RMSTP Graduates

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, The Pittsburgh Foundation for investigations into intervertebral disc biology, and she recently received an R21 award from NIAMS/NIH to study the mechanisms behind the beneficial effect of tensile loading on intervertebral disc cells. 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.

Anthony S. Burns, MD

Anthony S. Burns graduated from the Yale University School of Medicine in 1994. Afterwards, he completed a combined Internal Medicine/PM&R residency training in the Johns Hopkins/Sinai Hospital of Baltimore residency program in Baltimore, Maryland. During his residency training, he received the Arthur A. Siebens Memorial Award presented annually to a senior resident in the Johns Hopkins/Sinai PM&R residency for excellence in academic pursuits and devotion to patient care. He is board certified in two medical specialties: Internal Medicine and PM&R. In addition, he completed a spinal cord injury (SCI) fellowship at the University of Alabama at Birmingham medical center and has additional certification in the subspecialty of Spinal Cord Medicine. He is also a past participant in the Rehabilitation Medicine Scientist Training Program (RMSTP), an initiative funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH). From August 2000 through October 2007, he held an appointment as an Assistant Professor in the Department of Rehabilitation Medicine at Thomas Jefferson University in Philadelphia PA, and was the Assistant Director of the Regional SCI Center of the Delaware Valley. During this time, he was also appointed an adjunct Assistant Professor in the Department of Neurobiology and Anatomy, Drexel University College of Medicine, Philadelphia PA. In November 2007, Dr. Burns joined the Toronto Rehabilitation Institute as the Medical Director of the Spinal Cord Rehabilitation Program, the largest program of its kind in Canada. He also holds a faculty appointment as an Associate Professor in the Division of Physiatry, Department of Medicine at the University of Toronto. His research focuses on prognosis following traumatic SCI, neurorecovery and plasticity following SCI, and peripheral nervous system function following SCI.

Pablo Celnik, MD

Dr. Celnik is a board certified Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation (PM&R) physician and Associate Professor in Johns Hopkins University. Originally, he completed residency training in neurology in Argentina, followed by a fellowship in Neurological Rehabilitation at the University of Maryland and later a research fellowship in the laboratory of Dr. Mark Hallett at the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NIH). This work culminated in a seminal paper in Nature (Cohen, L. G., P. Celnik, et al. 1997]. "Functional relevance of cross-modal plasticity in blind humans." Nature 389: 180-3). After this work, he entered the PM&R residency program in Johns Hopkins University where he was ultimately  appointed chief resident. After this training, he was awarded a K12 Career Development Award, the “Rehabilitation Medicine Scientific Training Program” (RMSTP), sponsored by the Association of Academic Physiatrists (AAP) and NIH, under the mentorship of Dr. Leonardo Cohen in the Human Cortical Physiology Section of the NIH. At the same time, he joined as an assistant professor the PM&R and Neurology Departments at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine. At the completion of his training in the RMSTP he was awarded the “Clinician Scientist Award” from Johns Hopkins University, the “2006 Dennis W. Jahnigen Career Development Scholars Award” from the American Geriatric Society, and
obtained a Beginning Grant in Aid from the American Heart Association.

More recently, he was awarded an R01 from the NIH to continue his investigations and to start the Human Brain Physiology Laboratory in the PM&R dept. at Johns Hopkins University. Dr Celnik’s research has focused on understanding the mechanisms underlying motor learning and motor recovery after brain lesions, and on developing and testing new strategies to enhance motor recovery after stroke. In this area, he has published several manuscripts in highly regarded peer reviewed journals, as well as chapters in prominent books.

In 2009, Dr Celnik received the“Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers (PECASE)”, the highest honor bestowed by the U.S. government on outstanding scientists and engineers beginning their independent careers. In 2007, he was recipient of the “Young Academician Award” for outstanding academic performance, and was selected to participate in the Program for Academic Leadership both sponsored by the AAP. He also was recipient of other prestigious scientific awards like the “1997
Fellows Award for Research Excellence” by the National Institute of Health, the “2003 ERF New Investigator Award” by the Foundation for Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, the “2005 Best Paper
Presentation Award” by the Association of Academic Physiatrists, and the “2006 Best Paper Presentation Award” by the American Society of Neurorehabilitation and American Congress of Rehabilitation Medicine. 

Jay J. Han, MD

Dr. Han is an Associate Professor at the Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation at the University of California Davis.  He is also the Director of the Neuromuscular Medicine Fellowship and Co-Director of the MDA Neuromuscular Diseases Clinic at UC Davis.  He completed his undergraduate studies from the Stanford University with honors, and attended UCSF School of Medicine.  He completed his internship and PM&R residency at the University of Washington, and subsequently completed a
focused clinical and research fellowship (K12) in neuromuscular disorders. He worked under the guidance of Dr. Jeffrey S. Chamberlain.  Dr. Han has clinical focus in neuromuscular diseases affecting both adult and pediatric populations, specifically the various muscular dystrophies, as well as electrodiagnosis. His research interests focus on the development of functional outcome measures in patients with neuromuscular disorders and research using electrodiagnosis/electromyography (EMGs) in the animal models of various neuromuscular diseases.

Preeti Raghavan, MD

Dr. Preeti Raghavan obtained her MD degree from Rajah Muthiah Medical College, India. She completed her residency in Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation at Albert Einstein School of Medicine, New York. Dr. Raghavan is pursuing her research fellowship in motor control under the mentorship of Dr. Andrew Gordon at Teachers College, Columbia University. She is studying the kinematic and kinetic features of prehension during functional tasks in normal individuals and patients after stroke. Her research goal is to understand the neural mechanisms underlying the recovery of voluntary motor functions in brain-injured patients. In addition she is an attending physician on the brain injury rehabilitation unit of Mount Sinai Medical Center.

Yonghua Tai, MD, PhD

Dr. Tai is a staff physician of the Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, and research scientist of Kaiser Foundation Rehabilitation Center. Dr. Tai completed his medical education at The Second Military Medical University, Shanghai and holds a PhD in Neuroanatomy from The University of Iowa. His major areas of research are in visual rehabilitation and training programs to treat deficits of visual field and visual spatial processing. Dr. Tai is currently developing visual rehabilitation programs to train patients with homonymous hemianopia to develop conscious vision in the blind field.

Yejia Zhang, MD, PhD

Dr. Zhang earned her PhD in Cellular and Molecular Biology at the University of Pennsylvania after completing medical school in China. She started her Phase I training in the RMSTP program during her residency at the University of Rochester, Rochester, NY. In 2002, Dr. Zhang began Phase II training in the Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation and the Department of Orthopedic Surgery at Rush Medical College, Chicago, IL. After completing the three-year training period, she joined the Department of Rehabilitation Medicine at Thomas Jefferson University as an assistant professor. She is currently funded by the National Institutes of Health (K-08) to continue her studies on the effects of growth factors on intervertebral discs regeneration and the mechanism of disc degeneration under the mentorship of Dr. Maurizio Pacifici, PhD, and Dr. Irving Shapiro, DDS, PhD Since the initiation of her training with the RMSTP, Dr. Zhang has received numerous awards, including the PM&R Foundation New Investigator Research Grant, the Scott F. Nadler, DO, Research Grant from PASSOR, a Stryker Research Grant from the Cervical Spine Research Society (CSRS), a 21st Century Research Grant from the CSRS, and a Research Grant from the North American Spine Society. Her research will provide guidance on the development of treatment strategies for degenerative disc disease, which is associated with low back pain.