Each year, AAPM&R takes time to honor pioneering physiatrists, clinicians, researchers, and public servants who have made significant contributions to both the specialty and to individuals with disabilities and vulnerable populations at risk for disabilities.
Please join AAPM&R and its Awards Committee in congratulating this year’s award recipients, who were honored at the AAPM&R 2025 Annual Assembly in Salt Lake City.
Congratulations!
Frank H. Krusen, MD, Lifetime Achievement Award
Amy J. Houtrow, MD, MPH, PhD, FAAPMR
Dr. Houtrow is professor and endowed chair in the Departments of Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation and Pediatrics at the University of Pittsburgh’s School of Medicine, where she currently serves as the vice chair for Quality and Safety. She started the Division of Pediatric Rehabilitation Medicine at UPMC Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh in 2012 and served as the division chief for 13 years. Dr. Houtrow completed combined residency training in Pediatrics and Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital and the University of Cincinnati Medical Center. In residency, she completed an MPH in Health Policy and Management at the University of Michigan. While on faculty at UCSF, during her K12 award, Dr. Houtrow earned a PhD with distinction in medical sociology. Her dissertation won an international prize for outstanding contributions to childhood disability research.
Dr. Houtrow’s career focuses on optimizing the health, function, well-being and belonging of children with disabilities. Her dedication and excellence have been recognized in the domains of clinical care, research, interdisciplinary education, programmatic development, advocacy and service. Her research spans clinical outcomes to health services research for children with disabilities with an emphasis on access to care and health equity. She has published approximately 200 peer-reviewed manuscripts, written numerous textbook chapters and edits the premier pediatric rehabilitation medicine textbook for the field. She is a sought-after speaker nationally and internationally and has been guest on several podcasts and news programs. Her work is often highlighted in the national media.
Beyond her contributions to science and discovery, Dr. Houtrow has provided testimony to Congress on the needs of individuals with disabilities; influenced national policy; served as an expert witness for the Department of Justice; helped create a national health policy scholars program; reviewed quality standards for Medicaid; and provided technical assistance to the Maternal and Child Health Bureau.
Dr. Houtrow has served our Academy since her residency, most recently completing two terms as Secretary of the Board of Governors in 2024. She also serves the American Academy of Pediatrics as an executive committee member of the Section on Home Care after serving two terms as an executive committee member of the Council on Children with Disabilities. She was honored with their lifetime achievement award in 2019. Dr. Houtrow has received numerous other awards from both pediatric and PM&R organizations. Additionally, she was elected to the National Academy of Medicine in 2018.
Distinguished Member Award
Joe G. Gonzales, MD, CLCP, CPLCP, FAAPMR
Dr. Gonzales graduated from Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center, where he received his medical degree and completed his residency in Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation at the University of Texas Health Science Center in San Antonio, TX. He is board-certified in Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Pain Medicine and Occupational and Environmental Medicine, and has practiced in San Antonio since 1988.
Having always been in private practice, Dr. Gonzales has been innovative and entrepreneurial, holding various medical directorship positions and helped develop San Antonio's first comprehensive outpatient rehabilitation center and first free-standing acute rehabilitation hospital. Additionally, he was the first to develop the area’s outpatient wound care facilities and incorporated the first private monoplace hyperbaric chambers as an adjunct to wound care.
Early in his career, Dr. Gonzales was asked three questions regarding one of his catastrophically-injured patients. They were: What does your patient have? What will your patient require? What will his requirements cost? Unknowingly, he was asked to produce a life care plan, not realizing that there was an established and emerging discipline of life care planning.
Demand for his life care planning services continued to grow and appreciating the significance of the work, he set out to champion the practice of life care planning. He founded Physician Life Care Planning, a private company that provides support and mentoring to physicians who desire to add this service to their clinical practice. Shortly after, he founded the American Academy of Physician Life Care Planners, a professional non-profit organization dedicated to the practice and advancement of life care planning. Dr. Gonzales is a prolific lecturer and author, with works including “A Natural Domain of Physiatry,” published in PM&R in February 2014 as well as “A Physician’s Guide To Life Care Planning.”
John R. McGuire, MD, FAAPMR
Dr. McGuire is a professor of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation at the Medical College of Wisconsin (MCW). He is the director of Stroke Rehabilitation and Spasticity Management at MCW and Froedtert Health System. He is also the program director for MCW’s Comprehensive Neurorehabilitation and Spasticity Management Fellowship Program. He received his medical degree from the University of Minnesota, completed his residency at the Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago (RIC)/Northwestern University and completed his fellowship at RIC in Stroke Rehabilitation. He is board-certified in Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation and Electrodiagnostic Medicine.
