Shirley Ryan AbilityLab, Chicago, has named Monica A. Perez, PT, PhD, and José Pons, PhD, as scientific chairs for the hospital’s Arms + Hands Lab and Legs + Walking Lab, respectively.
Perez will advance interventions for spinal cord injuries. She previously served as a professor at the University of Miami’s Project to Cure Paralysis, and as a research health scientist with the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. She received a degree in physical therapy from Catholic University in Chile and a doctorate in physical therapy from the University of Miami.
Pons has developed movement sensors for patients who have lost limbs through amputation and will work with restoring lower-limb function in diverse populations. Pons will lead a translational research team that includes scientists and clinicians within the hospital’s Legs + Walking Lab.
He received his mechanical engineering degree from the University of Navarra, Pamplona, Spain, and a doctorate in physics from Complutense University of Madrid, Spain.
