Current Lab Members

Kristan A. Leech, PT, DPT, PhD

Principal Investigator

Dr. Leech received her BS in Physiology from the University of Arizona, her DPT from the University of Illinois at Chicago, and her PhD in Neuroscience from Northwestern University. After finishing her PhD, Dr. Leech completed a postdoctoral fellowship in Neuroscience at Johns Hopkins University. Her primary research interest is understanding how to treat and improve gait dysfunction in individuals with neurologic injury or disease. Dr. Leech takes an interdisciplinary approach to her research, incorporating scientific theory and experimental techniques from neuroscience, rehabilitation, exercise physiology, and biomechanics.

Email: kristanl@usc.edu

Sarah Kettlety, MS

PhD student in Biokinesiology

Sarah received her MS in Exercise, Fitness and Health Promotion and BS in Kinesiology from George Mason University. There, she performed research on gait modification interventions in individuals with knee osteoarthritis. Her research interests include studying the mechanics, energetics, and control of pathological gait.

Email: kettlety@usc.edu

Morgan Kelly, PT, DPT

PhD student in Biokinesiology

Morgan has completed a B.S. in Neuroscience and a B.A. in Dance at Duke University, a Doctorate in Physical Therapy at Columbia University, and an acute care PT residency at the University of Washington. She has been a licensed physical therapist since 2018, and is passionate about translational research and teaching basic science to rehabilitation students. She is excited to be working on a PhD at USC, where her research interests include cognition and motor learning after stroke.

Email: mlkelly@usc.edu

Christina Holl, PT, DPT

PhD student in Biokinesiology

Christina received her B.A. in Biology from the University of Virginia, and completed her Doctorate of Physical Therapy at Marymount University. She is a board certified neurologic clinical specialist with a passion for stroke rehabilitation. With over five years of experience treating patients of various neurologic conditions at California Rehabilitation Institute, Christina is interested in improving gait mechanics and optimizing treatment strategies for individuals with neurologic impairments.

Email: choll@usc.edu

Amelia Cain, PT, DPT

PhD student in Biokinesiology

Amelia completed her B.S. in Neuroscience at the Ohio State University, and her Doctorate in Physical Therapy at the University of North Carolina. She became a board-certified neurologic clinical specialist in physical therapy after completing her residency at the University of Southern California and Rancho Los Amigos National Rehabilitation Center. She is committed to conducting clinically-meaningful research and is interested in factors impacting real-world community mobility after stroke.

Email: ameliaca@usc.edu

Sylwia Lipior

MS student in Biokinesiology with an Emphasis in Sport Science

Sylwia Lipior earned a BA in Neuroscience from Wesleyan University in 2018. After graduating, she worked as a clinical research coordinator at the Yale University Alzheimer’s Disease Research Unit for three years. Sylwia is currently a master’s student in the USC Division of Biokinesiology and has been working under the mentorship of Dr. Leech for the past year studying locomotor learning strategies for post-stroke cognitive impairment patients.

Email: lipior@usc.edu

Giuliet Kibler

MS student in Biokinesiology with an Emphasis in Sport Science

Giuliet received her B.S. in Biological Science from Southern Methodist University and is currently pursuing her M.S. in Biokinesiology at the University of Southern California.

Email: gkibler@usc.edu

Maryana Bonilla

Research Assistant

Maryana completed a B.A. in Human Biology with an emphasis on Human Performance and B.A. in Data Science at USC. She is currently a student of physical therapy at USC, interested in the intersection between neurologic physical therapy and data science.

Email: bonillay@usc.edu

Aria Haver-Hill

Research Assistant

Aria is a junior studying Biomedical Engineering at USC. She is interested in combining engineering and patient care by pursuing a career in prosthetics and orthotics or the medical device industry.

Email: haverhil@usc.edu

Caitlin Sheetz

Research Assistant

Caitlin is a current undergraduate Junior studying Biomedical Engineering and pursing a masters in Biomedical Data Analytics at USC. She is interested in the applications of medical devices in the nervous system and physical therapy.

Email: chsheetz@usc.edu

Lab Alumni