Community Partners

Faculty and Staff Research

VAMC Services and Programs

VCU Services and Programs

Resources: VCU Services and Programs

Assistive Technology for Cognition Laboratory

The ATC Labs mission is to improve the lives of individuals with cognitive disability by developing, researching and implementing ecologically valid treatment approaches focused on the use of environmental modifications and assistive technology. The ATC Lab is partnering with agencies and organizations to provide direct intervention, clinical training, clinical trials and software development. Current projects address the use of handheld computers (PDAs) as cognitive aids, demonstrating that these devices improve functional performance in everyday life, while reducing the level of handicap, in home and community settings. In addition, the Super School Computer Game software is under development and a Palm-based social script program is in beta version, under examination by a focus group of students with autism spectrum disorder. The lab also provides training workshops for clinicians, caregivers and individuals with cognitive disability.

For more information, contact Tony Gentry, Ph.D., Department of Occupational Therapy.

Brain Injury Rehabilitation

The brain injury (BI) rehabilitation service provides care to patients with traumatic & acquired brain injury, stroke, aneurysms, brain tumors and Parkinsons disease in a 14-bed specialty BI unit. The brain injury rehabilitation unit treats adult patients with traumatic brain injuries stemming from falls, gunshot wounds, assaults or car accidents, as well as those with nontraumatic injuries from causes such as aneurysms, hemorrhages or brain tumors. The goal of this program is to facilitate neurologic and functional recovery of individuals with brain injury in order maximize physical, psychosocial and vocational independence.

For more information, contact William C. Walker, M.D., Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation.

Coordination, Outreach and Research Center (CORC)

The National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research (NIDRR) developed a Coordination, Outreach and Research Center at Virginia Commonwealth University to discover constructive ways for businesses to institute best practices in employment and public access. The CORCs premise is that employment leads to fuller integration in all areas addressed by the ADA. By highlighting and encouraging best practices in employment and public access, the full promise of the ADA can eventually be achieved. The CORCs plan of operation includes 19 original research studies, 18 training activities, nine dissemination projects, 12 technical assistance projects and a structure for program evaluation. CORCs own research emphasizes employment and is rooted in the National EEOC ADA Research Project, which began in 2003.

For more information, contact Brian T. McMahon, Ph.D., C.R.C., N.C.C., C.C.M., Department of Rehabilitation Counseling.

Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation

The department currently provides medical directorship to four adult inpatient Rehabilitation Units, one adult subacute rehabilitation unit, and two pediatric rehabilitation units, outpatient care at eight locations, electrodiagnostic services at five outpatient locations, consultations at five Richmond hospitals and two nursing homes.

For more information, contact Dr. David X. Cifu, Department Chair.

Eye Tracking and Head Tracking Laboratory

The Eye Tracking and Head Tracking Laboratory contains instrumentation, computers and software used to objectively measure a variety of eye and head movements including basic horizontal and vertical eye movement, the measurement of head and limb position, the coordination between eye and head movement, and pupillary and accommodative response dynamics. The laboratory supports the development of human machine interfaces using eye and head position-based measurement and control. The laboratory is involved with visual task analysis, data acquisition, signal processing and algorithm development, and the effect of diseases and disabilities on eye, head and limb control.

For more information, contact Paul Wetzel, Ph.D., VCU Department of Biomedical Engineering.

Haptic Laboratory

The laboratory facilities include 4 personal computers, several National Instruments I/O boards, an oscilloscope, a multi-meter, frequency generator, several power supplies and power amplifiers, Reprotronics Tactile Image Enhancer for making raised line drawings, one Emprint Braille embosser and two touch screens, the VT Player, an accelerometer system, including an interface board to a computer, and specialized MATLAB toolboxes for image processing and wavelet analysis. as well as miscellaneous mechanical and electronic laboratory supplies. Each PC is interconnected to the School of Engineering computer network, the university network, and the internet.

For more information, contact Dianne Pawluk, Ph.D., VCU Department of Biomedical Engineering.

National Resource Center for Traumatic Brain Injury

The mission of the National Resource Center for Traumatic Brain Injury is to provide relevant, practical information for professionals, persons with brain injury and family members. Many of our products were developed by nationally recognized experts. NRC has more than 20 years of experience developing intervention programs, assessment tools, and investigating the special needs and problems of people with brain injury and their families.

For more information, contact Jeffery Kreutzer, Ph.D., Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation.

Neuromuscular Control and Performance Laboratory

This research space is located in the Department of Physical Therapy and is composed of two laboratories totaling 2000 ft². It is under the direction of Dr. Peter Pidcoe and is designed to facilitate collaborative research in the fields of motor control, biomechanics, and human performance. Active research projects include academic partnerships with the School of Medicine, the School of Nursing, the Department of Biomedical Engineering, and the Department of Anatomy.  The facility provides an integrated collection of the latest motion tracking equipment, force measurement equipment, and muscle measurement systems. These include:

Kinematics: 6 DOF, 10 channel kinematic tracking system (Motion Monitor, IST Inc);

Kinetics: Kistler and Bertec force plates – used to collect ground reaction force data for inverse dynamic modeling;

EMG: 3 kinesiologic EMG systems (Electrotherapeutics and Noraxon);

Eye tracking: Eyelink II eye tracker with integrated scene camera linked to kinematic system;

Balance: custom force-plate measurement system to assess dynamic balance performance;

Photocell timers for for event markers and gait velocity measurements.

For more information, contact Peter Pidcoe, Ph.D., Department of Physical Therapy.

Neuropsychology

the Psychology and Neuropsychology Division of VCU’s Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation. The division provides patients help dealing with and understanding the psychological aspects of their injury and preparing the patient for the next phase of the rehabilitation process at the department’s Rehabilitation Research and Training Center on Supported Employment.

