Center Investigators

	Researcher/Clinician Name	Title	Department	Specialties
	Jason Blatt, MD, FAANS, FAAP	Clinical Associate Professor	Department of Neurosurgery & Pediatrics	Pediatric neurosurgery, with a special focus on brain tumors (including complex and re-do surgery), epilepsy, minimally-invasive and transnasal brain surgery, and congenital spinal disorders.
	Donald Bolser, PhD	Professor	Department of Physiological Sciences	Respiratory control, mechanisms of cough, and airway defense
	Prodip Bose, MD, PhD	Associate Professor; Interim Director	Department of Neurology; Brain Rehabilitation Research Center	Spasticity after TBI/SCI
	Andrew Bryant, MD	Clinical Associate Professor	Division of Pulmonary Critical Care & Sleep Medicine	Pulmonary critical care and sleep medicine; hypoxia-induced pulmonary hypertension
	Katharina Busl, MD, MS	Professor, Division Chief & Associate Editor	Department of Neurology & Neurosurgery; Division of Neurocritical Care	Care innovations and quality of neurocritical care; treatment of headache in the NeuroICU, neuroprognostication and medical complications of neurocritical disease
	Barry Byrne, MD, PhD	Professor & Associate Chair; Director	Department of Pediatrics; Gene Powell Center	Pompe disease; gene therapy
	David Clark, ScD	Professor	Department of Behavioral Neurology	Rehabilitation from stroke and SCI (human movement)
	Erica Dale, PhD	Assistant Professor	Department of Physiology & Aging	Spinal stimulation induced phrenic motor plasticity; neurostimulation and functional recovery of breathing capacity after spinal injury
	Matthew Decker, MD, MBA, MPH	Assistant Professor	Department of Neurological Surgery	Treating spinal pathologies such as traumatic injuries, degenerative spine, spinal tumors, and infectious conditions.
	Andrew Dubin, MD	Interim Chair	Department of Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation	Electric stimulation; chronic pain
	Irene Estores, MD	Associate Professor & Residency Program Director	Department of Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation	Medical acupuncture; neuropathic pain
	Daryl Fields, MD, PhD	Assistant Professor	Department of Neurological Surgery	Spinal cord stimulation for motor restoration in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis; development of novel biomarkers for spinal cord injuries; and development of clinical prognostic tools related to tumor, trauma and degenerative disorders.
	Emily Fox, PT, DPT, PhD, NCS	Associate Professor; Director	Department of Physical Therapy; Brooks-PHHP Research Collaboration & Brooks Neuromuscular Research	Phrenic/diaphragm pacing as rehabilitative tool; therapeutic intermittent hypoxia and spinal injury
	David Fuller, PhD	Associate Dean for Research; Associate Director	College of Public Health & Health Professions; BREATHE Center	Spinal stimulation and recovery of breathing activity with opiate-induced respiratory depression and spinal injury; Regulation of airway muscles; hyperbaric oxygenation, intermittent hypoxia and respiratory plasticity, Pompe disease
	Elisa Gonzalez-Rothi, DPT, PhD	Research Associate Professor	Department of Physical Therapy	Respiratory plasticity induced by neurostimulation and intermittent hypoxia; spinal cord injury; sleep apnea & pathogenic intermittent hypoxia after SCI
	Lance Governale, MD, FAANS, FAAP	Chief	Department of Pediatric Neurosurgery	Pediatric neurosurgery with a speical interest in craniosynostosis, minimally invasive neurosurgery (including endoscopic treatment of hydrocephalus and craniosynostosis), brain/spinal cord tumors, tethered spinal cords, arachnoid cysts, and cavernous malformations.
	Justin Hardee, PhD	Assistant Professor	Department of Applied Physiology & Kinesiology	Combining omics-based technologies with assessments of metabolic and contractile function following genetic, pharmacological and exercise-based interventions to identify key regulatory pathways involved in muscle adaptation and plasticity.