Dr. McGuire is committed to the advancement and understanding of stroke and spasticity management. His contributions to the field of spasticity treatment, stroke rehabilitation, education, and training have been nothing short of exceptional. He pioneered the country’s first spasticity fellowship, which has since trained the highest number of fellows. He has also been an invaluable educator and mentor for more than 30 years. Dr. McGuire was involved in expert consensus statements of neurotoxin dosing, intrathecal baclofen pump management, and combining spasticity treatments.
His contributions to research are equally notable. He has secured more six million dollars of funding from prominent sources such as industry partners, the NIH and the NSF for innovative research in spasticity treatments and stroke rehabilitation. His research has focused on improving patient’s quality of life and advancing the overall understanding of rehabilitation strategies for those affected by stroke and spasticity. Dr. McGuire has authored numerous publications and book chapters, and is known internationally for his contributions to the field.
Maya R. Therattil, MD, FAAPMR
Dr. Therattil is chair of the Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation at Penn Medicine Princeton Health and practices at Lawrence Rehabilitation Hospital in New Jersey. She has dedicated her career to advancing the visibility, reach and impact of physiatry across diverse communities—from underserved regions in rural India to academic and clinical settings in the Bronx, New Jersey and Philadelphia.
A graduate of St. John’s Medical College in Bangalore, India, Dr. Therattil completed her PM&R residency at Montefiore Medical Center, Albert Einstein College of Medicine in the Bronx, followed by a fellowship in Spinal Cord Injury Medicine at the Kessler Institute for Rehabilitation. She also holds a master of science in Medical Education Leadership from the University of New England.
Dr. Therattil has been an advocate for expanding access to rehabilitation care in South Asia, where she designed and implemented culturally-tailored, community-based programs in rural areas with limited resources. These initiatives—often developed for populations with low literacy—have empowered individuals with disabilities and promoted reintegration into their communities, helping shift societal perceptions around disability and inclusion.
She has mentored generations of trainees and faculty. At Albert Einstein College of Medicine, she played a key role in pioneering disability education and other physiatry components into undergraduate and graduate medical education leading efforts in curriculum and faculty development. Her teaching excellence has been recognized through her induction into the prestigious Davidoff Society for educators and the Gold Humanism Honor Society. She continues to champion educational innovation at Drexel University College of Medicine, where she advises medical students as PM&R Pathway Director.
She was instrumental in launching the Spinal Cord Injury Program in the Bronx, a model that integrated rehabilitation with broader community needs—including accessible housing, adaptive sports and transportation services—through partnerships with local government and community organizations. Through her lifelong commitment to education, equity and service, she continues to transform the field and empower the communities it serves.
Distinguished Public Service, Health Equity and Advocacy Award
Michelle S. Gittler, MD, FAAPMR
Dr. Gittler fell in love with rehabilitation medicine in medical school. She has been practicing rehabilitation medicine for 33 years at Schwab Rehabilitation Hospital, where she advocates for individuals with disabilities, regardless of their socioeconomic status, to receive the highest quality of rehabilitative services. She is currently the medical director and residency program director at Schwab; an associate professor of surgery in the Department of Orthopedic Surgery at the University of Chicago; and a clinical professor of rehabilitation at University of Illinois in the Department of Neurology and Rehabilitation.
While working on Chicago’s near west side, Dr. Gittler accidentally became an expert in working with individuals who sustained violently acquired disabilities. She has been on the forefront of promoting the concept of firearm violence as a public health issue. In addition to working with individuals with violently acquired injuries, Dr. Gittler has also focused on the impact of social determinants of health on disabling conditions.
Dr. Gittler chaired AAPM&R’s Medical Education Committee from 2010-2016, was a member of the Academy’s Board of Governors, and served as its president in 2019, through the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. She graduated from the University of Michigan with degrees in engineering and history and attended medical school at the University of Illinois where she graduated as a James Scholar. She completed her residency in physical medicine and rehabilitation at Northwestern/Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago.
Dr. Gittler has been named “Top Doctor” in Chicago Magazine consistently since 2005. Together with her husband, she received the Avodah Chicago Partners in Justice award in 2017.
Danielle K. Powell, MD, MSPH, FAAPMR
Dr. Powell is an associate professor of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation at the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) Heersink School of Medicine, where she also serves as vice chair of Clinical Affairs and medical director of both the Adult Multidisciplinary Spina Bifida Program and the Cancer Rehabilitation Program. She leads efforts to expand access and improve quality of care for adults living with complex disabilities and cancer-related impairments. Dr. Powell is also one of 12 Learning Community Mentors at the Heersink School of Medicine, where she mentors 80 medical students annually. She also serves as faculty advisor for the Student National Medical Association (SNMA) and the Disability Advocacy Group (DAG), two organizations committed to serving vulnerable and underserved populations.
