Federal Grant Award Summary

The University of Pittsburgh received a $176,283 Project Grant award from the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) under the Child Health and Human Development Extramural Research program (CFDA 93.865), effective June 1, 2026, through April 30, 2031. This award funds the Doctor of Physical Therapy-PhD in Bioengineering Training Program, which provides comprehensive research and clinical training to develop clinician-scientists capable of identifying clinically relevant rehabilitation research questions and addressing them through bioengineering principles. The program supports up to six predoctoral trainees annually for up to three years each.

The training program delivers integrated educational services combining evidence-based physical therapy education with innovative bioengineering research training. Key deliverables include instruction in fundamental principles of physical therapy, bioengineering, biostatistics, and evidence-based practice; closely-mentored laboratory training and manuscript preparation; grant-writing instruction; and regular training in the responsible conduct of research and methods to enhance rigor and reproducibility. The program features mentorship from clinical rehabilitation research faculty with expertise in neurologic, orthopedic, sports, pediatric, and geriatric populations, as well as bioengineering faculty specializing in biomechanics, signal and image processing, neural engineering, and machine learning. Trainees benefit from research experiences during the Doctor of Physical Therapy phase, clinical experiences during the PhD phase, and exposure to diverse career pathways in rehabilitation research.