NMBHAL Members

Bibliography

Dr. Dustin Grooms is a Professor in the Division of Physical Therapy at Ohio University specializing in orthopedics and neuroscience. Dr. Grooms received his doctorate from Ohio State University in health and rehabilitation sciences in 2015, with a focus on neuroscience and biomechanics. Before pursuing doctoral studies, Dr. Grooms served as an athletic trainer, strength coach, and instructor at the College of Mount Saint Joseph in Cincinnati Ohio, earned a master’s degree from the University of Virginia in kinesiology, completed an internship with the Cincinnati Bengals, and earned a bachelor’s degree from Northern Kentucky University in Athletic Training and Mathematics.  His current research is funded by the National Institutes of Health and the US Department of Defense, to better understand how the brain and movement mechanics change after musculoskeletal injury and develop therapy breakthroughs to improve patient function via neuroplasticity.

Highlighted Publications

• Heidarnia E, Zarei M, Grooms DR, Barghi TS. Eight weeks of visual perturbation training effects on unanticipated cutting lower-limb biomechanics and errors in male athletes following anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction: a randomized controlled clinical trial (RCT). BMC Musculoskelet Disord. 2026 Jul 3;. doi: 10.1186/s12891-026-10163-x. [Epub ahead of print] PubMed PMID: 42399823.
• Slutsky-Ganesh AB, Chaput M, Hogg JA, Zuleger TM, Kim H, Diekfuss JA, Anand M, Schille A, Dicesare C, Warren SM, Riehm CD, Schnittjer AJ, Farraye BT, Pierce S, Roe JW, Bennison J, Barber Foss KD, Simon JE, Riley MA, Myer GD, Grooms DR. The Effects of Neuromuscular Training and Additive Visual Biofeedback on Landing Biomechanics and Sensorimotor Brain Activity in Young Female Athletes. Med Sci Sports Exerc. 2026 Jul 1;58(7):1543-1555. doi: 10.1249/MSS.0000000000003960. Epub 2026 Feb 19. PubMed PMID: 41718606.
• Hortobágyi T, Grooms DR, Váczi M, Bogdán L, Gómez RL, Mintál T, Orsi G, Maffiuletti NA, Andrushko JW, Farthing JP. Time to Cross Paths: Neuroplasticity-Informed ACL Rehabilitation that Includes Cross-Education. Sports Med Open. 2026 Feb 9;12(1):10. doi: 10.1186/s40798-025-00967-x. PubMed PMID: 41663845; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC12886690.

Current Projects

Rehabilitation 2.0: Addressing Neuroplasticity in the Musculoskeletal Rehabilitation Model

Neuroplastic Mechanisms for Acquisition and Transfer of Injury-Resistant Movement Patterns Assessed in VR-Simulated Sport

Discovery of the Neural Drivers Underlying Injury-Risk Biomechanics

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Dr. Janet Simon is the Interim Dean of the College of Health Sciences and Professions and a faculty member in the Department of Athletic Training at Ohio University. Dr. Simon received her doctorate in epidemiology and biostatistics from Indiana University in 2014. Before pursuing her doctoral studies, she earned a bachelor's degree in athletic training from Southern Connecticut State University in 2008, a master's degree in athletic training from Ohio University in 2010, and a second master's degree in applied statistics from Indiana University. Her research interests include measuring the outcomes of various rehabilitation interventions, evaluating health-related quality of life among high school and collegiate athletes following sport-related injury, and developing patient-reported outcome instruments to assess healthcare outcomes. Dr. Simon has published more than 100 peer-reviewed articles in sports medicine and orthopedic journals and has served as principal investigator or co-investigator on Department of Defense and National Institutes of Health grants totaling more than $8 million.

Highlighted Publications

• Herron A, Grooms DR, Yom J, Simon JE. Development of a Real-Time Single-Leg Hop Movement Quality Assessment to Identify Lower-Extremity Biomechanical Risk Factors. Journal of Sport Rehabilitation. 2024: In Press. PMID: 39672104 
• Post EG, Rivera MJ, Robison HJ, Rauh MJ, McGuine TA, Simon JE. Injury Risk Factors Related to Sport Specialization in High School Basketball: A Prospective Study. Journal of Athletic Training. 2024: In Press. PMID: 38775113 
• Schnittjer AJ, Biello N, Craner C, Simon JE. Restorative Physical Function and Patient-Reported Outcomes Following Acute Lateral Ankle Sprain in High School Athletes. Journal of Athletic Training. 2024: In Press. PMID: 38291765 

Current Projects

High School Athlete Injury Epidemiology 

This project enrolls high school athletes in a prospective injury epidemiological study that tracks pre-injury function, post-injury function, and long-term outcomes. 