At the state level, Dr. Powell was appointed by Alabama Governor Kay Ivey to the Alabama Board of Home Medical Equipment, the first board of its kind in the state to provide advocacy and education to seniors about insurance and healthcare plan selection through public education campaigns. She also chairs the Alabama Medicaid Drug Utilization Review Board. Dr. Powell has served as chair of the Board of Directors for the Spina Bifida Association of Alabama and continues to support the organization by volunteering at events throughout the state.
She is an active member of the Physiatry Working Group of the National Spina Bifida Association and serves on the Access, Impact and Opportunity Committee for AAPM&R, where she contributes to initiatives designed to expand access and promote equity within the specialty. She also serves on the National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN) Adult Cancer Pain Panel and previously served on the NCCN Fatigue Panel, helping to shape national guidelines to optimize cancer care.
At UAB, Dr. Powell also serves on the Heersink School of Medicine Technical Standards Committee, advising the school on accommodations to ensure all students receive an equitable education and can thrive in their training. Additionally, she has participated in multiple legislative “Hill visits” to advocate for rehabilitation medicine, Graduate Medical Education (GME) funding, rehabilitation research and improved access to inpatient rehabilitation services.
Chloe S. Slocum, MD, MPH, FAAPMR
Dr. Slocum is a physical medicine and rehabilitation physician and spinal cord injury medicine specialist who serves as associate chair for Quality and assistant professor at Harvard Medical School in the Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation and as the director of Health Policy for Mass General Brigham-Spaulding Rehabilitation. Dr. Slocum leads the Spaulding New England Regional Spinal Cord Injury Center (SNERSCIC) Model System, is a national expert in health policy and is passionate about achieving the best long-term health outcomes for individuals with spinal cord injury and ensuring access to high-quality primary and specialty care for individuals with disability.
Her clinical work centers around optimizing long-term health for individuals with paralysis and her research is focused on assessing functional outcomes following rehabilitation and systems of health care delivery across the post-acute care continuum. Dr. Slocum also spearheads numerous projects at Mass General Brigham-Spaulding Rehabilitation focused on improving organizational workflows, cultivating physician well-being, and ensuring equitable access to high-quality inpatient and outpatient rehabilitation services.
Dr. Slocum has published research on functional outcomes following traumatic spinal cord injury and has lectured nationally and internationally on topics ranging from spinal cord injury outcomes to health policy and payment reform to clinician well-being.
2025 PASSOR Legacy Award and Lectureship
Kenneth R. Mautner, MD, FAAPMR
Dr. Mautner is a sports medicine physician and professor in the Departments of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation and Orthopedics at Emory University in Atlanta. He currently serves as director of Primary Care Sports Medicine at Emory. He completed his PM&R residency at Emory in 2003, followed by a fellowship in Sports Medicine at the American Sports Medicine Institute in Birmingham, Alabama. Dr. Mautner has played a leading role in shaping national PM&R sports medicine education. He was actively involved in developing the first ACGME Milestones for Sports Medicine, helped co-author national MSK curriculum guidelines and served on the Program Planning Committee for AAPM&R’s Annual Assembly for several years. He also served on the PASSOR Medical Education Committee until its integration into AAPM&R in 2009.
His clinical focus includes the management of acute and chronic sports injuries, diagnostic and interventional musculoskeletal ultrasound and orthobiologic procedures. Dr. Mautner has published extensively on these topics and is a national thought leader in the use and responsible integration of orthobiologics in sports medicine.
Dr. Mautner has served as the head team physician for the NBA’s Atlanta Hawks for over a decade and currently holds team physician roles with the Atlanta Braves, Emory University and Georgia Tech Athletics. He also serves as the independent neurological consultant for the Atlanta Falcons. Over the course of his career, he has taught and mentored more than 120 PM&R residents and over 30 sports medicine fellows—many of whom have gone on to leadership roles in academic and clinical sports medicine. He remains deeply committed to advancing the field through education, research and clinical excellence, while staying grounded in the core principles of physiatry and the enduring legacy of PASSOR.
Early PM&R Career Award
Matthew J. Cowling, DO, FAAPMR
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Dr. Cowling is an accomplished early-career physiatrist who has made a national impact through clinical leadership, health system innovation, education and advocacy. Since entering into practice in 2021, he has distinguished himself as a visionary leader and builder in PM&R, championing expanded access to rehabilitative care and the integration of physiatry across diverse post-acute settings.