For more information, contact Jeffery Kreutzer, Ph.D., Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation.

Orthopaedic Research Laboratory

The Orthopaedic Research Laboratory occupies approximately 2,300 square feet of laboratory/office space. The laboratory efforts are focused on elucidating the function of the musculoskeletal system in normal, injured and repaired states and devising creative ways to restore normal function through interdisciplinary approaches.

For more information, contact Jennifer Wayne, Ph.D., Department of Biomedical Engineering and Department of Orthopaedic Surgery.

Partnership for People with Disabilities

The Partnership for People with Disabilities is recognized by the federal Administration on Developmental Disabilities as a university center for excellence in developmental disabilities. Founded in 1985, the partnership operates more than 20 federal and state programs, staffed by more than 100 professionals and students supporting individuals with disabilities and their families. The partnership maintains an interdisciplinary approach to all of its activities, which allows it to explore a wide spectrum of professional services and community interests as it seeks to expand opportunities to individuals with disabilities. Partners include numerous disability service providers, K-12 schools and school divisions, universities and colleges, professional organizations, and state and local agencies.

For more information, contact Fred Orelove, Ph.D., Executive Director.

Rehabilitation and Research Center

The Rehabilitation and Research Center (RRC) is a collaborative effort between the Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation and VCU Medical Center. The goals of the RRC are to provide highly skilled, interdisciplinary, inpatient rehabilitative care to adults with complex needs; to be an advocate and educator for patients and people with disabilities; and to conduct research to advance the art and science of rehabilitation. The RRC is an intensive inpatient program focused on assessment and therapeutic intervention, as well as discharge planning and follow-up. Interventions address medical needs, self-care, mobility, behavior, cognition, communication and psychosocial skills. The general rehab unit has 27 beds and provides treatment for patients with neuromuscular or vascular accidents (stroke) and those with multiple trauma.

For more information, contact Macon Sizemore, M.H.A, Director.

Rehabilitation Research and Training Center on Workplace Supports (RRTC)

The purpose of the Virginia Commonwealth University RRTC on Workplace Supports and Job Retention is to study those supports that are most effective for assisting individuals with disabilities maintain employment and advance their careers. The primary stakeholders for this project are persons with disabilities, with an emphasis on those who are unemployed, underemployed or at risk of losing employment.  We specifically are targeting those individuals from traditionally underrepresented populations with diverse racial and ethnic backgrounds, since this group is most at risk in America. The secondary stakeholders include rehabilitation professionals, families, and persons working in business and industry.

For more information, contact Paul Wehman, Ph.D., Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation.

Speech Recognition Laboratory

The VCU Speech Recognition Laboratory maintains 6 state of the art Pentium PC’s with high-resolution sound cards, analog-to-digital and digital-to-analog data conversion boards, IBM Via Voice speech recognition software, Dragon Systems Naturally Speaking software, and SoundForge sound parsing software. The laboratory also maintains several portable digital tape recorders capable of processing voice recordings at 44 KHz, which is twice the range of human hearing, in order to provide extremely high fidelity and conform to the required data processing requirements of at least twice the anticipated data frequency range (human hearing and voice contains information up to 20KHz). The laboratory also maintains numerous dynamic microphones and head mounted electret microphones.

For more information, contact Gerald Miller, Ph.D., Department of Biomedical Engineering.

Spinal Cord Injury Rehabilitation

The RRC’s specialized Spinal Cord Injury Rehabilitation Program serves Central Virginia as a part of MCV Hospitals’ designated treatment center for spinal cord injury.  The spinal cord injury (SCI) rehabilitation service provides care to patients with traumatic and non-traumatic SCI. There is a 14-bed specialty SCI inpatients service along with SCI consult & long-term outpatient follow-up services.

In addition, the spinal cord injury, brain injury and stroke programs are part of an interdisciplinary critical pathway, which coordinates and expedites care from initial injury through community re-entry.

For more information, contact William McKinley, M.D., Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation.

Spine Center

The spine center is a multidisciplinary comprehensive team approach to the management of patients with all spine ailments and chronic painful conditions. It addresses surgical, pain management and rehabilitation needs for these patients aiming to restore appropriate level of function. Highly qualified, competent, and compassionate practioners work together in the center to provide patients with best possible outcome. Some nationally, and internationally recognized physicians in the center are involved in the development of tomorrow's therapies.

For more information, contact Maged Hamza, M.D., Director, Interventional Pain Management.

Traumatic Brain Injury Model System (TBIMS)

The VCU Model System of care provides comprehensive, coordinated inpatient and outpatient care for persons with traumatic brain injury. The system includes emergency medical services; early intensive and acute medical care; comprehensive rehabilitation services and long-term rehabilitation follow-up.

The VCU program also carries out scientific research. Our research programs focus on improving care and quality of life for people with brain injury and their families. The benefits of family support and education, identification and treatment of depression, and the effectiveness of early rehabilitation are also areas of study.

For more information, contact Jeffery Kreutzer, Ph.D., Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation.

VCU The Sports Medicine Research Laboratory

The Sports Medicine Research Laboratory is a 1400 square foot facility dedicated to the training of researchers and faculty research. This laboratory is located on the Monroe Park Campus of Virginia Commonwealth University. Under the direction of Brent L. Arnold, PhD, ATC, the 0laboratory, provides research and instructional opportunities for faculty and graduate students in the masters and doctoral degree programs in Exercise Science and Rehabilitation and Movement Science at VCU. The general focus of the laboratory is lower extremity injury with emphases on anatomical, biomechanical, and proprioceptive factors contributing to injury. Current faculty research is focused on factors contributing to functional ankle instability.

For more information, contact Brent Arnold, Ph.D., VCU Department of Health and Human Performance.