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Dr. Aiden Payne is an Assistant Professor at Ohio University whose research focuses on restoring automatic and involuntary balance control in aging populations through experimental approaches informed by mechanistic and computational models. Dr. Payne received his doctorate through the Georgia Institute of Technology and Emory University. During his doctoral training, his research combined measures of cognitive function, muscle activity, brain activity, kinetics, and kinematics during balance recovery behavior to investigate the causes and consequences of shifting from automatic to cognitively engaged compensatory control of balance across the adult lifespan. Following his doctoral training, Dr. Payne completed a postdoctoral fellowship in Psychology at Florida State University, where he investigated interactions between anxiety and balance control in anxious children while studying pathological developmental trajectories, mechanisms of behavior change, and behavioral interventions. His ongoing work aims to develop rehabilitation protocols that address the sensory, motor, cognitive, and emotional factors that pull attention into balance control to ultimately release balance control back to involuntary brainstem sensorimotor circuits.

Highlighted Publications

• AM Payne, JA Palmer, JL McKay, and LH Ting (2021) Lower cognitive set shifting ability is associated with stiffer balance recovery behavior and larger perturbation-evoked cortical responses in older adults. Frontiers in Aging Neuroscience. DOI: 10.3389/fnagi.2021.742243
• S Boebinger, AM Payne, G Martino, K Kerr, J Mirdamadi, JL McKay, MR Borich, LH Ting (2024). Precise cortical contributions to feedback sensorimotor control during reactive balance. PLoS Computational. DOI: 10.1371/journal.pcbi.1011562
• JL Mirdamadi, A Poorman, G Munter, K Jones, LH Ting, MR Borich, and AM Payne (2025) Excellent test-retest reliability of perturbation-evoked cortical responses supports the feasibility of the balance N1 as a clinical biomarker. Journal of Neurophysiology. DOI: 10.1152/jn.00583.2024

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Dr. Melissa Anderson is an Assistant Professor of Exercise Physiology at Ohio University, Director of the Ohio Concussion Group, and Co-Director of the Neuromuscular Biomechanics & Health Assessment Laboratory. Dr. Anderson received her doctorate in kinesiology from the University of Georgia. Following her doctoral training, she completed a postdoctoral fellowship at the University of Delaware before joining the faculty at Ohio University. Her research examines the short- and long-term effects of sport-related concussion and repetitive head impacts, with an emphasis on identifying factors that influence recovery, return to sport, and future injury risk. Her work integrates biomechanics, neuroimaging, blood-based biomarkers, oculomotor and cognitive assessments, and measures of neuromuscular and sensorimotor function. Her current projects investigate brain and behavioral responses to repetitive head impacts, changes in the gut microbiome among contact-sport athletes, cervical strength and sensorimotor control, and the neural mechanisms underlying movement patterns after concussion. She is also interested in developing practical assessment and rehabilitation strategies that can be implemented in athletic and clinical settings. Through collaborations with researchers, clinicians, athletic programs, and student trainees, Dr. Anderson aims to improve concussion prevention, assessment, and rehabilitation, with the broader goal of translating laboratory findings into tools and interventions that promote safer participation in sport and better long-term health outcomes for athletes.

