Leatha A. Clark, DPT, MS

Dr. Clark is a research assistant professor in the Department of Biomedical Sciences and an associate member of the Ohio Musculoskeletal and Neurological Institute (OMNI) at Ohio University. She was raised in Kewanee, IL. She graduated from the University of Illinois Champaign-Urbana in the mid-80’s with her B.S. degree in Theoretical and Applied Mechanics (College of Engineering). While at the U of I, she competed in cross-country and track and field.
 
Following her undergraduate training she worked for a decade as a research engineer in industry, government, and academia. She began her career working as a R&D computer engineer for Caterpillar Inc (Peoria, IL). where she worked on the SIMTEK computer modeling team. After several years in that position she moved to Madison, WI where she worked for four years as a research specialist and engineer in the USDA Forest Products Laboratory. At the Forest Products Lab she was involved with the University of Wisconsin’s  Biopulping Consortium and managed the Paper Products Testing Laboratory. In the early 90’s she had the opportunity to apply her skills to biomedical research and transitioned into a research specialist position in the Department of Neurology at the University of Wisconsin Madison where she worked on computer modeling of oral neuromotor control in ALS patients.  Throughout this time period, Leatha was also pursuing her M.S. degree part time in environmental engineering while concommittantly raising her young son, Neil. She began her graduate training at the University of Wisconsin Madison and then continued at SUNY Environmental Science and Forestry after she moved to Syracuse, NY in the mid-90’s. She received her MS degree in environmental engineering in 1995.
 
Shortly after moving to Syracuse and receiving her MS degree, she worked for about a decade as a research engineer in the Musculoskeletal Research Laboratories directed by Kenneth Mann, PhD in the Department of Orthopedic Surgery at SUNY Upstate Medical University. During this time, she was deeply involved with studies on the micro-mechanics of implant interfaces, and damage evolution of joint replacements and biomaterials. In the late 2000's, she began pursuing her Doctor of Physical Therapy degree at SUNY Upstate Medical University, which was awarded in 2011. Since this time she has practiced clinically in the geriatric and pediatric rehabilitation spaces. She has also applied her clinical, scientific, and engineering skills to her more recent research endeavors, which now spans more than 25-years. Her current research interests relate to understanding the neuromuscular mechanisms of age-related weakness as well as the physiological determinants of the heterogeneity of response to exercise interventions in older adults.
 
Over the course of her career she has published more than 30 articles and chapters that have been cited nearly 1,000 times (H-index: 15). She has served as a co-investigator on 4 NIH R01’s, 1 NIH R21, two NIH R44 grants, as well as numerous industry sponsored trials.
 
She lives with her husband, Brian, in the hills around Athens, OH. In her free time she enjoys all forms of physical activity and exercise, furthering her study of yogic philosophy, gardening, and spending time with her family.