The School of Kinesiology congratulates assistant professor Rachel Hawe, DPT, PhD, on her appointment as a 2023-25 McKnight Land-Grant Professor. Dr. Hawe was chosen as one of the ten 2023-25 McKnight Land-Grant Professors from a University-wide pool of nominees. Successful recipients of the McKnight Land-Grant Professorship are early in their academic career. They show exceptional promise in their research, illustrating its potential importance in their field and beyond, and its original, innovative, independent nature. Additionally, teaching and mentorship capabilities are highlighted, as well as service and leadership contributions to the wider community.
The goal of the McKnight Land-Grant Professorship Program is to strengthen and advance the careers of the most promising junior faculty members who are at the beginning stages of their professional careers, and who have the potential to make significant contributions to their departments and to their scholarly fields. The designation of “McKnight Land-Grant Professor” is held by recipients for a two-year period and is accompanied by funding for their work at the University.
The overarching goal of Dr. Hawe’s research is to improve arm function in children and adults with neurologic impairments. In her Cooke Hall NeuroRehabilitation Across the Lifespan Laboratory (NeuRAL), she primarily focuses on motor and sensory impairments due to stroke, which can happen at any point across the lifespan, including before birth. After a stroke, most individuals do not fully recover arm function, creating significant challenges in daily life. Through a combination of robotics, gaze tracking, and neuroimaging, her research strives to better understand the specific impairments individuals have in order to develop targeted interventions.
Together with trainees under her advisement, Dr. Hawe is approaching her research from both basic and applied perspectives, leveraging her unique skills and past training. Her complementary background of biomedical engineering and physical therapy strengthen the unique scientific niche she is developing. Her multidisciplinary team combines students from kinesiology, computer science, biomedical engineering, and occupational therapy. Current research in the lab is focusing on characterizing bilateral coordination in neurologic populations and examining how vision is used to guide limb movements. These areas are generally overlooked clinically, despite their importance for accomplishing daily activities. Being able to measure specific impairments impacting an individual’s movement is the first step towards improved therapies and outcomes for individuals with stroke across the lifespan.
The School of Kinesiology is extremely proud of Dr. Hawe’s worthy recognition! With this appointment she becomes one of only four faculty members in the College of Education and Human Development (two in Kinesiology!) to have received this prestigious award since 2013.
