Dr. Susan Harkema

Advisory Board

Susan J. Harkema, Ph.D., Professor, holds the Owsley B. Frazier Rehabilitation Chair in Neurological Surgery and is the Associate Director of the Kentucky Spinal Cord Injury Research Center at the University of Louisville. Over the last 27 years, her research has focused on neural plasticity of spinal networks and recovery of function after spinal cord injury. Her more recent studies have shown that people with chronic paralysis can regain the ability to voluntarily move their legs and stand independently while also recovering cardiovascular and bladder function with epidural stimulation. This broadened the scope of the translational research program to include technology development to improve implantable epidural stimulators.

Dr. Harkema leads the KSCIRC translational faculty within the Pediatric NeuroRecovery, Adult NeuroRecovery, and Epidural Stimulation Programs. Over the past decade, these programs have collectively been awarded over $72 million in research dollars with the aim to improve motor, cardiovascular, and bladder function, health, and quality of life of adults and children living with paralysis. During that time, she also led six rehabilitation centers and nine community fitness and wellness centers in the translation of scientific knowledge into clinical practice as the Director of the Christopher and Dana Reeve Foundation NeuroRecovery Network.