Patricia A. Shewokis, PhD Professor School of Biomedical Engineering, Science and Health Systems Office: Bellet Building 523 Phone: 215.762.4442 Email: shewokis@drexel.edu Website: CONQUER Collaborative

Bio

Dr. Patricia A. Shewokis is a tenured Associate Professor, Movement Scientist and Biostatistician in the College of Nursing and Health Professions at Drexel University and she has a joint appointment in the School of Biomedical Engineering, Science and Health Systems (BIOMED). Her PhD is in the Psychology of Motor Behavior which she earned from the University of Georgia with cognates in Biomechanics; Research Design/Statistics. Dr. Shewokis is part of the College's Interdisciplinary Research Unit and is a Graduate Research Support Faculty member. She has extensive training and experience in research design and statistics and serves a biostatistician and methodologist for the College.

In August, 2001, Dr. Shewokis joined the faculty after working as a tenured, Associate Professor of Kinesiology at Bowling Green State University. She holds her PhD from the University of Georgia in the Psychology of Motor Behavior with cognates in Biomechanics and Research Design/Statistics. Dr. Shewokis has served as a statistical consultant for faculty and/or students at the University of Georgia, Bowling Green State University, Thomas Jefferson University, Temple University and Drexel University. Dr. Shewokis is a member of the Scientific Staff at Shriners Hospital for Children and she is involved with several interdisciplinary collaborations within and external to the College and University.

Her research foci are:

1. processes and mechanisms involved in the acquisition, retention, and transfer of cognitive and motor skills
2. neural plasticity as a function of practicing tasks
3. attentional, and neural mechanisms involved in brain-computer interface research employing biofeedback in learning paradigms
4. impact of motor learning principles and functional electrical stimulation in novel training programs for children with cerebral palsy

She is a member of the Neural Engineering Major Research Initiative and the Brain Optical Sensor team in BIOMED and focuses on integrating her long-term research goals with the groups as a function of her being selected by the National Academies Keck Futures initiative on Smart Prosthetics: Innovative Assistive Technologies for the Mind and Body to move forward on brain-computer interface research during the learning of motor skills. This partnership is leading to the development of a collaborative research team that is uniquely positioned to address mechanistic, technological and clinical research questions regarding the interdependent roles of cognition and motor function during motor skill learning.

Her work is published in peer-reviewed journals on the organization and scheduling of practice, the role of information feedback frequency on the memory of motor skills, functional electrical stimulation training programs on gait function in children with cerebral palsy and methodology and research design. Dr. Shewokis serves as an external reviewer of manuscripts for Archives in Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation , BMC Musculoskeletal Disorders, Research Quarterly for Exercise and Sport, Journal of Neurologic Physical Therapy, Perceptual and Motor Skills, and Topics in Geriatric Rehabilitation. Currently she is funded to examine the neural mechanisms of contextual interference when learning computer tasks and brain-computer interface with the application of biofeedback in a learning paradigm.

Education

• PhD in Psychology of Motor Behavior, University of Georgia, 1993

Research Interests

Movement science, smart prosthetics, "brain-in-the-loop" cognitive technologies, motor learning, human performance, biofeedback, neural imaging, statistics and measurement, and brain-computer interface (BCI).