Welcome from the Chair

This has been a great year for the Department of Rehabilitation and Human Performance. The Department has experienced growth in clinical programs, research, education, and innovation. Clinically, the Department continues to provide evidence-based service to local communities while expanding our expertise across the country and worldwide.

Our sports medicine team, under the direction of Mariam Zakhary, DO, continues to care for the national fencing team, Team USA, on the international stage while still serving athletes in our local community. 

Our research program continues to grow with recent recruits who help to push our research initiatives in traumatic brain injury and spinal cord injury. Of note, Thomas Bryce, MD, who was endowed as the inaugural Kristjan T. Ragnarsson, MD Professor in Rehabilitation Medicine, successfully competed for the spinal cord injury model system grant. 

The residency program at The Mount Sinai Hospital is currently ranked No. 1 in New York State by Newsweek, and No. 13 nationally in the U.S. News and World Report Best Hospitals list. Under the direction of Miguel Escalon, MD, the residency is now the only program in New York State to offer categorical positions. Our top rankings would not have been possible without your support, and I hope you will consider supporting us again in the new year.

Our innovation initiatives have made tremendous gains, including the first-in-human trials in the United States for the implant of a stent for a brain-computer interface. The procedure was completed at Mount Sinai under the direction of David Putrino, PhD, PT, Director of Rehabilitation Innovation for the Department. 

All of the Department’s successes would not be possible without the continued support and help of all of our faculty, staff, learners, and researchers. I am so grateful for all of their continued support of our mission, and I look forward to even greater achievements.