	John Hayes, PhD	Assistant Scientist	Department of Physiological Sciences	Respiratory control, mechanisms of cough, and airway defense
	Karen Hegland, PhD, CCC-SLP	Professor & Associate Chair; Director	Department of Speech, Language, & Hearing Sciences; Master's of Arts Degree in Communication Sciences & Disorders Program	Cough and respiratory sensation in Parkinson's Disease
	Russell Hepple, PhD	Professor	Department of Physical Therapy	Aging and toxicology of respiratory muscle
	Daniel Hoh, MD, MBA	Professor	Department of Neurological Surgery	Applying innovative surgical techniques and novel technologies for the treatment of spinal degeneration, trauma, deformity, tumors and rheumatologic and infectious disorders.
	Andrew Judge, PhD	Professor	Department of Physical Therapy	Sepsis, cachexia and respiratory muscles
	Sarah Judge, PhD	Research Assistant Professor	Department of Physical Therapy	Skeletal muscle biology and cancer cachexia
	Christopher Kaufmann, PhD, MHS	Assistant Professor	Department of Health Outcomes & Biomedical Informatics	Sleep disorders and neurodegeneration
	Orlando Laitano, PhD	Assistant Professor	Department of Applied Physiology & Kinesiology	Mechanisms underlying sepsis-induced myopathy with disuse in aging and on the pathophysiology of exertional heat stroke
	Jorge Lascano, MD	Program Director & Clinical Professor	Division of Pulmonary Critical Care & Sleep Medicine	Pulmonary critical care
	Qing Lu, PhD	Professor	Department of Biostatistics	Statistical genetics and statistical/machine learning, with a special interest in developing statistical/machine learning methods (e.g., tree and deep learning) for high-dimensional data analyses (e.g., genetic data analysis).
	Carolina Maciel, MD, MSCR	Associate Professor; Director of Research	Department of Neurology; NCC	Cognitive function after cardiac arrest/recovery; neurocritical care, TBI
	Alex Marciante, PhD	Research Assistant Scientist	Department of Physical Therapy	How the APOE4 gene interacts with other triggers of neuroinflammation to undermine respiratory plasticity in a time-of-day-dependent manner.
	Borna Mehrad, MD	Chief & Ethel Smith Research Professor	Division of Pulmonary, Critical Care & Sleep Medicine	Lung disease
	Michela Mir, PhD, CCC-SLP	Assistant Professor	Department of Speech, Language, & Hearing Sciences	Improving diagnostic and rehabilitation methods for upper airway functions in clinical populations.
	Gordon Mitchell, PhD	Preeminence Professor; Director; Deputy Director	Department of Physical Therapy; BREATHE Center; McKnight Brain Institute	Intermittent hypoxia induced respiratory plasticity, therapeutic intermittent hypoxia in spinal injury and ALS
	Natalia Moguillansky, MD	Clinical Assistant Professor	Division of Pulmonary Critical Care & Sleep Medicine	Complex lung diseases, including severe asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, nontuberculous mycobacteria, bronchiectasis, pneumonia, lung nodules and pleural effusions.
	Nicholas Napoli, PhD	Assistant Professor	Department of Electrical & Computer Engineering	Hyperbaric oxygenation
	Maria Nikodemova, MS, PhD	Research Associate Scientist	Department of Physical Therapy	Microglial plasticity in healthy CNS and during neurodegeneration; APOE4 phenotype, sleep apnea; the role of microglia and neuroinflammation in regulating respiratory motor plasticity during hypoxia and after spinal cord injury
	Aline Oliveira, PhD	Assistant Professor	Department of Pharmacology & Therapeutics	Neuroimmune axis contribution to pulmonary hypertension; neuroinflammation and neuroplasticity
	Dana Otzel, PhD, ATC, LAT	Health Science Specialist	Malcolm Randall VA Medical Center	Human and rodent studies of muscle/bone rehabilitation after SCI
	Karim Oweiss, PhD	Professor	Department of Electrical & Computer Engineering	Neuroengineering, cortical compensation for SCI; neural interface design to restore, augment or repair lost sensorimotor function
	Michael Pizzi, DO, PhD, FCCM	Associate Professor; Clinical Associate Professor	Departments of Neurology & Neurosurgery; Department of Neuroscience	Preserving the blood-brain barrier after acute brain injury; characterizing the role of the endothelial glycocalyx in regulating cerebral blood flow; investigating the effects of ketone esters on cerebral blood flow; developing models to measure brain compliance
	Steven Pratscher, MA, PhD	Research Assistant Professor	Department of Community Dentistry and Behavioral Science	Investigating the efficacy and biopsychosocial mechanisms of action of breathing self-management practices, integrative breathwork interventions, and psychedelic-assisted therapy to treat chronic pain.
