Area of interest: Concussion rehabilitation

Areas of interest: Kennedy hopes to emphasize the importance of the role of speech-language pathologists following sports induced concussions and to utilize her experience in neuroimaging to aid in the understanding of physiological, psychological, and behavioral characteristics that may predict signs of long-term brain damage disorders due to sports induced concussions.

Areas of interest: Neuroimaging, neuroplasticity, and neurorehabilitation

Areas of interest: Optimizing coordinated strategies to mitigate lower extremity injury risk; ACL injury prevention and rehabilitation

Areas of interest: Psychological factors predictive of resilience; Military populations

Areas of interest: Understanding knee injury in order to develop strategies to improve both short- and long-term clinical outcomes and health.

Areas of interest: Sedentary Behavior & Physical Activity Epidemiology; Cardiovascular Epidemiology; Methodologies in Accelerometry; LGBTQ+ Health Disparities

Her primary work centers on novel behavioral and clinical interventions to improve the prevention and care for concussion across the lifespan. 

Dr. Pietrosimone’s research seeks to decrease disability related to knee injury with a focus on maximizing long-term joint health following traumatic joint injury.  Much of his previous and current research has evaluated the neuromuscular mechanisms related to disability following lower extremity joint injury. Additionally, he has sought to develop novel intervention strategies to treat neuromuscular impairments and improve clinical outcomes.  His future projects look to evaluate how measures of joint metabolism interact with early biomechanical changes following traumatic knee injury for the purpose of minimizing the risk of posttraumatic osteoarthritis development.

Dr. Ryan’s research focuses on examining the influence of various acute and chronic stressors on neuromuscular function. Most recently, our team has specifically worked to mitigate injuries and improve occupational health and performance in first responders. Dr. Ryan has published over 130 peer-reviewed original research manuscripts (SEE ARTICLES) and has lectured nationally on the research conducted with his team. An example of his current work can be found here. He is also a fellow of the American College of Sports Medicine (FACSM) and National Strength and Conditioning Association (FNSCA) and holds certifications through the NSCA (CSCS*D & NSCA-CPT*D).

Dr. Smith-Ryan’s research interests center around exercise and nutrition interventions to modify various aspects of body composition, cardiovascular health, and metabolic function, with a special interest in women’s health. She is an active researcher in the field of metabolism, sport nutrition and exercise performance, in both healthy and clinical populations, leading projects funded by the National Institutes of Health and International and National industry sponsored clinical trials.