Jeffrey Palmer to Step Down as Director of the Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation

Dear Colleagues,

We write to announce that Jeffrey Palmer will step down from the positions of Lawrence Cardinal Shehan Professor of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation and director of the department, effective Jan. 1, 2015. He will remain on the faculty as a full-time professor of physical medicine and rehabilitation.

Dr. Palmer has been a dedicated and productive member of the Johns Hopkins community for 31 years, including 10 years as director of the Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation. We are grateful for the steadfast leadership he provided, building an excellent team of clinicians, scientists, therapists, nurses and support staff. He played a key role in molding this relatively young department into the national leader it is today, starting with his decision in 2004 to move the department's headquarters from MedStar Good Samaritan Hospital to The Johns Hopkins Hospital. Under his guidance, the department earned a reputation as one of the strongest programs in the country and is ranked in the top 15 in total National Institutes of Health (NIH) research funding.
                                            
A preeminent authority on the scientific basis of swallowing and its disorders (dysphagia), Dr. Palmer is director of the Swallowing and Oral Function Laboratory. He has pioneered the development of dysphagia rehabilitation and research in the United States and Japan, where it is a common public health problem.

Dr. Palmer looks forward to refocusing his energies on the activities that originally motivated him to enter academic medicine: research, teaching and clinical practice.

Pablo Celnik will serve as interim director while we carry out the search for Dr. Palmer's replacement. Dr. Celnik did his residency training in neurology in Argentina, followed by a fellowship in neurological rehabilitation at the University of Maryland and a research fellowship at the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke at NIH. He subsequently completed a physical medicine and rehabilitation residency at Johns Hopkins and joined our faculty with appointments in physical medicine and rehabilitation and in neurology.

Dr. Celnik leads a highly regarded research program devoted to understanding the mechanisms of motor learning and improving the recovery of motor function after stroke. His investigations, currently supported by two research project grants, have been funded continuously by NIH since 2003. He serves as medical director of our outpatient Brain and Stroke Rehabilitation Program and as director of the Human Brain Physiology and Stimulation Laboratory. We are grateful that he has agreed to assume the additional responsibilities of overseeing the department.

Please join us in applauding the contributions of Drs. Palmer and Celnik and the entire Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, which is not only advancing the tripartite mission, but is also improving the practice of physical medicine and rehabilitation around the world.

Sincerely,

Paul B. Rothman, M.D.
Dean of the Medical Faculty
CEO, Johns Hopkins Medicine

Ronald R. Peterson
President
The Johns Hopkins Hospital and Health System
EVP, Johns Hopkins Medicine