James Elliott, PT, PhD

James Elliott Instructor Bio:

James (Jim) Elliott (@elliottjim) completed his PhD at the University of Queensland, Australia (UQ) in 2007 and a post-doctoral fellowship (2010) at UQ's Centre for Research Excellence in Spinal Pain, Injury and Health and the Centre for Advanced Imaging. He is currently a tenure-track Assistant Professor in the Feinberg School of Medicine and the principal investigator of The Neuromuscular Imaging Research Lab (@NIRL_NU) where he supervises five PhD students. Jim is also an Honorary Senior Fellow at UQ and an Affiliate Professor at the Zurich University of Applied Sciences, Switzerland.

He has been successful as an early career investigator as in evidence of $3.3 million in research funding, over 60 peer-reviewed publications, and numerous speaking invitations at interdisciplinary conferences on a national and international level. The primary focus of Jim's laboratory is to characterize the underlying neurophysiological and biological mechanisms for poor functional recovery following spinal trauma, in particular, traumatic injuries following a motor vehicle collision (MVC). Broad applications of his work include preventing, diagnosing, and treating neuromuscular related pain and its sequelae. To do this, he utilizes structural and advanced imaging applications to quantify the temporal development of altered spinal cord anatomy and whole-body skeletal muscle degeneration as potential markers of poor functional outcomes.

Jim currently serves as an Advisory Board Member for the journal Spine and is a Board of Director for the Journal of Orthopaedic & Sports Physical Therapy. Jim played professional baseball for the San Diego Padres (1990-1992), worked in major league baseball operations for the Colorado Rockies (1993-1996), and was recently inducted into the University of Denver Athletic Hall of Fame (2014). In full transparency, Jim admits to needing medication for his life-long love of the Chicago Cubs.