Professor, Department of Neurological Surgery, University of Louisville

 

Dr. Andrea L. Behrman, Professor recently joined the University of Louisville, Department of Neurological Surgery, Louisville, KY following her prior appointments as Professor at the University of Florida, Department of Physical Therapy and as a Research Scientist at the VA Brain Rehabilitation Research Center, Malcom Randall VAMC. Dr. Behrman is a co-Director of the Christopher and Dana Reeve Foundation NeuroRecovery Network that provides standardized activity-based therapies for individuals with spinal cord injury at seven national rehabilitation centers in the United States. As a physical therapist, her research focuses on developing therapeutic interventions promoting recovery after spinal cord injury in children and adults using principles of activity-dependent plasticity and an understanding of the neurobiology of walking. She partners with basic scientists as a collaborative team conducting bi-directional translational research from bench to bedside to park bench.

 

Dr. Behrman has published her research in scholarly journals and presented her work at the APTA-Combined Sections Meetings, International SpineCare Conference on Innovation and Practice in Childhood Spinal Conditions, the Howard Steel Pediatric Spinal Cord Injuries & Dysfunction Conference, and the World Congress of Neurorehabilitation. She co-authored the book, Locomotor Training: Principles and Practice with Susan Harkema, PhD and Hugues Barbeau, PhD, PT.She has been funded by the NIH, Department of Defense, VA Rehabilitation Research and Development Service, Craig H. Neilsen Foundation, Foundation for Physical Therapy, and the Florida Brain and Spinal Cord Injury Research Trust Fund. In 2006, Dr. Behrman received the APTA Neurology Section Research Award for contributions to recovery of function after SCI. In 2008, she was awarded the first Duke University Physical Therapy Program Alumni Award for Clinical Practice. The American Physical Therapy Association recognized her as a Catherine Worthingham Fellow of the APTA in 2009; the highest honor of the APTA for “contributions to the profession through leadership, influence, and achievements that demonstrate frequent and sustained efforts to advance the profession.” She was also recognized in 2009 as a “Distinguished Alumni” by Furman University and received the first Annual J. Brooks Brown Research Award by Brooks Rehabilitation Hospital.

 

Dr. Behrman earned her Bachelor of Science in biology from Furman University, Master of Science in physical therapy from Duke University and PhD in exercise science from the University of Florida.