Dr. David R. Dolbow is an Associate Professor in the Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation within the School of Medicine at Virginia Commonwealth University. He is also a research specialist in the Spinal Cord Injury and Disorders Service at the Hunter Holmes McGuire VA Medical Center in Richmond, Virginia. Dr. Dolbow earned his PhD in Exercise Physiology from Middle Tennessee State University, his DPT in Physical Therapy from Belmont University, and his Master’s Degree specializing in Clinical Kinesiology from Boston University. Dr. Dolbow’s research interests include improving the quality of life of those with spinal cord injuries and other paralytic conditions by improving functional mobility and decreasing secondary morbidities such as obesity and cardiometabolic diseases. Primary investigative modes of treatment include various activities induced by electrical stimulation, arm ergometry, and intermittent pneumatic compression. Dr. Dolbow is also investigating the benefits of counterstrain manual therapy for reducing spasticity and neuropathic pain after SCI.

Dr. Ines Bersch, PT, PhD, has been a graduated Physiotherapist since 1989. In 1991, she went to the Swiss Paraplegic Centre, Nottwil, and two years later, became the substitute chief of physiotherapy. In 1992, she started to work with functional electrical stimulation and its implementation in spinal cord injury rehabilitation. At the same time, she started to teach as an instructor at the Universities of Applied Science at Bern, Zürich (1998–2005) and Basel (2007), covering spinal cord injury rehabilitation, the treatment of peripheral nerve lesions, and functional electrical stimulation. In 2008, she received her Bachelor of Education Science, in 2012, her the Master of Science in Neurorehabilitation Research at the Danube University of Krems (Austria), and in 2019, her PhD at the University of Gothenburg, Sahlgrenska Akademin, Sweden. Dr. Ines Bersch is currently Head of the International FES Centre® at the Swiss Paraplegic Centre Nottwil. As the leader of this department, she focuses her work on the combination of patients’ treatment and research in this field to transfer the results from clinical trials and technical research as wells as new technologies into daily rehabilitation. She is focusing in her research on the three health priorities in rehabilitation of spinal cord injuries: improvement of hand function, improvement of bowel management, and secure skin integrity to prevent pressure injuries.

Dr. Ashraf S. Gorgey is currently the Director of Spinal Cord Injury Research at Richmond VA Medical Center and Professor at Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Virginia Commonwealth University. He has bachelor and master degrees in Physical Therapy from Cairo University in 1994 and 2000, respectively. He acquired his PhD in Exercise Physiology in 2005 with special emphasis on electrical stimulation, muscle activation, and fatigue from the University of Georgia. In 2007, he completed a postdoctoral fellowship at the University of Michigan with special focus on studying the medical consequences, body composition and metabolic changes after spinal cord injury (SCI). In 2010 and 2018, he was awarded fellowship status by the American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM) and the American Congress of Rehabilitation Medicine (ACRM). Dr. Gorgey is primarily interested in applications of electrical stimulation, exoskeleton training, and neuromodulation in rehabilitation after SCI. He is also interested in understanding the cellular and molecular adaptations to unloading and hypertrophy.

Dr. Glen M. Davis is a Professor of Clinical Exercise Sciences within in the Discipline of Exercise and Sports Science at the Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Sydney, Australia. He received his undergraduate degree in physical education from the University of Ottawa (1974) and his Doctorate (Ph.D.) in exercise physiology from the University of Toronto in 1986. He was conferred Fellow of the American College of Sports Medicine (FACSM) in 1987 and received the prestigious Order of Australia (OAM) award for research and service to spinal cord injury rehabilitation in 2014. His main research and innovation activities are to deploy novel assistive technologies, surveillance technologies and other medical devices to clinical populations to improve the ‘dose potency’ of exercise for health, fitness, and functional outcomes in these populations. He has a particular focus on the use of functional electrical stimulation (FES) and robotic technologies, including neuroprostheses, for individuals with spinal cord injury and stroke, to improve their quality of life. Dr. Davis is a member of several international scientific societies; he is a Fellow of the American College of Sports Medicine, a Board Member of the International Functional Electrical Stimulation Society, and is on the Board of Directors for Spinal Cord Injury Australia.