Leadership Team
Daniel E. Graves, PhD, Principal Investigator, has worked in spinal cord model systems for the last eighteen years, including data collection Research Investigator, Project Co-investigator and Principle Investigator. At Frazier Rehab Institute, serves as Associate Director of Research as well as Associate Professor in the Department of Neurological Surgery/Division of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation at the University of Louisville.
A member of the National Institute for Disability Rehabilitation and Research grant review, Health and Function panel as well as the American Spinal Cord Injury Association and American Congress of Rehabilitation Medicine, Dr. Graves has been honored with the Rehabilitation Alliance Marcus J. Fuhrer Research Achievement Award as well as named as a fellow with the American Congress of Rehabilitation Medicine.
Widely viewed as a subject matter expert in spinal cord rehabilitation, Dr. Graves has been published widely in peer review journals including but not limited to American Journal of Cardiology, Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Journal of Spinal Cord Medicine and the Journal of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery.
Prior to coming to Frazier Rehab and the University of Louisville, Dr. Graves served as Associate Professor at Baylor College of Medicine and Adjunct Associate Professor at University of Texas Health Science Center-Houston in PM&R and Epidemiology.
Dr. Graves earned his Bachelor of Science in Psychology, Master in Educational Psychology and PhD in Educational Psychology all from the University of Houston.
Darryl L. Kaelin, M.D., Co Principal Investigator, is a physician board certified by the American Board of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation and American Board of Electrodiagnostic Medicine. He is the Medical Director of the Frazier Rehabilitation Center in Louisville, Kentucky where he manages patients with neurological trauma. Dr. Kaelin is also the Division Chief of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation in the Dept. of Neurological Surgery at the University of Louisville and directs the clinical inpatient rotation for the Division’s residents.
Dr. Kaelin has published widely in peer-reviewed journals on brain injury medical education, pharmaceutical treatments, spasticity and service reimbursements. He has also led numerous, non-published medication trials sponsored through pharmaceutical funding. He has delivered presentations at regional and national conferences in the areas of spasticity management, pharmaceutical management of brain injury and medical business practice issues. He holds several positions within the Academy of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation and the Association of Academic Physiatrists. He speaks nationally and internationally on several rehabilitation topics including the management of spasticity, deep vein thrombosis, and neuropharmacology.
Prior to assuming his current positions with the University of Louisville and Frazier Rehabilitation Center, Dr. Kaelin spent six years as the Medical Director of the Acquired Brain Injury Program at Atlanta’s Shepherd Center. While at the Shepherd Center, he also served as the Medical Director of Brain Injury Research and was a Clinical Associate Professor of Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation in Emory University’s School of Medicine. Previously, Dr. Kaelin served for 10 years as the Medical Director of Brain Injury Rehabilitation at the Hook Institute in Indianapolis, where he managed patients with neurological trauma.
Dr. Kaelin obtained his undergraduate degree from the University of Notre Dame where he played varsity baseball. He earned his medical degree from the University of Louisville School of Medicine and completed his specialty training at the Medical College of Virginia where he presided as their chief resident.
Susan J. Harkema, PhD, professor, UofL Department of Neurosurgery, UofL; director of research, Frazier Rehab Institute; and director, Christopher & Dana Reeve Foundation’s NeuroRecovery Network, holds the Owsley B. Frazier Rehabilitation Chair in Neurological Surgery and is the Rehabilitation Research Director of the Kentucky Spinal Cord Injury Research Center at the University of Louisville. She is the Director of Research at Frazier Rehab Institute and is Director of the NeuroRecovery Network that provides standardized activity-based therapies for individuals with spinal cord injury at seven national rehabilitation centers in the United States. Her research focuses on neural plasticity of spinal networks and recovery of function after spinal cord injury.
Dr. Harkema has published numerous scholarly articles on her research and has received several honors and awards throughout her career. In 2007, the National Spinal Cord Injury Association nominated her into the SCI Hall of Fame for Achievement in Research in Quality of Life, and most recently, Dr. Harkema was a co-recipient of the Reeve-Irvine Research Medal in 2009, awarded to individuals who have made critical contributions to promoting repair of the damaged spinal cord and recovery of function.
Dr. Harkema earned her Bachelor of Science and PhD from Michigan State University and conducted her postdoctoral fellowship in neurophysiology at the University of California, Los Angeles.
Kimberly Atkinson is Director of the Spinal Cord Medicine Program at Frazier Rehab Institute. Atkinson began her career as a staff physical therapist for the spinal cord injury program at TIRR Memorial Hermann Hospital in Houston, Texas. Before coming to lead the program at Frazier Rehab Institute, Atkinson served as Center Coordinator for Clinical Education and Program Director for Neurologic Physical Therapy Residency Program at TIRR.
Atkinson is a Board Certified Clinical Specialist in Neurology and holds Clinical Instructor Certification. She is a member of the American Physical Therapy Association (APTA) and Neurology Section of the APTA and has served as an expert speaker regarding locomotor training and clinical education and mentorship.
Atkinson received her Bachelor of Science in Microbiology from Texas A&M University in College Station, Texas and her Masters of Physical Therapy from University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas, Texas.