Staff Members

Suzanne Groah
Thilo Kroll
Tom Dang
Matt Elrod
Edelle Carmen Field-Fote
Lex Frieden
Samuel A. Gordon
Larry F. Hamm
Pei-Shu Ho
Alison Lichy
Mark S. Nash
Melinda Neri
Laurie Gerken Redd
Laurel Richards
Marcie Roth
Russ Holt
John Dugan
Steve Towle

Suzanne Groah, MD, MSPH, Principal Investigator
Groah is the director for the RRTC and the principal investigator on projects R2 and R4. She has been the director of SCI Research at the National Rehabilitation Hospital (NRH) since 2002, after having served as the director of SCI research at Santa Clara Valley Medical Center in San Jose, CA,for three years.

After finishing her residency in physical medicine & rehabilitation, Groah completed two fellowships in SCI: one involved aging issues in SCI, while the second was a clinical fellowship in Neurorehabilitation. She has extensive experience treating individuals with SCI and has published and presented nationally on SCI related topics and various secondary conditions. The Academy of PM&R invited Groah to participate in writing the SCI Study Guide for the Academy members, and she was also nominated by the Paralyzed Veterans of America to be an expert panel member on their most recent clinical practice guidelines development panel for bladder management after SCI. Groah is also the founder of Richmond Athletes with Disabilities, a grass roots non-profit chapter of National Handicapped Sports that promotes exercise and activity for individuals with physical disabilities.

Thilo Kroll, PhD, Co-Principal Investigator
Dr. Kroll was the Co-Principal Investigator for this RRTC before leaving for a job in Scotland at the University of Dundee. He will be staying on with the RRTC on a consultant basis and continue to work on projects R4, R5, T1, T2, and T4. He will provide input and consultation on the projects, as well as contribute to the analysis of the national survey data (R5).

Tom Dang, MSE
Dang is the administrative director of the RRTC, providing general administrative and fiscal support as well as managing and overseeing budgetary expenses and personnel. Dang has a background in biomedical engineering and is currently the administrative director for research programs of the research division at NRH. Dang works with NRH investigators to develop research ideas, oversee research grant proposal development, and provide fiscal monitoring. He currently manages a research portfolio which totals over $5 million per year.

Matt Elrod, PT, MEd, NCS
Elrod is the co-investigator on project T2, assisting in the development of the physical therapy curriculum and training materials for individuals with SCI. Elrod is a trained physical therapist and has over ten years experience working with individuals with SCI. He is currently the president of the DC chapter of the American Physical Therapy Association and has working relationships with the physical therapy departments at Howard, George Washington, and Marymount University.

Edelle Carmen Field-Fote, PT, PhD
Field-Fote is the principal investigator at the Miami Project to Cure Paralysis for project R3. She is a physical therapist with doctoral training in movement science. Her work has concentrated on evaluation of the efficacy of training and on understanding the physiologic basis of training effects. Research conducted for the Miami Project to Cure Paralysis has focused on individuals with SCI, and her recent research has included the effects of loco-motor training and investigations of upper extremity training.

Lex Frieden, MA
Frieden is the principal investigator for project T4, development of a virtual resource network on exercise and prevention. Frieden has a background in social psychology and is currently the director of Independent Living Resource Utilization (ILRU) Program and senior vice president of The Institute for Rehabilitation and Research (TIRR), both based in Houston. In addition, he is a professor in the departments of physical medicine and community medicine of Baylor College of Medicine. Frieden also serves as chairman of the National Council on Disability and is president of Rehabilitation International.

Samuel A. Gordon, PhD
Gordon is the co-principal Investigator for project T1 and will direct and oversee the peer mentoring program with newly injured individuals with SCI. Gordon is a clinical psychologist at the NRH, serving young adults with spinal cord injuries. He received graduate training in clinical and community psychology at the University of Maryland. He is currently the PI on a peer mentoring program at NRH. He has worked with Howard University’s Child Development Center, the D.C. public schools, Children's National Medical Center, and he is in private group practice in Washington, D.C. He is currently a member of the Association of Black Psychologists and the D.C. Psychological Association.

Larry F. Hamm, MD
Hamm is the project site director for project R1 and the principal investigator for R3. Hamm’s clinical expertise includes exercise testing and training of various patient populations, clinical exercise physiology, directing cardiac rehabilitation programs, and conducting pulmonary function testing. He is an expert on atherosclerosis and other risk factors for cardiovascular disease and is particularly knowledgeable on the effect of physical activity on chronic diseases. He is a certified DXA technician and an active delegate to national committees in the American College of Sports Medicine and the American Association of Cardiovascular and Pulmonary Rehabilitation.

Pei-Shu Ho, PhD
Ho is the principal investigator on project R5, directing the evaluation efforts and designing the national survey. In addition, she will conduct statistical analysis for all of the activities of the RRTC. Ho has a background in health services organization and research and has worked in clinical evaluation research for over nine years. She has investigated the outcomes of various disability conditions and conducts quantitative analyses using primary and secondary data. She is currently a lead investigator on a project to develop a longitudinal survey evaluating the health care experience of Medicaid managed care enrollees with disabilities.

