REC Overview
Core Leader
Odessa Addison, DPT, PhD
Phone: 410-706-4543
Email: oaddison@som.umaryland.edu
Leslie Katzel, MD, PhD
Phone: 410-605-7248
Email: lkatzel@som.umaryland.edu
Overview
The purpose of the Research Education Core (REC) is to support the development of early-stage faculty from a wide variety of professional backgrounds (e.g. medicine, nursing, rehabilitation, audiology, and engineering) as they pursue research careers focused on restoring function in older adults. Key to the UM-OAIC, the REC provides mentor-based research training and a variety of career development activities within a collaborative and supportive research environment to support both current REC Scholars and affiliated faculty. With structured mentorship, individualized faculty development and training plans, and access to research and career development resources, we foster interdisciplinary training and leadership development to prepare the next generation of independently funded scientists across the biomedical sciences, to translate research into clinical practice, ultimately improving health, independence, and quality of life for older adults.
The specific aims of the REC are to:
Recruit and Retain REC Scholars and Affiliated Faculty
Identify, select, and support promising early-stage faculty for REC Scholar positions whose research interest aligns with the goals of the UM-OAIC.
Train REC Scholars and Affiliated Faculty
Through mentored research projects and individualized training plans, leveraging the resources of the UM-OAIC and other career development programs at UMB, the national OAIC network, and other NIA-supported programs.
Advance our current Leadership Academy
This will include training in interdisciplinary leadership as well as near-peer mentoring, enhancing the development of promising early and mid-stage level scientists with a commitment to aging research and the mission of the UM-OAIC.
Evaluate the Activities of the REC
This will be achieved by experts at UMB Faculty Center for Teaching and Learning and by the Research Education Advisory Panel.
The REC's comprehensive research training program has developed Scholars trained with skills at the bench and in the conduct of clinical research, posed to translate clinical problems into mechanistic studies, and laboratory findings into clinical application in the elderly. This is why our scholars are so successful in the receipt of federal career development awards (NIH Ks and VA CDAs), and subsequent independent research funding and academic promotion.
2026-2027 REC Seminars
|
Topic and Zoom link |
Speaker |
Date |
|
Making Research Working Groups Work: Strategies to Launch, Engage, and Sustain Join Here: |
Amber Kleckner, PhD |
Thurs. Sept. 10th at 4pm |
|
Pepper Center Annual Retreat |
All Pepper Center investigators |
Tues. Sept. 22nd 8am-1pm |
|
UM-OAIC Pilot and REC Scholar Funding RFAs: Informative Webinar Join Here: |
Odessa Addison, DPT, PhD, Steve Seliger, MD, MS, Jennifer Albrecht, PhD and Avelino Verceles, MD, MS |
Thurs. Oct. 8th at 4:30pm |
|
Importance of Community Engagement |
Odessa Addison, DPT, PhD |
Thurs. Oct. 9th at 4pm |
|
REC Meeting: Meet and Greet |
Odessa Addison, DPT, PhD and |
Thurs. Dec. 3rd at 12pm |
|
Resiliency in Research...Times are tough but so are you |
Liz Dennis, PhD, RD and |
Thurs. Jan. 14th at 4pm |
|
4 Ms Framework: What Matters, Medication, Mentation, and Mobility Join Here: |
Diane Martin, PhD |
Thurs. Feb. 25th at 4pm |
|
Flip Classroom: Topic TBD |
Odessa Addison, DPT, PhD |
Thurs. March 11th at 4pm |
|
Maximizing Attendance at OAIC National Meeting Join Here: |
Odessa Addison, DPT, PhD |
Thurs. April 15th at 4pm |
|
National Pepper Center Annual Meeting *In-person event* |
OAIC Coordinating Center |
April 29-30, 2027 |
|
UM-OAIC External Advisory Board Meeting |
All Pepper Center Investigators and EAB members |
TBD ~May 2027 |
Funding Opportunities
Funding Opportunities
Research Education Core Scholar Funds
The UM-OAIC provide an enriched, research training and educational environment to promote the career development of early career faculty toward independence as investigators in aging-related research. The REC Scholar position is funded for a period of up to two years contingent on adequate process.
Learn More: Pepper Center.Pilot and REC funding announcement letter 2026.pdf
LOI deadline is October 30, 2026
Micro-Funds
The Center is excited to offer the opportunity for Pepper Center pilot investigators and junior scholars, as well as Pepper Center affiliates who are interested in applying for a pilot or junior scholar position in the future, to apply for micro-funds ranging from $500-$2,000 for a current project that relates to the Pepper Center theme. There is no deadline to apply; funds are available on an as-needed basis.
