Current RMSTP Fellows

Qing Mei Wang, MD

Dr. Qing Mei Wang obtained her PhD and MD from University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey and subsequently completed residency training in Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation Program at Mount Sinai Medical Center at NY. She currently holds an academic appointment in the Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation at Harvard Medical School. She is a staff physiatrist at Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital and Massachusett General Hospital. Her research is focused on investigating the mechanisms of neuroplasticity for stroke recovery in both animal model and stroke patients and developing pharmacological treatment to promote functional recovery. Her mentor team is lead by Dr. Moskowitz at Stroke and Neurovascular Regulation Laboratory at Harvard Medical School and by Dr. Zafonte at Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital.

Mike Hsu, MD

Dr. Mike Hsu received his MD from Duke University in 2002, and completed his residency at University of Washington in 2006. He has since been at University of Michigan, working with Dr. Daniel Clauw at the Chronic Pain and Fatigue Research Center. Dr. Hsu is currently running a randomized controlled trial examining whether an emotional self-awareness workshop program improves pain and other symptoms in patients with fibromyalgia. He is also learning several neuroimaging methods, including functional MRI and functional connectivity MRI, and developing techniques of diagnosing the various mechanisms of nociceptive amplification at the bedside.  His clinical interests involve comprehensive and cost-effective chronic pain management. In his free time, Mike enjoys playing the violin, composing and recording music, running, practicing Golden Shield qigong, and dreaming about snowboarding back on the West Coast.

Pradeep Suri, MD

Dr. Suri obtained his medical degree from the University of Michigan Medical School and completed his residency training in Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation at the University of Washington. After attending in Spine and EMG clinics in the Puget Sound VA system, he decided to pursue subspecialty training, going on to complete a Spine and Musculoskeletal Fellowship at New England Baptist Hospital in Boston, MA. As an RMSTP fellow, Dr. Suri is conducting research on the epidemiology of degenerative lumbar spinal disorders under the mentorship of Dr. Jeffrey N. Katz. His work involves the identification of traditional and novel risk factors associated with pathoanatomic spinal degeneration, symptomatic disease, and functional limitations in the Framingham Heart Study Offspring and Gen 3 cohorts. He currently holds an academic appointment in the Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation at Harvard Medical School. He is a staff physiatrist at The Spine Center of New England Baptist Hospital.

Amy Houtrow, MD

Dr. Amy Houtrow obtained her MD from Michigan State University and subsequently completed residency training in a combined Pediatrics and Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation program at Cincinnati Children's
Hospital Medical Center and the University of Cincinnati. During her residencies, she also completed an MPH in Health Policy and Management at the University of Michigan. She is currently an Assistant Professor of Clinical Pediatrics at the University of California at San Francisco. She also is the Medical Director of the Pediatric Rehabilitation Program and the Spina Bifida Program. Her research focuses on understanding the family impacts of raising children with disabilities. Her mentoring team is lead by Dr. Paul Newacheck, a leader in health services research for children with special health care needs.

Stacy J. Suskauer, MD

Dr. Suskauer obtained her M.D. from Duke University and subsequently completed a combined Pediatrics and Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation residency program at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center and the University of Cincinnati.  Her training continued with a Rehabilitation Research Fellowship at Kennedy Krieger Institute and Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, where she is currently an Instructor in the Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation within the Division of Pediatric Rehabilitation.  With the mentorship of a team lead by Dr. Martha Bridge Denckla, Dr. Suskauer is learning to use anatomic imaging techniques and behavioral paradigms to better understand behavioral and cognitive deficits commonly observed following pediatric traumatic brain injury.

David C. Morgenroth, MD

Dr. Morgenroth's interest in human locomotion began at the age of 11 months when he successfully navigated the challenging crawl-to-walk transition.  He further developed his interest in the biomechanics of gait as an undergraduate at UC Berkeley, studying human hopping and running in Professor Claire Farley's biomechanics lab.  After attending medical school in his hometown New York City, Dr. Morgenroth rambled back out west where he completed his Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation residency training at the University of Washington, receiving the outstanding resident award for 2006-7.  PM&R provided the ideal forum to combine his intellectual interest in biomechanics with his clinical interest treating gait disorders, especially in the amputee population.  During his RMSTP fellowship and under the mentorship of Dr. Joseph Czerniecki, Dr. Morgenroth has begun to study the biomechanics of transfemoral amputee gait in order to elucidate the forces responsible for the high prevalence of knee osteoarthritis in this population.  He is currently a staff physician at the University of Washington and Seattle VA Medical Center.

