The Center of Health and Rehabilitation Research (CoHRR) convenes an interdisciplinary group of Steinhardt faculty, students, and researchers with a shared interest in human health and rehabilitation, alongside their collaborators at NYU and beyond. CoHRR serves as an intellectual community for its affiliates, a hub for research projects, and a catalyst for promising new research via its Seed Awards program. As 2025 begins, we celebrate some notable achievements by faculty and students affiliated with CoHRR in 2024.
Awards and Grants
In March, Dr. Sonja Molfenter (Communicative Sciences and Disorders, CSD) and her collaborators from NYU Grossman School of Medicine were among the first awardees of the recently established NYU Discovery Research Fund for Human Health, receiving a planning grant for a project to test a safer, radiation-free method for studying swallowing problems to improve how we understand and treat these issues.
Dr. Yoon presenting her seed award project at the 2024 CoHRR research showcase
CoHRR announced its 2024 Seed Award recipients on April 19, during the center’s Annual Spring Research Showcase. Awards were granted to Dr. Eric S. Jackson (CSD) and his team for their project ‘Neurocognitive Responses Preceding Stuttered Speech Across the Lifespan’ and to Dr. Si On Yoon (CSD) for her project ‘Virtual Communication in Alzheimers’.
In July investigators Dr. Susannah Levi (CSD) and Dr. Sonja Molfenter (CSD) received supplemental funds from the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Aging, respectively, to add early career researchers from diverse backgrounds to their teams. Thanks to the new funding, Postdoctoral Fellow Dr. Avery Dakin has joined the research team for Dr. Molfenter's study on proactive pharyngeal swallowing exercises to prevent frailty in older adults and Dr. Levi is working with a Deaf graduate student of linguistics to determine the viability of extending her research on the effect of familiarity with a speaker or foreign accent on working memory, comprehension, and learning from spoken to signed languages.
The NYU Discovery Research Fund for Human Health awarded an early stage grant to Dr. Jeannette Beasley (Nutrition and Food Sciences, NFS) and co-investigators from the NYU Grossman School of Medicine and NYU Abu Dhabi in August. Building on the BRInging the Diabetes Prevention Program to GEriatric Populations (BRIDGE) project, the team will adapt an AI-driven diabetes prevention app tailored to the United Arab Emirates, a country with one of the highest rates of diabetes globally. Dr. Beasley and collaborator Elaine de Leon (SOM) also received a Seed Award from the Institute of Human Development and Social Change to expand the BRIDGE project to Hispanic individuals living in the United States.
Also in August, CoHRR affiliates from the Department of Physical Therapy (PT), Dr. Ericka Merriwether and Dr. Anat Lubetzky (with collaborator Dr. Yoav Bergner, Administration, Leadership and Technology) were named among the 2024 recipients of Diversity Innovation Grants awarded by the Steinhardt Office of Diversity, Equity, and Belonging.
Recognition of Excellence
Photo from an interview with Dr. Arunachalam where she describes her research in Germany. Photo credit Thomas Roese/University of Potsdam.
The Alexander von Humboldt Foundation conferred its prestigious Friedrich Wilhelm Bessel Research Award on Dr. Sudha Arunachalam (CSD), which allowed her to travel to Germany for an academic collaboration with BabyLab at Potsdam University during the second half of the year. The foundation presents approximately 20 such awards annually to internationally renowned academics in recognition of their outstanding accomplishments in research. Learn more about Dr. Arunachalam’s research and her work at BabyLab.
From left-to-right: Dr. Susannah Levi (Steinhardt Communicative Sciences and Disorders; CSD), Dr. Maria Grigos (CSD), Dr. Aaron Johnson (NYU Langone), and Dr. Sonja Molfenter (CSD), celebrating Dr. Levi and Dr. Molfenter's induction as ASHA Fellows
The American Congress of Rehabilitation Medicine (ACRM) recognized Dr. Yael Goverover (Occupational Therapy, OT) as a 2024 ACRM Fellow in June for “her contributions to advancing cognitive rehabilitation practice and research in functional cognition for persons with Multiple Sclerosis (MS) and Acquired Brain Injury (ABI).” The fellowship is awarded to individuals who have made contributions of national significance to the field of medical rehabilitation.
In July the American Speech and Hearing Association (ASHA) inducted Dr. Susannah Levi and Dr. Sonja Molfenter as ASHA Fellows in recognition of their outstanding contributions to the discipline of communication sciences and disorders.
Publications, Presentations, and Media
CoHRR-affiliated faculty and students presented and published important work in 2024, including public-facing science communications.
Research Showcase - In April, CoHRR held its annual research showcase, which highlighted student and postdoctoral research across the CoHRR community via poster presentations. Participants learned about 20 projects from across the disciplines, which covered topics from music-based interventions for stroke rehabilitation and childhood apraxia of speech to knee kinematics and diet quality of SNAP recipients and people living with diabetic peripheral neuropathy. They also heard from past and new CoHRR Seed Award recipients, as well as from CoHRR co-founder Dr. Smita Rao, who spoke about challenges and opportunities in interdisciplinary research. Learn more and view a photo gallery.
Stroke Rehabilitation - Dr. Grace Kim (OT), Dr. Yael Goverover (PT), Occupational Therapy PhD students Amanda Gahlot and Hayejin Kim, alongside co-authors from outside the Steinhardt School, published an article about clinician and patient experiences with shared decision-making during stroke rehabilitation in the Archives of Rehabilitation Research and Clinical Translation.
Dietary Patterns and Diabetes Prevention - Dr. Jeannette Beasley (NFS) published “Dietary Patterns in the Mediators of Atherosclerosis in South Asians Living in America (MASALA) Study: Comparisons Across Methodologies” in BMJ Nutrition, Prevention & Health. She also co-authored “Implementing a Diet Risk Score (DRS) for Spanish-Speaking Adults in a Clinical Setting: A Feasibility Study” for a special issue of Nutrients focused on dietary patterns and healthy aging, for which she served as guest editor, alongside Dr. Jessica Bihuniak (Montclair State University). She is now a guest editor for the next special edition of Nutrients, which will focus on nutritional interventions for age-related diseases.
Dr. Beasley also chaired a panel discussion at the Nutrition 2024 symposium hosted by the American Society for Nutrition in June-July. Entitled “Lessons Learned Implementing Diabetes Prevention Programs in Diverse Settings,” the panel included faculty from NYU’s Grossman School of Medicine, Dr. Elaine De Leon (right of Beasley) and Dr. Emily Johnston (far right), as well as from CUNY and Northwell Health.
Doctoral Student Presentations - With support from their advisor, Dr. Smita Rao (PT), doctoral candidates in physical therapy presented their work at the American Society of Biomechanics Annual Conference: “Convergent Validity of Knee Kinematics Assessed with Marker-Less and Marker-Based Motion Capture During Sport-Specific Tasks,” and “Knee Kinematics During Yoga Poses Using Marker-Based vs Marker-Less Approaches,” respectively.
Science Communication - Dr. Eric S. Jackson (CSD) published an article in VISIBLE Magazine: “President Biden’s Chance to Spotlight Hidden Struggles of Stuttering on Awareness Day.” Additionally, The Epoch Times and CNN Health interviewed Dr. Anat Lubetzky (PT) for articles about balance and neuromuscular aging.