In Spring 2025, the College of Health (COH) and Good Shepherd Rehabilitation proudly announced their first joint hire, a milestone within a broader partnership committed to advancing disability health equity. Shirin Madarshahian, who holds a Ph.D. in Kinesiology and previously served as a data scientist at Raphael Center for Neurorestoration at Thomas Jefferson University Hospitals, has received the first joint faculty appointment, the first-of-its-kind hire for both institutions. She also serves as assistant professor, department of biostatistics and health data science. Her appointment reflects a shared commitment to integrating academic research, clinical insight and technological innovation to improve the lives of people with disabilities.
“Growth of research and enhancing partnerships with regional and national organizations are important priorities of Lehigh’s ‘Inspiring the Future Makers’ strategy,” said Nathan Urban, provost and senior vice president for academic affairs, Lehigh University. “Creation of this joint position serves both of these goals. Hiring faculty with interests like Shirin’s will also strengthen our new center focused on development and dissemination of assistive technologies. With an aging American population and increasing rates of disability, we see new technologies for assessing and assisting individuals with disability as critical for ensuring the health and economic vitality of our region and country. Partnerships like this one with Good Shepherd will be critical as Lehigh seeks to play a larger role in health data, technology and policy.”
In August 2024, Lehigh University and Good Shepherd signed a Memorandum of Understanding, laying out a 10-year vision to include interdisciplinary research collaborations, joint faculty appointments to bridge academic research and clinical practice and a jointly funded seed program to support new research.
Spearheaded by the College of Health, the partnership is a bold collaboration that is redefining how academic and clinical institutions work together to improve the lived experience of people with disabilities. The partnership creates new opportunities for meaningful engagement and interdisciplinary collaboration from all colleges across the university. College of Health faculty have already partnered with Good Shepherd clinicians on multiple research projects.
As a motor control researcher and a data scientist, Madarshahian focuses on promoting neuromodulation and developing data-centric analytical tools to support evidence-based decision-making in clinical settings. She is particularly interested in developing data-driven methods to personalize non-invasive stimulation strategies for individuals with neurological disorders. Moreover, she builds data-driven models grounded in the physical approaches of studying motor control to gain objective insights into the neurophysiological states of individuals — both in healthy populations across the lifespan and in those with movement disorders or disabilities, such as spinal cord injury and stroke.
“I view my joint appointment as an invaluable opportunity to advance my goal of reshaping clinical practice through more objective, technology-driven assessments and interventions — particularly in the field of neurorehabilitation,” said Madarshahian. “This role grants me direct access to diverse neurological populations and clinical datasets, as well as firsthand exposure to the barriers that often prevent research from translating into everyday clinical practice.”
“For many faculty, accessing patient populations is a major challenge,” she continued, “and there remains a significant gap between researchers and clinicians that hinders the implementation of evidence-based innovations. I aim to bridge this gap by working closely with clinicians — not only to observe, but to deeply understand and experience the real-world challenges they face. This type of engaged collaboration fosters mutual understanding and ensures that research is designed with clinical relevance in mind, ultimately benefiting both patients and practitioners.”
Further, Lehigh and Good Shepherd have also jointly launched the SPARC Program (Seed Program Advancing Research Collaborations), providing seed funding to foster innovative, interdisciplinary research partnerships between Lehigh faculty and Good Shepherd clinicians and staff. The program will support early-stage projects that improve health equity and rehabilitation outcomes, with a focus on real-world application. By supporting collaborative teams from both institutions, SPARC helps generate preliminary data for larger external grants and aims to establish sustainable, high-impact research that translates directly into clinical and community benefit.
Through the ongoing partnership, Lehigh students will be empowered to gain real-world training in rehabilitation and healthcare through internships and other applied learning opportunities at Good Shepherd. Discussions are also underway to create a joint lab space.
“These initiatives unite the two organizations by pairing the research expertise of Lehigh with the clinical and community excellence of Good Shepherd,” said Emily Lyter, administrative director for Good Shepherd Learns, Creates, and Clinical Research. Lyter was instrumental in orchestrating the partnership, along with Good Shepherd Rehabilitation president and CEO Michael Spigel. Urban; Elizabeth Dolan, dean of the COH; and Matthew Mattern, senior director of corporate and foundation relations, were the primary drivers for Lehigh to bring the partnership to life over the past three years.