Learn More: Micro-Funding
For More Information
Contact Anne Sullens
Current REC Scholars
Current REC Scholars
L. Leigh Smith, MD, MAS
Assistant Professor, Department of Epidemiology and Public Health
University of Maryland, School of Medicine
llsmith@som.umaryland.edu
Funded Scholar 2025-2027
Research Areas of Interest: infection control and prevention, health equity, multi-drug resistant organisms, nursing facilities, candida auris
REC Project Title: "C. auris in Nursing Facilities"
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Danielle Powell, AuD, PhD
Assistant Professor, Department of Hearing and Speech Sciences
University of Maryland, College of Behavioral and Social Sciences
dspowell@umd.edu
Funded Scholar 2025-2027
Research Areas of Interest: wearables, aging, physical activity, mobility, exercise
REC Project Title: "Improving Access to Hearing Education and Care for Older Adults"
Past REC Scholars
Past REC Scholars
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Julie Rekant, DPT, PhD
Assistant Professor, Department of Physical Therapy and Rehabilitation Science
University of Maryland, School of Medicine
jurekant@som.umaryland.edu
Funded Scholar 2025-2026
Research Areas of Interest: wearables, aging, physical activity, mobility, exercise
REC Project Title: "Targeted Exercise aNd HeAlth promotion or fall prevention in older adults with sarCopenia and obEsity (ENHANCE)"
Brittany Burch, PhD, RN
Assistant Professor, Department of Organizational Systems and Adult Health
University of Maryland, School of Nursing
bdrazich@umaryland.edu
Funded Scholar 2024-2026
Research Areas of Interest: physical activity, physical function, virtual-reality, exergaming
REC Project Title: "Preserving Ability through Virtual Exercise (PAVE)"
Stephanie Jo, MD, PhD
Adjunct Assistant Professor, Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology
University of Maryland, School of Medicine
Funded Scholar 2023-2025
stephanie.jo@som.umaryland.edu
Research Areas of Interest: osteoarthritis, AI, MRI, musculoskeletal
REC Project Title: "Identification of high-risk prognostic factors of osteoarthritis based on single nucleotide polymorphism and MRI morphometry utilizing the Osteoarthritis Initiative database"
Sui-Seng Tee, PhD
Assistant Professor, Department of Diagnostic Radiology and Nuclear Medicine
University of Maryland, School of Medicine
Funded Scholar 2023-2025
stee@som.umaryland.edu
Research Areas of Interest: metabolism, MRI
REC Project Title: "Metabolic Imaging as a Biomarker of Muscle Aging"
Jeanine Ursitti, PhD
Assistant Professor, Department of Orthopaedics
University of Maryland, School of Medicine
Funded Scholar 2021-2024
Research Areas of Interest: Membrane Cytoskeleton, Cardiovascular Disease, Hypertension
REC Project Title: "Cell Mechanisms as a Biomarker of Osteosarcopenia"
Andrea Levine, MD
Funded Scholar 2022-2024
Research Areas of Interest: ARDS, COVID-19, Post-COVID Conditions, Post-ICU Syndrome (PICS), ECMO
REC Project Title: "The Longevity of ARDS Inflammatory Subphenotypes and their Role in Predicting Functional Recovery in Older Adults"
Sarasijhaa Desikan, MD
Associate Professor, Department of Surgery
University of Maryland, School of Medicine
Funded Scholar 2020-2023
Research Areas of Interest: Carotid Artery Stenosis, Aortic Aneurysms, Dialysis Access, Peripheral Arterial Disease, Venous Disease, Vascular Trauma
REC Project Title: "Asymptomatic Carotid Stenosis: Cognitive and Mobility Function after Exercise"
Jason Falvey, DPT, PhD
Associate Professor, Department of Physical Therapy and Rehabilitation Science
University of Maryland, School of Medicine
Funded Scholar 2021-2021
Research Areas of Interest: Rehabilitation Epidemiology, Rehabilitation Health Services Research, Home Health Care, Disability, Older Adults
REC Project Title: " Neighborhood Environments and Disability after Disabling Hospitalizations"
Tasneem Khambaty, PhD
Associate Professor, Department of Psychology
University of Maryland Baltimore County
Funded Scholar 2018-2021
Research Areas of Interest: Psychosocial risk factors and racial/ethnic disparities in the prevention of cardiometabolic disease; aging research and the identification of early vulnerabilities to cognitive and functional decline; cognitive-behavioral and technology-based intervention.
