Faculty

Dr. Semyon Slobounov

Director Virtual Reality/ Traumatic Brain Injury Research Laboratory

Dr. Semyon Slobounov is the director of the Virtual Reality/Traumatic Brain Injury research laboratory. He is a Professor in the Department of Kinesiology College of Health of Human Development, and Adjunct Professor of Orthopedics and Medical Rehabilitation with Penn State Milton S. Hershey Medical Center, with primary responsibilities to teach undergraduate and graduate courses in the areas of psychology of injury, neural basis of motor behavior, and psychophysiology. His coaching background and clinical work with numerous injured athletes for more than 25 years. His research focused on neural basis of human movements with special emphasis on rehabilitation medicine, psychology and neurophysiology, including traumatic brain injuries. Dr. Slobounov is an adjunct investigator with the National Institute of Health, National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke.He has published more than 100 papers in referee Journals including Experimental Brain Research, Clinical Neurophysiology, Psychophysiology, Neuroscience Letters etc. He is the author of two recently published books by Springer: “Foundations of Sport-Related Injuries” and “Injury in Athletics: Causes and Consequences”. He is an active member of Society for Psychophysiological Research and a fellow of American Academy of Kinesiology. He also is an adjunct Professor of the Neuroscience and an affiliate Professor of Gerontology Center at Penn State. He received his first Ph.D. from the University of Leningrad, Department of Psychology, USSR in 1978 and his second Ph.D. from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Department of Kinesiology in 1994.

Dr. Robert E. Harbaugh

MD, FAANS, FACS, FAHA

Robert E. Harbaugh obtained his M.D. from the Pennsylvania State University College of Medicine and his general surgery and neurosurgery training at Dartmouth. He was appointed Assistant Professor of Surgery (Neurosurgery) at the Dartmouth Medical School in 1985 and became Professor of Surgery (Neurosurgery) in 1997. At Dartmouth, Dr. Harbaugh served as Director of the Cerebrovascular Disease Center, Director of the Neurosurgical Laboratory and as acting Residency Program Director. In 2003 Dr. Harbaugh accepted the position of Professor and Chairman of the Department of Neurosurgery, Neurosurgery Residency Program Director and Professor of Engineering Science and Mechanics at the Pennsylvania State University. He is a University Distinguished Professor, Penn State’s highest academic rank, and was appointed as the Director of Penn State University’s Institute of the Neurosciences. His research interests include clinical trial design, outcomes analysis, quality improvement in neurosurgery and neural engineering. Dr. Harbaugh has obtained research funding from the NIH, NATO, USDA, Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, industry, foundations and other organizations. He is a member of the Society of Neurological Surgeons, the American Academy of Neurological Surgery, the American Association of Neurological Surgeons (AANS), the Congress of Neurological Surgeons (CNS), the AANS/CNS Cerebrovascular Section (CVS), the AANS/CNS Tumor Section, the American Stroke Association (ASA), the American Heart Association (AHA) Stroke Council, the New England Neurosurgical Society (NENS), the Pennsylvania Neurosurgical Society (PNS) and the American College of Surgeons (ACS). He is presently a Director of the American Board of Neurological Surgery and was recently asked by the National Football League to be a member of the Head, Neck and Spine Committee and to Chair its data collection subcommittee.

Dr. Peter Arnett

Ph.D. Professor of Psychology

Dr. Arnett is a professor in the Department of Psychology for Penn State University and a licensed psychologist in Pennsylvania. He obtained his doctorate in Clinical Psychology from the University of Wisconsin in 1992. Upon graduation, Dr. Arnett has worked in the Department of Psychology at several different institutions, including West Virginia University, Washington State University, and Penn State University. He also completed a postdoctoral neuropsychology fellowship at the Medical College of Wisconsin. In 2006 Dr. Arnett was awarded a presidential commendation for Outstanding Service to the Field of Neuropsychology, and has since served on the editorial boards of the Journal of the International Neuropsychological Society, Open Neurosurgery Journal, and Neuropsychology. He is extremely involved in ongoing research including acting as a consultant in the Analysis of Mental Health Data from the Sonya Slifka Longitudinal NMSS Multiple Sclerosis Study, a co-investigator for the Maternal Intelligence, Social Information Processing, and Child Neglect Study, as well as an acting co-investigator for the Identification of Athletes at Risk for Traumatic Brain Injuries Study at Penn State. His upcoming textbook is titled: Arnett, P.A. (Editor). Secondary Influences on Neuropsychological Test Performance. This edited book is going to be the second in a National Academy of Neuropsychology (NAN) series designed to focus on evidenced-based neuropsychological practice and assessment.

Dr. Thomas Neuberger, Ph.D.

Director High Field MRI Facility
Assistant Professor of Bioengineering

Dr. Neuberger is the Director of the High Field MRI Facility and assistant professor of Biomedical Engineering at Penn State University. As director of the High Field MRI Facility Dr. Neuberger is involved in all aspects of research conducted using the 7 and 14.1 tesla Agilent magnets. Dr. Neuberger’s personal research interests include advanced MR techniques, MR microscopy, spectroscopy, and sodium imaging. Dr. Neuberger has vast experience working with animal and animal models of injury, where he has been a pioneer in using sodium imaging to research brain injury including, stroke. Dr. Neuberger is an active member in the International Society of Magnetic Resonance in Medicine and has received numerous awards and honors. Dr. Neuberger earned his Ph.D. from the University of Würzburg, Würzburg, Germany.

Dr. Scott Lynch, MD

Professor of Orthopaedics and Rehabilitation

Dr. Scott Lynch joined the faculty at Penn State Hershey Medical Center in June of 1998 as an Orthopaedic Surgeon with subspecialization in Sports Medicine. Prior to coming to Hershey he did his Orthopaedic residency at the University of Vermont and then did two Sports Medicine Fellowships, one at the Cleveland Clinic and one overseas at the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm, Sweden. He is an Associate Professor of Orthopaedic Surgery and is the Director of Sports Medicine at Penn State Hershey Medical Center. He has been awarded the Vincent D. Pellegrini, Jr. Resident Teaching Award in 2002 and 2007. He has been the Practice Site Medical Director for the Adult Bone and Joint Clinic since its opening in 2008. He serves as a team physician for several area high schools, as an assistant team physician for the Hershey Bears hockey team.

Joshua G. Nelson, ED.D., SCCC, CSCS, USAW

Assistant Athletic Director – Applied Health & Performance Science

Dr. Nelson is currently an Assistant Athletic Director for the Department of Athletics. His current duties include, Administrative lead for Department of Applied Health & Performance Science, and Lead Sport scientist for Penn State University Football. Some of his previous jobs were at Baylor University in several different positions; Emory & Henry College in several different positions. He has worked at Monongalia County Schools, West Virginia University and Grayson County Recreation Department. He has several professional certifications and has written several papers. His research interests include Athletic coach development, Preventative healthcare, Electrotherapy and athletic performance, Soft-Tissue preventative care and Impact of environmental factors on athletic performance, among others. He has also taught in several different areas including Physical Activity, Health & Wellness, Exercise Physiology, Statistics/Research methods, Behavioral analysis and Technology in Sport and Physical Education. He has been a consultant many times and has been a coach several times. His many interests include Motor learning, Aerospace and Rocket Development Technology, Tactical Strength and Conditioning and Impact of Altitude on Preparation and Competition.

You can read his CV here.