2025 Fall Newsletter

Networking Group News

Dr. Stephanie Silveira is an Assistant Professor at the UTHealth Houston School of Public Health in the Department of Management, Policy, and Community Health. Her overarching career goal is to build an innovative and impactful line of research aiming to improve overall health and wellbeing among people living with multiple sclerosis and other chronic disabling conditions. She recently completed an NIH-funded R03 randomized controlled trial of a novel, home-based exercise training program for wheelchair users with multiple sclerosis. The results from the study will be presented as an oral presentation at the 2025 ACRM conference. This program was developed through a multi-tiered, community-engaged research approach, incorporating insights from a foundational qualitative study, guidance from a community advisory board, and iterative focus groups. Her strong commitment to community engagement aligns with her roles as Core Faculty at the Institute for Implementation Science and as a co-Investigator on the Multiple Sclerosis Implementation Network, funded by the Multiple Sclerosis Association of America. Dr. Silveira is enthusiastic about the future of her research and is dedicated to supporting colleagues in rehabilitation who are working to bridge the gap between research and clinical practice.

Publication Report:

Congratulations to the CDNG Mentoring Task Force for the publication titled “Development and satisfaction of a mentoring-match algorithm,” co-authored by Drs. Oyesanya, Faieta, Silveira, Cogan, Pappadis, Ahonle, Backus, Kolakowsky-Hayner and Roberts. This study aimed to describe the development, implementation, and user satisfaction of a mentoring match algorithm designed for the ACRM Career Development Networking Group (CDNG) Leadership Mentoring Program. A sequential, mixed-methods evaluation was conducted to assess the algorithm’s effectiveness. The authors found that this innovative, interdisciplinary mentoring match algorithm demonstrates strong potential for broader application across disciplines, settings, and organizations.

2025 Mentoring Program

A total of 26 mentor-mentee pairs were matched to participate in the 2025 ACRM CDNG Mentoring Program, including 16 pairs in the Research Mentoring Program, and 10 pairs in the Leadership Mentoring Program. 

One component of the ACRM CDNG mentoring program is webinars focused on topics that address participants’ needs. This year’s program introduces four webinars and two round tables on the following topics:

• Wellness and Resilience by Dr. Carrie Adair
• Team Science by Drs. Alan Landay and Mattew Mendoz
• Negotiation by Dr. Tolu Oyesanya
• Project Management by Dr. Amanda English
• Navigating Career Transitions and Advancements by Drs. Archana Chatterjee and Megan Mitchell
• Building Teams by Drs. Brad Kurowski, Mark Hirsch and Brooks Wingo

Early Career Development Course Task Force

Dr. Jereme Wilroy, Chair of the Early Career Development Course (ECDC) Task Force, will host the 2025 ECDC: Enhancing Communication for Collaboration in Rehabilitation. The 2025 ECDC will focus on developing effective communication skills essential for team success in rehabilitation research and clinical practice. An interactive workshop and scholars’ panel will focus on assertive communication, conflict resolution, and strategies for giving and receiving feedback. The course also includes a keynote by Karen Tamley, a funders’ panel, and a joint networking lunch with roundtable discussions on:

• Leadership advocacy (Karen Tamley)
• Enabling interdisciplinary teams (Dr. Patty Findley)
• Research and leadership mentoring (Dr. Stephanie Silveira)
• Funding agency insights (Drs. Nitkin, Patricia Dorn, Terry Lee-Wilk)
• Effective team building (Drs. Robert Motl and Brian Sandroff)
• Career Development Networking Group interest (Drs. Tolu Oyesanya)
• Clinical supervisor/supervisee relationships (Drs. Cecilia Han and Willa Vo)

Early Engagement Task Force

Mentorship is critical to success as an academic, particularly in the current research environment. The Early Engagement Task Force, under the umbrella of the Career Development Network Group, currently manages the Postdoctoral Matching Program. This program is designed to pair prospective postdoctoral scholars with researchers who have open postdoctoral positions. Participation in the program entails completion of a brief survey, which asks prospective fellows to describe their qualifications and interests, and research programs to detail their open positions. The matching is conducted by ACRM staff after completion of the surveys, which are released twice per year, August and January. Please be sure to look out for emails from ACRM staff if you wish to participate.

Please contact Dr. Nathan Hogaboom (NHogaboom@kesslerfoundation.org) – with any questions

Attend Our Community Group Meeting

The Career Development Networking Group community group meeting will be held at the ACRM annual conference: 4:00 pm CST on Oct. 28, 2025, location TBA (see annual meeting program for more details). We will present updates on accomplishments in the last year and discuss opportunities to participate. All are welcome to attend!