The Moss Rehabilitation Research Institute (MRRI) at MossRehab has hired Dylan J. Edwards, PhD, as its new director. Dr. Edwards succeeds John Whyte, MD, PhD, who is retiring.
Dr. Whyte, in collaboration with long-time colleague Myrna Schwartz, PhD, founded MRRI (which is devoted to improving the lives of individuals with neurological disabilities through research) and has led the research enterprise for the past 25 years.
“I am delighted to take on the role of director of the prestigious Moss Rehabilitation Research Institute,” said Dr. Edwards. “Under the outstanding leadership of Dr. Whyte, together with intellectual giants and innovative thinkers within the Institute and exceptional clinical partners, MRRI has become known to be at the forefront of rehabilitation research and neuroscience. I plan to harness this momentum and continue to build and adapt in these exciting and evolving times for rehabilitation research.”
“Having been able to recruit Dr. Dylan Edwards to continue to lead MRRI has allowed me to step down after more than 25 years with the feeling that the excellent program we've built will continue to grow and thrive,” said Dr. Whyte. “Dylan’s own prior research, as well as his experience in running a large lab, have prepared him well for this position, and his first few weeks already demonstrate his intelligence and ability to forge the collaborative relationships that have been a key to MRRI's success.”
Dr. Edwards was born and educated in Perth, Western Australia, receiving a PhD in clinical neurophysiology from the University of Western Australia (UWA) in 2004. He continued as a post-doctoral fellow at the Centre for Neuromuscular and Neurological Disorders at UWA in conjunction with an academic appointment at Edith Cowan University (ECU) in Australia. Before coming to the MRRI, Dr. Edwards was associate professor at Weill Cornell Medicine and the director of the Brain Stimulation & Robotics Laboratory and the Restorative Neurology Clinic at Burke Neurological Institute in White Plains, N.Y. He also holds the title of professor of neuroscience at ECU Australia and is a lecturer in neurology at Harvard Medical School.
Dr. Edwards' research focuses on non-invasive brain stimulation and robotics in neurorehabilitation. He has received grants from federal, state, industry and private philanthropic organizations in excess of $7 million.
Dr. Edwards succeeds Dr. Whyte, whose world-renowned work built MRRI in the an internationally respected center of rehabilitation research. Over his tenure at MRRI, Dr. Whyte has had many accomplishments, including: the first successful clinical trial to show that the pace of recovery of consciousness could be accelerated by a medication (amantadine), co-developing the RTSS (Rehabilitation Treatment Specification System) to define rehabilitation treatments with respect to their known or hypothesized active ingredients, and redesigning and co- leading the Rehabilitation Medicine Scientist Training Program (RMSTP), which has trained many of the most successful research leaders in physical medicine and rehabilitation.
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