SCANR will provide outstanding research training and mentorship for stroke clinician fellows, preparing them for productive stroke research careers. This training joins strong multidisciplinary clinical and research expertise in stroke with extensive experience in research training and career development of clinician scientists. 

SCANR Current and Past Fellows

Hannah Jacobs, OTD, OTR/L  

Occupational Therapist II- IP, MedStar National Rehabilitation Hospital  

2025-2026 SCANR Fellow 

Research Interest: Upper extremity (UE) motor recovery in acute (0-3 months post infarct) to subacute (3-6 months post infarct) stroke patients to implement precision rehabilitation trial pilot program for UE ADL retraining at MedStar NRH. 

Cesarina Thohan, MD

Assistant Professor, Department of Neurology, University of Virginia 

2024-2025 SCANR Fellow 

Research Interest: Health disparities and social and structural determinant of health in minorities, initially concentrating in the Hispanic population 

Jane Alkhazov, PT, DPT, NCS 

Physical Therapist,  MedStar National Rehabilitation Hospital  

2023-2024 SCANR Fellow

Research Interest: Neuroplasticity, Motor Recovery/Rehabilitation, Neuro Imaging, Rehab Technology, Neuroimaging 

Melissa Pauling

Research Fellow, University of Maryland

2022-2023 SCANR Fellow

Research Interest: Neuroimaging, cognitive neuroscience, stroke recovery/rehabilitation, rehabilitation technology 

Chad Aldridge, PT, DPT, MS-CR, NCS

Assistant Professor of Neurology,  University of Virginia

2021-2022 SCANR Fellow

Research Interest: Development of innovative technology to better treat and prevent strokes 

Alex Brunfeldt, PhD 

2020-2021 SCANR Fellow

Research Interest: Neurophysiology of sensorimotor control in hemiparetic ischemic stroke 

Andrew DeMarco, PhD, CCC-SLP

Assistant Professor of Rehabilitation Medicine, Georgetown University 

Director of the (DARN) Lab, Georgetown University

2019-2020 SCANR Fellow 

Research Interest: Aphasia Neurorehabilitation, Cognitive and Neural Architecture of Speech & Language Processing, Advanced Neuroimaging Methods 

Joseph Carrera, MD

Clinical Associate Professor, University of Michigan 

SCANR Fellow 2018-2019

Research Interest: Acute Stroke Systems of Care & Medical Education 

Mary Carter Denny, MD, MPH

Assistant Professor, Department of Neurology, Georgetown University

2017-2018 SCANR Fellow 

Research Interest: Systems of care delivery and secondary stroke prevention. 

Jessica Barth, MS, OTR/L

Post-Doc Researcher, VA Health

2016-2017 SCANR Fellow 

Research Interest: Upper Extremity Recovery Following Stroke 

Shashwati Geed, PT, PhD

Assistant Professor, Physical Therapy and Movement, University of Texas at El Paso

2015-2016 SCANR Fellow 

Research Interest: Post Stroke Recovery in Neuromotor control of upper-extremity with emphasis on arm and hand. 

Matthew Edwardson, MD

Associate Professor, Department of Neurology, Georgetown University 

2014-2015 SCANR Fellow

2013-2014

Research Interest: Vascular neurology, neural plasticity & stroke rehabilitation