Dr. Cowling currently serves as the chief clinical officer at Medrina, the nation's largest physiatry group, where he oversees more than 1,000 providers across 1,300+ skilled nursing facilities in 46 states. In addition, he also serves as associate medical director of a Wisconsin inpatient rehabilitation facility, is the elected chair of AAPM&R’s Skilled Nursing Facility Member Community and serves on the Academy’s Registry Steering Committee.
Dr. Cowling has led the creation of innovative care models, including co-management frameworks in several inpatient rehabilitation hospitals, rural telehealth prosthetic clinics across the United States, and subacute rehabilitation programs for amputees and restorative care. He is also advancing the integration of artificial intelligence in rehabilitation workflows using the latest AI-assisted technologies.
His national presentations reflect this passion, including the 2024 AAPM&R Annual Assembly session “Revitalizing Inpatient Rehabilitation,” and contributions to chronic care and PDPM reform, as well as value-based care at several post-acute care conferences nationwide.
Equally committed to mentorship, Dr. Cowling has helped shape the careers of dozens of early-career physiatrists and residents. He has developed national education content, supervised interdisciplinary provider teams, and created structured on-boarding and leadership pathways to support professional growth within Medrina’s expansive clinical network.
Sara Raiser, MD, FAAPMR
Dr. Raiser is an assistant professor in the Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation at the University of Virginia (UVA). She is a primary care sports medicine physiatrist and running medicine specialist. She has trained with running medicine experts from across the country throughout her medical training at University of Florida for medical school, University of Virginia for PM&R residency, and Stanford University for primary care sports medicine fellowship. Her primary interests include the female athlete, bone health and running medicine. She strives to positively affect runner culture to emphasize health and well-being from a holistic standpoint, thus she spends much of her time working collaboratively with multidisciplinary teams, and engaging in community outreach and education.
She has previously served as associate medical director for the Atlanta Track Club Elite Development Team and currently serves as team physician for James Madison University. She covers local Charlottesville running events and provides educational events for runners of all varieties. Dr. Raiser has published and presented at the national level on running medicine topics and is the founder of the Running Medicine National Grand Rounds lecture series. She is a 2025 AAPM&R Innovator and Influencer Honoree. She currently serves as AAPM&R Running Medicine Member Community chair and has been an editor on the Musculoskeletal Board for PM&R KnowledgeNow’s® online library since 2019.
Dr. Raiser serves as associate program director for Research and Scholarly Activity for the UVA PM&R residency program, championing medical education and resident professional development. She is also lead for the American Medical Society for Sports Medicine Education PM&R Subcommittee, and a member of AAPM&R’s Digital Learning Committee, and the Association for Academic Physiatrists Education Committee.
Justin Weppner, DO, FAAPMR
Dr. Weppner is an associate professor and the section chief of Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation at the Virginia Tech Carilion School of Medicine. He also serves as the medical director of the Carilion Clinic Brain Injury Center. As a certified physician executive, Dr. Weppner oversees a dynamic PM&R section, managing the rehabilitation of patients across a comprehensive health system that includes a Level One Trauma Center and five community hospitals.
Dr. Weppner is the founder of the Brain Injury Center, where he has been instrumental in developing and coordinating individualized treatment plans for patients with acquired brain injuries. Under his leadership, the center has expanded significantly, now encompassing a team of 14 practitioners from diverse specialties, including physical therapy, occupational therapy, speech-language pathology, psychology, psychiatry, neuropsychology, PM&R and nursing. He is a leader in brain injury consultations and has co-edited the book Acute Care Neuroconsultation and Neurorehabilitation Management, which contributes to the PM&R mission of establishing the field as a leader across the Rehabilitation Care Continuum.
He leads an innovative lab that investigates the effects of endocrinopathy after Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI), blast TBI and outcomes following severe TBI. As a passionate disability advocate, Dr. Weppner has served on the boards of the Brain Injury Association of Virginia and Brain Injury Solutions, where he worked to improve the lives of individuals with brain injuries.
Dr. Weppner is also deeply committed to medical education, serving on AAPM&R’s Medical Education Committee and chairing its Digital Learning Committee. A dedicated educator, he holds a Master's in Education from Johns Hopkins University and has been honored with several teaching awards, including Educator of the Year from Edward Via College of Osteopathic Medicine.