Highlighted Publications

• Anderson MN, Le D, Faherty M, Killelea C, Bytomski J, Martinez C, Bergeron MF, Sell TC. Psychological and Neuromechanical Recovery After Concussion: Dual-Task Stability and Kinesiophobia from Return to Play to Six Months. Int J Sports Phys Ther. 2026;21(7):655-663. doi: 10.26603/001c.163294. eCollection 2026. PubMed PMID: 42404358; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC13327840. 
• Anderson MN, Gallo CA, Gill J, Caccese J, Broglio SP, McCrea M, McAllister TW, Pasquina P, Cameron KL, Malvasi SR, Trump JR, Roach MH, Jackson J, McGinty G, Buckley TA. Sex, but Not Career Duration or Sport Type, Predicts Baseline Serum Glial Fibrillary Acidic Protein and Neurofilament Light Levels in Contact Sport Athletes. BMJ Open Sport Exerc Med. 2026;12(2):e003122. doi: 10.1136/bmjsem-2025-003122. eCollection 2026. PubMed PMID: 42093761; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC13141064. 
• Anderson MN, Claros CC, Brockmeier A, Qian W, Buckley TA. Integrative Data Analysis to Identify Persistent Post-Concussion Deficits and Subsequent Musculoskeletal Injury Risk. BMJ Open Sport Exerc Med. 2024;10(1):e001859. doi: 10.1136/bmjsem-2023-001859. eCollection 2024. PubMed PMID: 38268526; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC10806548. 

Current Projects

Evaluating Traumatic Brain Injury in Contact Athletes Through Gut Microbiome Analysis and Brain Imaging 

Sensorimotor Health, Injury Evaluation, and Longitudinal Dataset Following Concussion 

Degree Program: PhD Student in Translational Biomedical Sciences

Brett Kowalczyk is a PhD student in Translational Biomedical Sciences working under the primary advisement of Dr. Dustin Grooms. Brett earned his Doctor of Physical Therapy degree from the University of Iowa in 2021 and his Bachelor of Science in Neuroscience from Saint Louis University in 2019. His research focuses on how the nervous system can be leveraged to improve clinical outcomes, particularly in orthopedic injury and rehabilitation. He aims to understand how the brain adapts over time following injury and during rehabilitation, and how these neural changes relate to motor behavior and learning.

Degree Program: PhD Student in Translational Biomedical Sciences

Dylan Gibson is a Ph.D. student in the Translational Biomedical Sciences graduate program. He is a board-certified sports physical therapist who completed his Doctor of Physical Therapy degree and sports residency training at Mayo Clinic. His research applies neuroimaging (fMRI) within orthopedic rehabilitation to investigate how the central nervous system adapts following injury.

Abby Aultz is a PhD student in the Translational Biomedical Sciences graduate program and a Research Assistant within NMBHAL. Her research interests focus on the effect of executive function on postural control within older adults and athletes with concussions. She earned her Bachelor of Science in Exercise Science from Brigham Young University – Idaho and her Master of Science in Kinesiology from Boise State University. She is interested in lower extremity biomechanics and external load monitoring.

Mackenzie Barrowman is a PhD student in the Translational Biomedical Sciences graduate program. Mackenzie received her BS in Exercise Physiology at Ohio University and MS in Kinesiology from George Mason University. Her research interests relate to understanding the effects of dual tasking on kinematics and kinetics during gait in older adults.

Degree Program: MS in Exercise Physiology

Chloe earned her Bachelor of Science in Applied Medicine from Indiana State University and is currently pursuing her master’s degree in Exercise Physiology under the mentorship of Dr. Melissa Anderson. Her research focuses on concussion assessment and recovery, specifically how concussions impact balance and postural control using perturbation-based assessment.

Degree Program: MS in Exercise Physiology

Braeden earned his Bachelor of Science in Exercise Physiology from West Virginia University and is pursuing his master’s degree in Exercise Physiology under the advisement of Dr. Melissa Anderson. His research interests center on lower-extremity biomechanics, neuromuscular function, and musculoskeletal injury prevention related to concussion assessment.

Degree Program: MS in Exercise Physiology

Laura earned her Bachelor of Science in Exercise and Sport Science from Frostburg State University and is pursuing a master’s degree in Exercise Physiology under the mentorship of Dr. Melissa Anderson. Her primary research focuses on investigating the physiological effects of sports-related injuries and how concussion impacts lower extremity functions.

Owen is a Graduate Research Assistant studying under Dr. Aiden Payne to earn a master's degree in Biomedical Engineering. He first graduated from Ohio University and earned his bachelor's degree in Mechanical Engineering in 2025. His research focuses on the parallels between engineering kinematics and mechatronics and the human muscular and nervous systems, leveraging this connection to develop novel medical treatment and rehabilitation techniques for motor-impaired individuals. Apart from this, Owen is interested in the design and development of artificial limbs and similar accessibility technology.