Who We Are
Anat Lubetzky, PT, PhD, CSCS
Principal Investigator
Associate Professor of Physical Therapy, New York University
I am an Associate Professor at the New York University Department of Physical Therapy and the Director of the New York University Ph.D. program in Rehabilitation Sciences. I have been investigating sensory integration for postural control and its implications in normal and impaired balance performance for over a decade. My interdisciplinary team of scientists and clinician-scientists encompasses several different disciplines: Computer Science, Music Technology, Statistics, Otolaryngology, Physical Therapy, and Engineering. We have developed several virtual reality applications for the assessment and rehabilitation of balance problems. Some of the questions currently being investigated in my lab include exploring the contribution of sound to postural control, particularly in the presence of vestibular dysfunction or hearing loss and in different environmental contexts. People with hearing loss are at an increased risk for falls, and this relationship ought to receive more public health attention. Our line of research aims to understand the mechanisms underlying this relationship and to identify the optimal approach to mitigate the risk. The use of VR to address these questions allows for comparison between abstract visual and generated sounds to more contextual visuals and pre-recorded sounds. It also provides a detailed investigation of head kinematics derived from the Head Mounted Display. My line of inquiry also includes the development and validation of a contextual sensory integration app for people with vestibular disorders. This app was developed with input from patients and clinicians regarding the difficulty these patients experience in busy and complex environments.
http://steinhardt.nyu.edu/faculty/Anat_V_Lubetzky
Zhu Wang, PhD
Post Doctoral Fellow, Computer Science Future Reality Lab, New York University
My interest spans Computer Graphics, Computer Vision and Human-Computer Interaction. I received my Master degree of Computer Science in NYU Courant. Currently, I am working with Prof. Anat Lubetzky on a Virtual Reality project in the field of Physical Therapy.
Brittani Morris, PT, DPT
PhD Candidate in Physical Therapy, New York University
I am a Doctor of Physical Therapy graduate from Massachusetts General Hospital Institute of Health Professions (2020). I am enrolled in the PhD program at NYU for Research in Physical Therapy with a goal of pursuing a career in research and academia. During my time at the institute, I was able to present a platform presentation at CSM 2020 hosted in Denver, Colorado under the direction of Shweta Gore PT, DPT, GSC, CLT. After graduating from MGH IHP I worked as a physical therapist in Ventura, California, before returning to my home state, New York, to pursue my PhD. My personal interests include working with patients with Neurological conditions, more specifically Vestibular disorders. Outside of Academia, I am an avid runner and have completed 2 half marathons and a full marathon in St.George Utah in October 2019, I aspire to one day run the NYC marathon.
Tej Mehta, MS
PhD Student in Rehabilitation Sciences,
New York University
I’m a physical therapist with an MS in Healthspan Promotion and Rehabilitation from the University of Illinois Chicago (UIC). I’ve researched balance mechanisms using innovative interventions like slip perturbation therapy and cognitive-motor training. My work focused on the effect of vestibular dysfunction on reactive balance control in older adults, and I presented my findings at the American Physical Therapy Association Combined Sections Meeting 2023. Before, pursuing MS at UIC, I worked as a clinician in India, specializing in post-operative rehabilitative and geriatric care.
My goal is to develop innovative, cost-effective, and clinically translatable rehabilitation measures to improve balance, cognition, and overall quality of life for elderly individuals.