PM&R Awareness and Value Award
Surendra S. Barshikar, MD, MBA, FAAPMR
Dr. Barshikar is an associate professor in the Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation at the University of Texas Southwestern (UTSW) Medical Center. He is double board-certified in Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation and Brain Injury Medicine. He is currently the vice chair of clinical operations for the Department of PM&R and serves as the medical director of ambulatory clinics at Parkland hospital. He earned his medical degree in Dr. V M Medical College, India and then completed his PM&R residency at the New York Medical College/Metropolitan Hospital Center program in NY. He later earned his MBA at the University of Texas at Dallas, Jindal School of Management in healthcare management and organizational leadership.
Dr. Barshikar specializes in brain injury medicine and has interest in neurorehabilitation, spasticity management and taking care of patients with concussion and other brain injuries. He is the director of the multidisciplinary concussion program at UTSW and was also involved in creating and developing the UTSW COVID Recover program which has treated more than 4,000 patients to date.
Dr. Barshikar has presented and published nationally in the field of rehabilitation and management of patients with concussion and Long COVID. He also contributes expertise to the CDC funded Long COVID and Fatiguing illness ECHO program. His national recognition is evident through his presentation at the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (NASEM), where he shared his expert insights on development of care models for management of mild Traumatic Brain Injury.
He is a proud graduate of AAPM&R’s Future Leaders Program and continues to be involved in the Academy as a committee member and a volunteer, most recently as a STEP oral examiner as well as a member representative in AAPM&R’s Day on the Hill in Washington D.C, advocating for the treatment and research for Long COVID.
Sean R. Smith, MD, FAAPMR
Dr. Smith is a professor in the University of Michigan Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation and the medical director of the Rogel Cancer Center Cancer Rehabilitation program. He started the program in 2013, and it has grown to accommodate multiple faculty members, a fellow, numerous additional physical and occupational therapists, and a robust neuropsychology team. He previously served on the editorial board of the American Society of Clinical Oncology's (ASCO) Journal of Clinical Oncology and as an associate editor for Supportive Care in Cancer.
He is the first PM&R physician to chair an ASCO committee, doing so for the Symptoms and Survivorship educational track. He previously served on the ASCO annual meeting Scientific Committee and currently serves as a member on the ASCO Cancer Impact Committee, where he is exploring how disability impacts a person's ability to receive optimal cancer care. Currently, Dr. Smith co-chairs AAPM&R's Cancer Rehabilitation BOLD initiative.
His research has focused on the assessment of, and interventions to, enhance function in cancer patients, and he was the principal investigator of a multi-site project that yielded a new assessment tool of function in cancer patients, which has been translated into multiple languages and used in clinical trials. He has given numerous presentations nationally and internationally about cancer rehabilitation and the role of PM&R in cancer care.
Timothy K. Tiu, MD, CAQSM, FAAPMR
Dr. Tiu is an associate professor at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine. After earning his medical degree from St. George’s University, he completed his residency at Tufts University, where he served as chief resident, followed by a Sports Medicine fellowship at Montefiore Medical Center with the Albert Einstein College of Medicine. His career has been dedicated to advancing the visibility, impact and value of PM&R across academic, clinical and community domains.
He was instrumental in developing the University of Miami School of Medicine’s musculoskeletal course and has served as a classroom educator for multiple non-musculoskeletal systems in the newly-implemented NextGen curriculum. His efforts have meaningfully expanded the footprint and influence of PM&R within the school’s core medical education. On a national level, he has emerged as a leader in the development and dissemination of musculoskeletal ultrasound education, regenerative medicine practices and sideline medical care, having directed and taught numerous sessions and workshops for not only AAPM&R, but also the Association of Academic Physiatrists and the American Medical Society for Sports Medicine (AMSSM). Dr. Tiu has helped foster greater collaboration and representation of PM&R within AMSSM-led educational efforts—successfully facilitating the integration of multiple physiatrists into workshops traditionally led by Family Medicine faculty, and recruiting physiatric-contributors from across the country for several Sports Medicine textbooks.
Dr. Tiu has also maintained a deep commitment to service and equity, routinely providing care for underserved communities and, despite limited resources, integrating his musculoskeletal expertise and advanced interventional skills to deliver care well above the standard. He has provided medical coverage for premier athletic events—including the New York, Boston and Chicago Marathons, and the U.S. Figure Skating Championships—as well as longitudinal care for underserved athletic populations, further demonstrating the value and versatility of physiatric care in sports medicine.
2025 Awards Committee
Thank You for Nominating
Thank you to all members who participated in this year’s awards nominations! 2026 Nominations will open in March; watch phyzforum.org for details.
Award Descriptions
Past Award Recipients