nutrition and dietetics as well as other related health sciences publications.

Dr. Byham-Gray investigates methods to prevent, diagnose and treat protein-energy wasting (PEW) in patients with chronic kidney disease. Her research focuses primarily on energy metabolism and body composition.

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My research takes a life-course approach to examine and address the nutritional and biopsychosocial risk factors of cardiometabolic diseases. To this end, one line of my research explores how taste and smell perception changes with exposures across the life span (e.g., smoking, viral infections), and act as biological drivers or markers of dietary behaviors and cardiometabolic disease risk.

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One of the main areas of research for Dr. Sackey is food & nutrition insecurity and food access. His research focuses on the experiences and challenges of LGBTQIA+ individuals, people living with HIV and college students, who are often at higher risk of food insecurity than the general population.

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My primary research interest falls into how potentially modifiable factors, such as diet, nutrition, inflammation, and hormonal exposures, influence women’s health across the lifespan. I have conducted chemoprevention and nutritional and cancer epidemiology research utilizing clinical trials and large prospective cohort studies funded by NIH/NCI.

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Community Interventions/Mental Health

 We are a leader in psychiatric rehabilitation education, having pioneered some of the first degree-granting psych rehab programs in the nation. Our faculty also authored the first comprehensive introductory textbook in the field.

My research focuses on successful integration into the community of people with disabilities. As well as vocational rehabilitation and career development that have been focuses of many research projects of mine, healthy lifestyle became a key topic with research findings indicating health as a main barrier for their reintegration to workforce.

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My interests in psychiatric rehabilitation research about individuals experiencing mental illness began during my 15 years of providing and managing clinical services in the community before joining Rutgers. My research focuses on identifying barriers and developing interventions to improve conditions of this population.

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Dr. Gill’s research interests encompass a broad range of topics with the psychiatric rehabilitation of persons with serious mental illnesses. These include evidence based and promising practices in terms of employment, education, health and wellness promotion, and techniques to promote community integration, quality of life, and recovery. In addition, he has a strong interest in the educational techniques and approaches that promote practitioner development through academic and other educational approaches.

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The mission of Dr. Kang-Yi’s research is to promote mental health and wellbeing of individuals with psychiatric needs. For this mission, Dr. Kang-Yi partners with publicly funded agencies to identify priorities and critical problems, examine implementation and outcomes of interest, and develop ways to scale effective programs.

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A major area Dr. Lu’s lab focuses on is cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) interventions for individuals with psychiatric disabilities and comorbid PTSD. The research centers on trauma, trauma-informed care and PTSD, with an emphasis on individuals with serious mental illness with co-morbid PTSD. Our work in this lab has explored how trauma may impact occupational functioning (education/employment) for persons with psychiatric disabilities.

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Mental Health Interventions: The overall goal of my research is to support individuals with mental illnesses to live fulfilling and complete lives in the communities of their choosing.

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The mission of my research is to improve the quality of services that will improve the lives of affectional and gender diverse individuals with and without a serious mental illness.

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Dr. Zechner’s research is focused on improving health and wellness of people living with chronic conditions and their caregivers, especially older adults.  It includes the development of programs focused on multi-domain wellness for people with mental health conditions, caregivers of people with dementia, motivation for physical activity for people living with mental health conditions, implementation of best practices in inpatient psychiatric settings and use of peer health coaching strategies.

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