People

MARL Staff

headshot of Vipul Lugade, PhD

Vipul Lugade, PhD

Associate Professor and Director of the MARL

Decker College of Nursing and Health Sciences
HSB 620/WG SB 202/203

Research Interests

  • Gait balance control in older adults at risk of falling
  • Development of remote activity monitoring tools
  • Return-to-play decision making in adolescents with mild traumatic brain injury
  • Dual-task motor and cognitive evaluations
  • Personalized single- and dual-task intervention in adolescents with concussion and older adults with balance impairment
  • Longitudinal change in health outcomes following joint arthroplasty

Faculty Collaborators

headshot of Thomas Komor, PT, DPT, OCS

Thomas Komor, PT, DPT, OCS

Clinical Assistant Professor

Decker College of Nursing and Health Sciences
HSB 612

Research Interests

  • Orthopedic populations
  • Patients with spinal pathologies
headshot of Gauri MacDonald, PT, DPT, OCS

Gauri MacDonald, PT, DPT, OCS

Clinical Assistant Professor

Decker College of Nursing and Health Sciences
HSB 614

Research Interests

  • Social determinants of health and physical therapy outcomes
  • Physical therapy’s role in public health
  • Psychosocial aspects of physical therapy
headshot of Kristen Mooney, PT, DPT, NCS

Kristen Mooney, PT, DPT, NCS

Director of Clinical Education and Assistant Professor, Division of Physical Therapy

Decker College of Nursing and Health Sciences
HSB 623

Research Interests

  • Best practices in clinical education
  • First full-time clinical education experiences
  • Clinical outcomes in the treatment of patients with neurologic conditions
headshot of Sue O’Brien, PhD, PT, NCS, CEEAA

Sue O’Brien, PhD, PT, NCS, CEEAA

Associate Professor, Physical Therapy

Decker College of Nursing and Health Sciences
HSB 621

Research Interests

  • Balance and falls in older adults
  • Clinical reasoning development and measurement
headshot of Chao Shi

Chao Shi

Assistant Professor

School of Systems Science and Industrial Engineering
EB J18

Research Interests

  • Human Factors
  • Human-computer interaction
  • Situation awareness
  • Visual behavior and cognition
  • Virtual reality, depression and AI
  • Multi-robot system
  • Autonomous driving in healthcare
headshot of Patima Silsupadol, PT, PhD

Patima Silsupadol, PT, PhD

Assistant Professor

Decker College of Nursing and Health Sciences
HSB 616

Research Interests

  • Falls in older adults
  • Balance and gait
  • Training and rehabilitation
  • Smartphone-based assessment and intervention
headshot of Gurpreet Singh, PhD, PT

Gurpreet Singh, PhD, PT

Assistant Professor

Decker College of Nursing and Health Sciences
HSB 611

Research Interests

  • Gait and balance disorders as a result of neurodegenerative disorders, with a focus on developing novel exercise strategies to reduce falls in this population

Undergraduate Students

Chelsea Christie
Chelsea Christie
Chelsea Christie is a junior majoring in biology with a minor in sociology on a pre-optometry track. Her interests include health and wellness, volunteer work and art. She is vice president of the University's Pre-Optometry Association and public relations coordinator for the University's chapter of Pretty Girls Sweat. She looks forward to advancing her knowledge in the field of optometry through the MARL, particularly gaining hands-on experience with eye-tracking equipment. She is eager to explore the intersection of visual science and patient care, contributing to research that enhances an understanding of visual perception and its impact on human movement and balance.

Reese Clark
Reese Clark

Reese Clark is a sophomore majoring in integrative neuroscience pursuing a pre-medical track. Her interests include medicine and forensic studies. She is also a counselor for Crisis Textline, an emergency line for those experiencing mental health crises. 

Alexa Cooperstein
Alexa Cooperstein

Alexa Cooperstein is a junior biology major on a pre-physical therapy path. She has a passion for helping others and curiosity about human movement, driving her to learn through this experience and fuel her ambition to become a physical therapist.

Natalia Gierlachowski
Natalia Gierlachowski
Natalia Gierlachowski is a is a senior psychology student with a minor in digital data studies and on a pre-occupational therapy track. Her interests include women’s health advocacy. She is a member of POPTA, a club for pre-physical and occupational therapy students. She hopes to explore data collection and patient interaction at the MARL.

Sirei Jace
Sirei Jace

Sirei Jace is a junior nursing major assisting in the MARL alongside nursing clinicals, combining the skills learned in both to help patients and participants. His interests include medicine, public health and patient care in all units of the hospital. He hopes to utilize the care and experience of nursing alongside medical diagnostic and prognostic aspects in the future.

Connor Meybohm
Connor Meybohm
Connor Meybohm is a computer engineering major who is developing programs that visualize data for the MARL website. He is interested in programming and learning new coding languages and applications. He also plans on continuing his college education at Binghamton to earn a master's degree in computer engineering.

Natalia Soldinger
Natalia Soldinger

Natalia Soldinger is a sophomore studying biological sciences with a health and wellness studies minor. She plans to pursue a doctorate in physical therapy. Her interests include studying biomechanics, nutrition and practicing patient interactions in healthcare. She hopes to connect her background in biology, EMS and research to improve her hands-on patient interactions.  

Monica Stapor
Monica Stapor
Monica Stapor is a senior majoring in biology on the pre-optometry track. Her focus in the lab is analyzing eye-tracking data from professional sports players. Her interests in vision science, fitness and nature reflect her commitment to a healthy lifestyle and support her long-term goal of becoming an optometrist. She hopes to use her research experience and passion for vision to provide better care for her patients. Monica plans on continuing vision research in optometry school.

Alumni

  • Anthony Albanese
  • Arianna Cole
  • Eric Johnson
  • Jessica Neuner
  • Noah Pulakos
  • Molly Torbitt