Faculty for the PhD in THST program

Dr. Espy has more than 30 years of experience as a physical therapist. She practiced as a clinician for 18 years in acute care, inpatient and outpatient neurorehabilitation, assistive technology, and geriatrics. Her areas of expertise include motor control and learning, postural control, balance training, assistive technology, and neurorehabilitation. Throughout her career, she has been actively involved in research, particularly in the efficacy, intensity, and dosing of balance training interventions, fall prevention/fall resistance, the therapeutic use of video gaming and virtual reality, gait biomechanics, and sensors to improve exercise and physical activity.  She collaborates locally, nationally, and internationally and has published in professional journals across disciplines. She is or has been supported by grants from organizations like the American Heart Association, the Ohio Bureau of Workers’ Compensation, the National Institutes of Health, and the National Science Foundation.

Her personal journey from the clinic to academia was facilitated by a Ph.D. program that was both rigorous and flexible, allowing her to pursue high-caliber research aligned with her clinical interests. She also benefited from the opportunity to gain teaching experience during her Ph.D. studies. Throughout her academic and research career, she has realized the importance of effective collaboration across disciplines. These experiences and realizations have informed the focus and design of the Transdisciplinary Health Science and Technology Ph.D. program. She is excited to work with other health professionals as they move towards advancing their careers and amplifying their positive impact on the world. She welcomes research mentoring especially in any of the following areas: motor learning, knowledge translation, postural control, balance training, fall prevention, exercise dosage, therapeutic aspects of video gaming and virtual reality, and the use of sensor technologies to provide exercise and motor learning feedback.

Dr. Kelle DeBoth Foust, OTR/L, Ph.D. (she/her) is an Associate Professor in the Occupational Therapy Program at Cleveland State University. Dr. Foust has worked in school, home, and community settings, specializing in children with autism and sensory processing disorders. Her research focuses on sensory processing in autism, interprofessional education, community-engaged research in under-resourced communities, mental health and building resilience related to trauma in children and families, and technological applications to facilitate engagement for children with disabilities. Her work has been supported by over $2.5 million in external funding from organizations such as the National Science Foundation, the American Occupational Therapy Foundation, and the Public Interest Technology-University Network. Through her roles as Managing Director of the CSU TECH Hub, Academic Director of the Internet of Things Collaborative, Co-Founder of PLAAY on the Move, and Co-Director of the Ph.D. in Transdisciplinary Health, Sciences and Technology program at CSU, Dr. Foust remains deeply committed to leveraging technology to enhance accessibility and improve healthcare outcomes for individuals with disabilities, sensory processing differences, and motor impairments.

Dr. Foust is particularly eager to work with students in any of the following areas: using technology, such as AI software and motion capture, to explore objective measurements of participation especially in natural play environments, creative uses of technology to support social emotional learning, exploring interventions for ACEs/trauma in under-resourced communities, and examining ways that technology can improve the lives of children with developmental disabilities such as autism.