James J. Hill III, MD

Dr. Hill received his BS in marine chemistry from the South Carolina Honors College at the University of South Carolina at Columbia, his MD from the Medical University of South Carolina, and his MPH in Chronic Disease Epidemiology from the Yale School of Public Health. He completed his residency training in Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and a fellowship in Occupational & Environmental Medicine at the Yale University School of Medicine. He is currently an Assistant Professor of Medicine in the Occupational and Environmental Medicine Department at the Yale School of Medicine and Medical Director of the VA Connecticut Polytrauma/TBI Program. Under the mentorship of Dr. Mark Cullen, Dr. Hill is looking at specific aspects of certain jobs and the associated workplace culture variables that facilitate successful vocational rehabilitation and facilitate early return to work after acute illness and injury. His central research focus is to move the US health care system away from traditional morbidity and mortality definitions of quality health care for working aged adults and towards functional-based outcomes based on the overarching goal of maintaining health at a level that allows working age adults to continue to meet their individual social, economic, and cultural roles.

Richard Wilson, MD

Dr. Wilson obtained his M.D. degree from the Medical College of Ohio. He completed his residency in Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation at MetroHealth Medical Center/Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, Ohio. Dr. Wilson is pursuing his research fellowship in health services research under the mentorship of Dr. Neal V. Dawson at MetroHealth Medical Center. His focus is to determine whether there is an association between healthcare resource utilization and psychological traits in those with spinal cord injury. He has a faculty appointment as a general physiatrist at the MetroHealth Rehabilitation Institute of Ohio in Cleveland, Ohio.

Leslie Morse, DO

Dr. Morse completed her medical training at the University of New England and her residency in PMR at Boston Medical Center. She is currently a staff physiatrist at Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital, Clinical Associate at Massachusetts General Hospital, and has an academic appointment in the department of PMR at Harvard Medical School. Dr. Morse conducts her research under the supervision of her mentor, Dr. Philip Staskenko, at the Foryth Institute. Her RMSTP project is focused on neuromodulation of bone metabolism. Dr. Morse is currently studying the mechanisms of bone loss following neurological injury.

Brad Dicianno, MD

Dr. Dicianno is the Associate Medical Director of the Human Engineering Research Laboratories and Assistant Professor at the Univ. of Pittsburgh Medical Center in the Dept. of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation. He is the Director of the UPMC Adult Spina Bifida Clinic and the Medical Director of the Center for Assistive Technology. His research focus is understanding motor control and movement disorders by studying the interfaces between the upper limb and engineering devices such as power wheelchair joysticks. He is currently a RMSTP fellow at the Human Engineering Research Laboratories in Pittsburgh under the mentorship of Rory Cooper, PhD. Brad graduated from the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine after obtaining a BS in Evolutionary Biology and a BA in the History and Philosophy of Science as an undergraduate there. He completed residency in the Dept. of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation at the Univ. of Pittsburgh Medical Center, where he served as chief resident.

Janna L. Friedly, MD

Dr. Janna Friedly grew up in upstate New York, but took the first opportunity she could to move west, attending college at Stanford University. After college, she moved to Eugene, Oregon, where she cultivated her interest in health services research and health care policy working for the medical director of a not-for-profit health plan analyzing physician performance and quality reporting. She then obtained her medical degree from Oregon Health Sciences University and spent a year working with mentor Laurence Huang at UCSF developing her basic research skills through the Training in Clinical Research program and conducting research on the genetic epidemiology of PCP pneumonia. After completing residency training in PM&R at the University of Washington, she returned to her interests in health services research through the RMSTP K12 program. She has been working at the University of Washington under the mentorship of Drs. Rick Deyo and Leighton Chan conducting health services research relating to epidural steroid injections for the treatment of low back pain in the Medicare population. She is currently an Acting Assistant Professor at the University of Washington in the Department of Rehabilitation Medicine and with the Center for Clinical Effectiveness, Cost and Outcomes Research. Her primary research interests are in the provision of health services relating to low back pain. She is also extending her research focus to study the delivery of health care services to amputees. Clinically, she works at Harborview Medical Center in the amputee clinic and as an attending on the inpatient acute rehabilitation service. Her other academic interests are in quality improvement, medical ethics, and teaching evidence based medicine to medical students and residents.

Gwen Sowa, MD, PhD

Dr. Gwendolyn Sowa is the 2008 recipient of a Jahnigen Award through the American Geriatric Society to study the utility of serum biomarkers in older adults with low back pain. She is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation at the University of Pittsburgh and Co-Director for the Ferguson Laboratory for Orthopaedic Research, Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, where she holds a joint appointment. Her background includes a PhD in Biochemistry from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and residency training in PM&R at the Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago. In addition, she is the recipient of a K12 Rehabilitation Medicine Scientist Training Grant through the NIH and AAP. Dr. Sowa currently treats outpatients with spine and other musculoskeletal disorders and is actively involved in laboratory based research into novel treatments for intervertebral disc degeneration and low back pain. She has received grant funding from the North American Spine Society and The Pittsburgh Foundation for investigations into intervertebral disc biology. She has presented her work at national and international meetings, and was the recipient of the 2005 Electrode Store Best Paper for her work in demonstrating an anti-inflammatory effect of motion on the intervertebral disc. Current research interests include the effect of motion based therapies and mechanical strain on inflammation and repair of the intervertebral disc, and the use of gene and cell based therapies for the treatment of intervertebral disc degeneration.