Alison Lichy, PT
Lichy is a physical therapist at the National Rehabilitation Hospital, involved in projects R2 and R3. Her SCI experience includes seating and positioning, functional training, wound care, treatment of the shoulder complex, community skills and education programs, medical resident education, body-weight supported gait training, and Lokomat gait training. Lichy is an active member of the American Physical Therapy Association. She is also a speaker for Think First, a trauma prevention program for school aged children. She is involved in subject recruitment, screening, and data collection for both projects.

Mark S. Nash, PhD, FACSM
Nash is the principal investigator of project R1 and the co-principal investigator of project R3. Nash is a tenured associate professor of neurological surgery and orthopedics and rehabilitation at the University of Miami School of Medicine. He earned his Ph.D. in applied physiology and clinical anatomy. Nash is director of the Functional Electrical Stimulation Research Laboratory and project coordinator of the South Florida Regional Spinal Cord Injury System. Since 1985, Nash has been the principal investigator for the Miami Project, and he is also currently the director of the applied physiology research program. He has performed federally funded research on exercise and pharmacological interventions on medical complications associated with SCI. Nash is widely published on topics examining rehabilitation of persons with spinal cord injuries, to include testing and training of persons with SCI using electrically-stimulated and voluntary modes of exercise. He is a fellow of the American College of Sports Medicine, and serves on the Veterans Administration Neurology Merit Board.

Melinda Neri, BA
Neri is the project coordinator for the RRTC and provides research and training support on projects R4, R5, T2, T3 and T4. She has a background in sociology, is experienced in in-depth qualitative interviewing and analysis, and has been involved in mixed-methods research on the health care experiences of people with disabilities for the past 6 years. Skilled in survey administration and tracking; data collection, management, and analysis; and qualitative research, interviewing, and analysis, she has co-authored both qualitative and quantitative manuscripts on the health care experiences of people with disabilities, access to health care, and barriers to health care.

Laurie Gerken Redd
Redd will direct activities of project T4 and will supervise the management of the SCI Resource Network, to include technical assistance delivered via forum activities. Redd has been with ILRU since its inception in 1977, and over the years, she has developed and implemented innovative methods of delivering technical assistance for independent living using a variety of delivery methods. Redd has long been active in wheelchair sports, and in the last few years, she has taken up exercise via community-based fitness programs.

Laurel Richards, BA
Richards will coordinate the dissemination and utilization activities of the Resource Network on Exercise and Prevention in project T4, to include the virtual town hall meetings. Richards has personal experience with disability and has been a member of ILRU since 1978. She specializes in designing activities to promote the utilization of research findings, is currently involved in developing and refining Web-based dissemination and utilization approaches, including interactive audio casts, technical assistance delivery, searchable data bases, and asynchronous training courses.

Marcie Roth
Roth is the principal investigator of project T3, the national RRTC conference. Roth is currently the executive director of the National Spinal Cord Injury Association (NSCIA) and previously spent several years as the director of advocacy and public policy for the National Council on Independent Living. She has been active as a local, state, and national leader and has been involved in senior management activities for several national and international non-profit disability organizations over the past 20 years. The current chair of the Maryland Statewide Independent Living Council, Roth also currently serves on the board of directors of the National Coalition for Disability Rights, the Spinal Cord Injury Network of the Greater Washington Area, and Access Information. She is also a commissioner on the Montgomery County Maryland Commission on Disability Issues. Roth has personal experience living with a disability and is the parent of two children with disabilities.

Russ Holt
Mr. Holt works on projects R4 and T1 on the training of SCI Peer Mentors. He currently serves on the Board of the Spinal Cord Injury Network, the local Washington, DC chapter of the National Spinal Cord Injury Association. Since becoming partially paralyzed in a 1986 auto accident, Mr. Holt has become a well known advocate for people with disabilities. After college he began volunteer work as a Montgomery County Crisis Hotline counselor, which led to a job at the Endependence Center of Northern Virginia, where he was employed as a Peer Counselor. During this time, he also taught Transition courses to students with disabilities at TC Williams High School and Loudoun Valley High School. In 2000, Mr. Holt launched Access Information, Inc. which runs DisabilityGuide.org, a website devoted to reviewing the accessibility of restaurants and bars in the greater Washington, DC metropolitan area.

John Dugan
Mr. Dugan coordinates the dissemination and utilization activities of the Resource Network on Exercise and Prevention in project T4. In addition, he provides technical assistance for all aspects of the Virtual Resource Network. Mr. Dugan is a mechanical engineering graduate of Texas A&M University.

Steve Towle
(February 14, 1952 – October 5, 2005)
It is with great sadness that we were informed the death of Steve Towle, President of the SCI Network, on October 5, 2005. Steve was active with our RRTC and Peer Mentor Program, working with Research Project R4 and Training Projects T1 and T2. He was a wonderful partner in our efforts to improve the lives of people with SCI. An enthusiastic collaborator and friend with a dry and witty sense of humor, Steve will be missed by not only the RRTC staff, but also the greater Washington, DC disability community.