UPMC Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation In the News

The spring of 2025 was a busy time for faculty, staff, and students at the UPMC and Pitt Departments of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation. Learn more about their various new studies, research initiatives, and accolades.

• Amy J. Houtrow, MD, PhD, MPH, Chloe Shearer, MS, and Gina McKernan, PhD, published “Health Care Cost Concerns and Hardships for Families of Children with Disabilities” in JAMA and were featured in the Washington Post.
• At the American Medical Society for Sports Medicine Annual Meeting, we contributed the following:
  • 2 podium presentations (1 case & 1 research)
  • 2 research posters
  • 3 case report posters
  • 2 scholarships won by residents Raj Banerjee, MD, and Andrew Nowak, MD
  • 4 ultrasound education sessions taught by faculty
  • 7 trainees attended
• Corina Bondi, PhD, was featured in a PittMed article on a model of mentorship.
• Jordyn Ting, PhD, postdoctoral fellow in PMR/RNEL working with Elvira Pirondini, PhD, was awarded the Hunter Family Foundation TBI Translational Research Award.
• Elvira Pirondini, PhD, along with Jordyn Ting, PhD, and Jorge Gonzalez-Martinez, MD, PhD, were awarded a grant from The Beckwith Institute and one from the Pitt SPARK to continue testing DBS technology for speech and swallowing.
• Media highlights:
  • A brain-computer interface study showing that direct stimulation can improve artificial sense of touch (by Robert Gaunt, PhD, and Ceci Verbaarschot, PhD) was covered in national and international media, including Il Sole 24 Ore, Fortune Italia, Panorama, Corriere della Sera, and Wired. This research was also covered locally and in industry publications:
    • Pitt researchers develop artificial touch sensations for people with spinal cord injuries | Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
    • Brain-Computer Interface Restores Real Touch Sensation | Lab Manager
    • Fine-Tuned Brain-Computer Interface Makes Prosthetic Limbs Feel More Real | Medical Design Briefs
  • Jennifer Collinger, PhD, and Robert Gaunt, PhD, were on the Kidsburgh podcast:
    • S2 Ep12: Meet scientists who are helping people control robotic arms with just their minds
  • Jennifer Collinger, PhD, provided comments to STAT News about a recent advancement in BCI research:
    • New thought-to-speech brain device enables ‘natural conversation’
  • A JAMA paper by Amy J. Houtrow, MD, PhD, MPH, was covered in HealthDay:
    • Families of Children With Disabilities Face Financial Hardships
  • Rory Cooper, PhD, was featured in WTAE's Marathon Special (his segment starts about 15 minutes in):
    • Runners of Pittsburgh: A look at the people of the Pittsburgh Marathon