Dr. Ghazala Saleem joined the Department of Rehabilitation Sciences as an assistant professor in spring 2020. She received her bachelor’s (summa cum laude) in psychology with a minor in biology from Missouri Western State University, her master's in occupational therapy from the College of Physicians and Surgeons, Columbia University, and her research doctorate in movement sciences with an emphasis in occupational therapy from Teachers College, Columbia University. She completed a year-long postdoctoral research training in clinical trials and epidemiology from Harvard Medical School. She also completed a two-year postdoctoral fellowship in brain injury neurorehabilitation from Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine/Kennedy Krieger Institute. She is a trained/licensed occupational therapist with extensive clinical experience in the rehabilitation of neurological disorders. 

Dr. Saleem has conducted clinical and translational research in pediatric motor performance, non-invasive brain stimulation, pediatric disorders of consciousness due to acquired brain injury, and post-concussive symptoms after pediatric concussion. Her research is now expanding to include intimate partner violence-related mild traumatic brain injury. The overarching focus of her Brain Function and Recovery Lab is to identify and refine rapid and objective detection methods and reliable and cost-effective treatment in brain injury that can be used even by those communities that have limited awareness of and access to appropriate clinical care. In her work, Dr. Saleem uses a range of methodologies including physiological, neuroimaging, and motor learning assessments to characterize the sequelae of traumatic brain injury in vulnerable populations with head trauma. Additionally, she uses neuromotor control and targeted neuromodulatory interventions to optimize function and recovery in individuals with brain injury. Dr. Saleem’s goal is to identify interventions that could be most beneficial at a single-subject level. 

Dr. Saleem tremendously enjoys her work and spending time with her family, reading, cooking/baking, hiking and traveling. 

• 2019: Postdoctoral Fellowship, Brain Injury Neurorehabilitation, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine/Kennedy Krieger Institute, Baltimore, MD, USA
• 2018: Postdoctoral Research Training, Clinical Trials and Epidemiology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
• 2016: EdD, Movement Sciences with an emphasis in Occupational Therapy, Teachers College, Columbia University, New York, NY, USA
• 2010: MS, Occupational Therapy, College of Physicians and Surgeons, Columbia University, New York, NY, USA
• 2006: BS, Summa Cum Laude, Psychology with a minor in Biology, Missouri Western State University, St. Josephs, MO, USA

• American Congress of Rehabilitation Medicine (ACRM) Brain Injury Special Interest Group Scholarship Award 2021
• ACRM Complementary and Integrative Rehabilitation Medicine Fellowship Award 2021