DPT-PhD in Bioengineering Training Grant (T32)
openNICHD - Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development
Project Abstract
The Doctor of Physical Therapy-PhD in Bioengineering Training Program at the University of Pittsburgh
integrates outstanding evidence-based physical therapy education with innovative bioengineering research
training to develop independent clinician-scientists who can identify clinically relevant questions that can be
addressed by rigorous solutions grounded in bioengineering principles and who will be leaders in
rehabilitation research. An established history of interdisciplinary collaboration between the departments
provides the foundation for this program, which is structured to provide a synergistic environment between
the clinical and research training so that the students have early engagement in research while they are
studying physical therapy, as well as continued physical therapy skill development while they are immersed
in their research training. The program will support up to 6 predoctoral trainees per year, and each trainee
will be eligible for up to 3 years of support. They will be engaged in learning the fundamental principles of
physical therapy, bioengineering, biostatistics, evidence-based practice, and applying the principles through
closely-mentored laboratory training, manuscript preparation, and grant-writing. Training program specific
activities that augment the individual DPT and PhD curricula include providing the trainees with research
experiences during DPT phase, clinical experiences during the PhD phase, exposure to different career
pathways, and regular training in the responsible conduct of research, methods to enhance rigor and
reproducibility in research, and mentorship. The training program features clinical rehabilitation research
faculty with expertise in varied populations (neurologic, orthopaedic, sports, pediatrics, geriatrics) and
bioengineering research faculty with backgrounds in biomechanics, signal and image processing, neural
engineering, machine learning) to provide a unique training program at the cutting edge of physical
rehabilitation. The training program benefits from the institutional support of the University of Pittsburgh and
its strong infrastructure of facilities, mentorship training, and resources for faculty and graduate student
development.
Up to $176K
health research