	Michael Reid, PhD	Professor & Dean	Department of Applied Physiology & Kinesiology; College of Health & Human Performance	Molecular biology of respiratory muscle
	Leah Reznikov, PhD	Associate Professor	Department of Physiological Sciences	Neural innervation of the airways, cystic fibrosis
	Christopher Robinson, DO, MS	Associate Professor & Neurology Medical Director; Associate Chair of Clinical Operatiosn; Program Director; Director	Department of Neurology & Neurosurgery; Neurointensive Care ICU; Neurocritical Care Fellowship Clerkship	Brain death, meningitis, traumatic brain injury, subarachnoid hemorrhage, and COVID-19 associated neurological complications
	Dorian Rose, PT, MS, PhD, FAPTA	Professor	Department of Physical Therapy	Restoring motor control and functional mobility following stroke
	Emma Schachner, PhD	Assistant Professor	Department of Physiological Sciences	Origin and evolution of major morphological and physiological innovations in vertebrates, with a focus on the evolution of the amniote respiratory system
	Christine Schmidt, PhD	Distinguished Professor & Chair	Department of Biomedical Engineering	Neuroregeneration after peripheral or spinal cord injury
	Yasin B. Seven, MS, PhD	Assistant Professor	Department of Physiological Sciences	Neuroprotection in spinal cord injury and neurodegenerative diseases, nanoparticle-based targeted drug delivery
	Guogen Shan, PhD	Professor; Interim Director; Director	Department of Biostatistics; Research Design and Data Coordinating Center; Biostatistics Consulting Lab	Clinical trial design & analysis.
	Kimberly Sibille, PhD, MA	Associate Professor; Director	Department of Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation; Pain TRAIL	Bridging the biomedical, behavioral, and psychosocial chasm in chronic pain
	Barbara Smith, PT, PhD	Research Assistant Professor	Department of Physical Therapy	Pompe disease, diaphragm pacing; therapeutic intermittent hypoxia in ALS patients
	Ashley Smuder, PhD	Assistant Professor	Department of Applied Physiology & Kinesiology	Diaphragm atrophy; response to therapeutics; HBO and diaphragm muscle inflammation in Pompe and SCI
	Ramon Sun, PhD	Associate Professor; Director; Associate Director of Innovation	Department of Biochemistry & Molecular Biology; Center for Spatial Biomolecule Research; McKnight Brain Institute	Cellular metabolism, signaling, and physiology; disease etiology of neurological disorders
	Tanja Taivassalo, PhD	Associate Professor	Department of Physiology & Aging	Muscle dysfunction & therapeutics in human DMD
	Krista Vandenborne, PT, PhD	Distinguished Professor & Chair	Department of Physical Therapy	Respiratory failure in human DMD
	Adrienn Varga, PhD	Assistant Professor	Department of Neuroscience	Role of opioid-sensitive respiratory neurons in the brain in both normal breathing and under the influence of opioids
	Alicia Vose, PhD, CCC-SLP	Assistant Professor	Department of Neurology (UF Health -Jacksonville)	Acute intermittent hypoxia and respiratory strength training to enhance breathing and swallowing in people with chronic spinal cord injury; effects of diaphragm stimulation on respiratory neural drive and function
	Glenn Walter, PhD	Professor & Vice Chair	Department of Physiology & Aging	MRI imaging of respiratory muscles & their plasticity
	Lan Wei-LaPierre, PhD	Assistant Professor	Department of Applied Physiology & Kinesiology	Neuromuscular physiology; intracellular Calcium signaling and mitochondrial physiology in the disease-causing mechanisms for respiratory and limb muscle weakness in neuromuscular conditions.
	James Wymer, MD, FAAN	Professor & Division Chief	Department of Neuromuscular Neurology	Diagnosis and management of neuromuscular diseases, including ALS, muscle diseases and peripheral neuropathies