REC Project Title: "Depressive Symptoms, Executive Function, and Trajectories of Diabetes Biomarkers: Relations to Functional Status and Race-Related Disparities in the HANDLS study"
The REC Scholar position was an extremely valuable opportunity for an early career investigator like me. The scholar award provided time, funding, collaborations, mentorship, a national and local scientific community, and professional development resources that have yielded a burgeoning and fulfilling program of research at the intersection of Behavioral Medicine and Aging. I continue to benefit now from Pepper Center involvement, through the collaborations and community built during the Scholar award period. —Tasneem Khambaty
F. Rainer von Coelln, DrMed
Assistant Professor, Department of Neurology
University of Maryland, School of Medicine
Funded Scholar 2017-2020
Research Areas of Interest: Quantitative phenotyping in Parkinson's disease using measurable sensors, with a focus on gait and balance analysis and genotype-phenotype analysis
REC Project Title: "Towards Next-Generation Phenotyping in Parkinson's Disease: Quantitative Analysis of Gait and Balance Using a Portable Biosensor Device"
The pilot funding I received from the UM-OAIC Pepper Center has been incredibly helpful for me to get my research on gait and balance in Parkinson's disease started, when other funding seemed out of reach. This funding for my Pepper pilot project allowed me to collect preliminary data that I was then able to use for NIH grant applications. Furthermore, for the kind of longitudinal study I pursued, it was really critically important to have some continuous support for several years. With a Junior Scholar award that picked up where the pilot project left off, the Pepper Center provided just that. I am truly grateful and impressed with this commitment to funding me over an extended period of time in an early stage of my career. Equally important, the resource cores of the Pepper Center offer support in all critically important aspects of the kind of clinical research I do, namely biostatistics, applied physiology and rehab technologies. My project would not have been possible without this wonderful support from the Pepper Center. —F. Rainer von Coelln
Vicki Gray, MPT, PhD
Associate Professor, Department of Physical Therapy and Rehabilitation Science
University of Maryland, School of Medicine
Funded Scholar 2017-2018
Research Areas of Interest: Stroke, aging, asymptomatic carotid stenosis, postural control, balance, falls, exercise interventions, electromyography
REC Project Title: "Motor control strategies during stepping and postural control in stroke”
As a former REC scholar, the experience to conduct research and learn to work effectively in a cross disciplinary team has been an excellent and valuable experience for my career. —Vicki Gray
Derik Davis, MD
Professor, Department of Diagnostic Radiology and Nuclear Medicine
University of Maryland, School of Medicine
Funded Scholar 2015-2018
Research Areas of Interest: Shoulder and Upper Extremity Dysfunction, Skeletal Muscle Quality and Sarcopenia, Aging, Clinical History for Imaging Examinations, Musculoskeletal Trauma, Sports Medicine, Bone and Soft Tissue Tumors
REC Project Title: "Shoulder Pain, Rotator Cuff Tear, Coordination, and Mobility in Aging”
My time as a REC scholar was a tremendous opportunity for professional growth. I learned skills necessary to start a journey toward becoming an independent investigator, while receiving valuable advice from top-notch mentors along the way. —Derik Davis
Rishi Kundi, MD
Associate Professor, Department of Surgery
University of Maryland, School of Medicine
Funded Scholar 2014-2017
Research Areas of Interest: The functional benefits of adjunctive therapy in older adults with peripheral vascular disease
REC Project Title: "Functional Benefit of Exercise Therapy after Endovascular Intervention in Older Patients with PAD”
Kelly Westlake, PhD, MSc, PT
Professor, Department of Physical Therapy and Rehabilitation Science
University of Maryland, School of Medicine
Funded Scholar 2014-2017
Research Areas of Interest: Rehabilitation, Stroke, Balance, Falls, Motor Learning, Upper Extremity, Cognition, Neuroimaging
REC Project Title: "Cognitive and Neural Underpinnings of Protective Arm Responses to Balance Perturbations in Older Adults”
Michael Dimyan, MD
Funded Scholar 2012-2015
Research Areas of Interest: Neurorehabilitation, Neurophysiology, Neuroimaging, Spasticity Management
REC Project Title: "Investigating Brain Network Interactions in Stroke and Aging Using Concurrent Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation and Functional MRI"
Doug Savin, MPT, PhD
Funded Scholar 2011-2014
Research Areas of Interest: Motor Control, Balance, Posture, Falls, Stroke, Gait Adaptation
REC Project Title: "Comparison of Reactive Step Training and Voluntary Task-Oriented Training to Induce Neuromotor Changes for Improving Balance and Preventing Falls"
Avelino Verceles, MD
Professor, Department of Medicine
University of Maryland, School of Medicine
Funded Scholar 2011-2014
Research Areas of Interest: role of physical rehabilitation and nutritional optimization in improving outcomes of older survivors of critical illness
REC Project Title: "Development of a Rehabilitation Strengthening and Mobility Program for Ventilator Dependent Older Patients“