The Department of Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation is actively involved in many research endeavors to maximize health and physical function for people with disabilities. We are exploring traditional as well as complementary and alternative treatment methodologies. Our department was ranked sixth in the country for the amount of research grants we received from the National Institutes of Health for 2011.

Current Clinical Trials

We currently are enrolling participants in the following clinical trials:

• lower-limb spasticity after stroke or traumatic brain injury
• upper-limb spasticity after stroke or traumatic brain injury

Our Research in the News

View a story in the October 2011 issue of Health and Healing.

Research Initiatives

Jongbae Park, KMD, PhD, Asian Medicine and Acupuncture Research.

Recent Grants

Faculty in our department received the following research grants from outside funding agencies as principal investigators (PIs):

A Phase III, Multicenter, Double Blind, Prospective, Randomized, Placebo Controlled Study Assessing the Efficacy and Safety of Dysport® Intramuscular Injection Used for the Treatment of Upper Limb Spasticity in Adult Subjects with Hemiparesis Due To Stroke or Traumatic Brain Injury
Industry Sponsor: Ipsen
PI: Heather Walker
Dates: 8/2011-6/2013

A Phase III, Multicenter, Open Label, Extension Study, To Assess the Long Safety and Efficacy of Repeated Treatment of Dysport® Intramuscular Injection in the Treatment of Upper Limb Spasticity in Adult Subjects with Hemiparesis Due To Stroke or Traumatic Brain Injury
Industry Sponsor: Ipsen
PI: Heather Walker
Dates: 11/2011-9/2013

A Phase III, Multicenter, Double Blind, Prospective, Randomized, Placebo Controlled Study Assessing the Efficacy and Safety of Dysport® Intramuscular Injection Used for the Treatment of Lower Limb Spasticity in Adult Subjects with Hemiparesis Due To Stroke or Traumatic Brain Injury
Industry Sponsor: Ipsen
PI: Heather Walker, MD
Years: 6/2011-3/2013

A Phase III, Multicenter, Open Label, Extension Study, To Assess the Long Safety and Efficacy of Repeated Treatment of Dysport® Intramuscular Injection in the Treatment of Lower Limb Spasticity in Adult Subjects with Hemiparesis Due To Stroke or Traumatic Brain Injury
Industry Sponsor: Ipsen
PI: Heather Walker, MD
Years: 9/2011-6/2013

Mindfulness Training for Posttraumatic Headache Following a Mild Traumatic Brain Injury
Funding Agency: Congressionally Directed Medical Research Program
Years: 08/2010-08/2013
PI: Sutapa Ford, PhD

Disease, Disability and Death in an Aging Workforce
Funding Agency: National Institutes of Health (R01)
Period of Support: 6/15/2007-6/14/2012
PI for UNC-Chapel Hill: James Hill, MD, MPH
Subcontract with Stanford University

STAR Project (Stroke Telemedicine and Rehabilitation, Robeson County)
Funding Source: Duke Endowment Fund
Note: Patricia Gregory, MD, served as PI until June 14, 2010.

A Mindfulness-Based Intervention to Reduce Diabetes Risk in Pre-Diabetic African Americans
Funding Source: NIH/National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine
Lead PI: Susan Gaylord, PhD

Recently Completed Studies

Effectiveness of a Care Package for Low Back Pain with Disc Herniation: A Pragmatic Randomized Controlled Trial
Funding Source: Jaseng Medical Foundation
PI: Jongbae Park, KMD, PHD, LAc

Stroke Rehabilitation in Two American Indian Tribe Populations
Funding Source: Diversity Aging Institute
PI: Patricia Gregory, MD

Mindfulness for Irritable Bowel Syndrome
Funding Source: NIH/National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine
PI: Susan Gaylord, PhD
New! View an article about this study on WebMD!

Our department also houses the Program on Integrative Medicine, which conducts research in complementary and alternative medicine, and which is the administrative home of the T-32 Research Fellowhip in Complementary and Alternative Medicine.

Additionally, examples of other research activities appear on individual faculty pages.