Department of Physical Therapy & Rehabilitation Science Grand Rounds

Presentations are held every other month from 7am to 8am. If you have suggestions for topics to discuss, or an interest in speaking at an upcoming Grand Rounds session, please contact Dr. Hoang at [email protected].

Tuesday, October 8, 7-8am PST

Dr. Shailesh Kantak, PT, PhD

The Department of Physical Therapy and Rehabilitation Science hosts bimonthly Grand Rounds that is open to all clinicians and researchers interested in the topic of rehabilitation. For our next session, we have invited Shailesh Kantak PT, PhD to discuss the topic of arm nonuse after unilateral stroke. During the presentation, Dr. Kantak will provide an overview of how almost 40-80% of stroke survivors fail to use their paretic arm in their daily activities despite having the capacity to do so. This use-capacity disparity (UCD), also clinically known as arm nonuse is a perplexing disorder that lies at the interface of sensorimotor, cognitive (e.g., attention), and affective processing. Despite its clinical significance in stroke rehabilitation, factors that predict UCD in chronic stroke survivors remain unknown. In this presentation, I will present our ongoing research on UCD that (a) investigates the influence of sensory-motor, cognitive and affective deficits after stroke on arm choice during goal-directed actions, (b) assesses the feasibility of using a virtual reality test to predict real-world arm use as measured by accelerometry, and (c) examines neurophysiologic biomarker of arm nonuse in daily life using cortical mapping using transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS). Collectively, these investigations will help us identify specific targets that could form the basis for future studies that aim to remediate arm nonuse in individuals with stroke.

Dr. Shailesh Kantak, PT, PhD is the co-director of the Pathokinesiology Laboratory at Rancho Los Amigos National Rehabilitation Center and directs research in Neuroplasticity and Motor Behavior. After completing his Bachelors and Master’s degrees in physical therapy with a focus on Neurologic Physical Therapy from Mumbai University, India, he practiced physical therapy in inpatient and outpatient stroke services in India and the US. Prompted by his clinical questions, he pursued and completed his PhD in Biokinesiology from the University of Southern California. He completed two post-doctoral fellowships at Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago (now Shirley Ryan Ability Lab) and University of Maryland, Baltimore. Before joining the Pathokinesiology laboratory at Rancho Los Amigos in August 2024, Dr. Kantak was an institute scientist at Moss Rehabilitation Research Institute and a tenured Associate Professor in the department of Physical Therapy at Arcadia University for 11 years. Dr. Kantak’s research has been consistently funded by the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD), NIH and Albert Einstein Society since 2016. Dr. Kantak is fascinated by neuroanatomical and neurophysiological bases of movement and is passionate about translating principles of motor control, learning and plasticity into physical therapy interventions.

This session will be recorded and uploaded here. Session Moderated by Rich Souza & Cathy Hoang (meeting ID: 912 3875 4635; passcode: 526089).  Click here to join us via Zoom!

Upcoming 2025 Speakers

• February 4, 2025: Erin Green, PT, DPT
• April 8, 2025: Kristine Godziuk, PhD
• June 10, 2025: Dan Whibley, PhD
• August 12, 2025: Ivan Arriaga, PT, DPT
• October 14, 2025: Jeannie Bailey, PhD
• December 9, 2025: Catherine Lang, PT, PhD

Recent Grand Rounds Talks:

If you missed one of our recent Grand Rounds discussions, please check out the recordings linked below!