John-Ross (JR) Rizzo, M.D., M.S.C.I., is an American physician-scientist known for his contributions to the field of healthcare and rehabilitation. He holds the Melamid Professorship in Rehabilitation (Disability) Medicine at NYU Langone Medical Center. Dr. Rizzo has made strides in the areas of disability inclusion, innovation, and equity within the medical community. At NYU Langone Medical Center, Dr. Rizzo serves as the first Health System Director of Disability Inclusion, which seeks to increase accessibility and inclusivity within healthcare. Additionally, he holds the position of Vice Chair of Innovation and Equity for the Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation at the Rusk Institute of Rehabilitation Medicine. His affiliations include the Department of Neurology, where he contributes to the advancement of neurological sciences, as well as the Departments of Biomedical &amp; Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering at New York University Tandon School of Engineering. Within Tandon, he also contributes to the Electrical and Computer Engineering Department as the associate director of Healthcare for the NYU Wireless Center. Dr. Rizzo has published 125 peer-reviewed publications, contributed to 12 textbooks, and co-authored many conference proceedings. He has been funded by 5 federal agencies and lead/co-lead grants exceeding $10M.
Dr. Rizzo is the founding director of the Visuomotor Integration Laboratory (VMIL). Within this innovative research space, his team explores the dynamics of eye-hand coordination and its relevance to neurological conditions. He also leads the REACTIV Laboratory (Rehabilitation Engineering Alliance and Center Transforming Low Vision) which seeks to address the challenges faced by individuals with visual impairments. He and his team focus on developing low- and high-tech assistive technologies, with a special emphasis on wearables.
In addition to his academic and research pursuits, Dr. Rizzo was appointed in 2023 by Governor Kathy Hochul to the Board of Directors of The Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA).
Early life and education.
As a young boy, he was diagnosed with Choroideremia, a congenital, X-linked, recessive disease of the retina and choroid, associated with nyctalopia and degenerative peripheral vision. It has deeply influenced his thinking about functional dependencies and his professional goals.
Rizzo completed his undergraduate degree at New York University magna cum laude with an honors thesis in neural science and a double minor in chemistry and psychology. He was a Dean's Scholar and also conferred the Founders Day Award. He completed his medical school training on an academic scholarship at New York Medical College Alpha Omega Alpha (Iota Chapter) Honors and placed in top contention for his medical student research in neuro-ophthalmology under the tutelage of Prof. Sansar Sharma. His residency was completed at the Rusk Institute of Rehabilitation Medicine at New York University School of Medicine, where he completed a Chief Year and was selected for multiple leadership positions. His fellowship was completed in clinical research through the Physician Scientist Training Program at New York University School of Medicine’s Clinical and Translational Science Institute (CTSI) under a grant from the NIH (NCATS) in partnership with Rusk and the NYU Center for Neural Science / Dept. of Psychology under Prof.Michael S. Landy.
Career.
He has been a faculty member at NYU Langone Medical Center working on and creating teams that focus on a number of research foci since 2013. These include the Visuomotor Integration Laboratory (VMIL), focused on eye-hand coordination, as it relates to acquired brain injury (ABI), the REACTIV Laboratory (Rehabilitation Engineering Alliance and Center Transforming Low Vision), focuses on advanced wearables for the sensory deprived.
His research explores how eye control intersects with hand control during eye-hand coordination after acquired brain injury (ABI) and what role vision and eye movements play in hand-focused motor recovery. Additionally, he focuses on leveraging technology to better objectify accepted clinical measures, to assist in instrumenting the medical ecosystem to improve medical science, and to create assistive technologies to help foster functional independence.
Awards.
Rizzo has won awards for his work in disability research, particularly focused on the intersection of ocular motor and manual motor control and on assistive technology. He was awarded the Crain’s 40 under 40 award in New York Business for his medical devices, including his wearable technology. In 2016, he was conferred the title of “Healthcare Re-writer” by Forbes and KPMG”. Dr. Rizzo has also been featured in a number of lay articles and also featured in videos and press releases.
In 2018, he was a highlighted speaker in NYU's TEDx “Re-Vision” Series. in which he explains his life story and how he made turned his disability into a super power through the use of assistive technology and advanced wearables. In 2018, ACRM recognized John-Ross Rizzo, for contributions to the field made during his early career work and he received the Deborah L. Wilkerson Early Career Award. He was inducted into the Susan Daniels Disability Mentoring Hall of Fame that honors those who are making a significant difference in the lives of youth and adults with disabilities through mentoring and to raise awareness (Class of 2019). He is also a recipient of the Rusk Leadership &amp; Innovation Award.
Grants and research.
Broadly, Rizzo focuses on the best innovation practices to support novel technologies in clinical applications. He has worked to quantitatively characterize accepted clinical measures and to instrument the medical ecosystem to create algorithmic approaches to care routines.
His research mission is broadly divided into two scientific domains.
The first domain is motor control and behavioral science in brain injury. He seeks to understand how eye control intersects with hand control during eye-hand coordination after acquired brain injury (ABI) and what role vision and eye movements play in motor recovery. His Team was instrumental in characterizing eye-hand dyscoordination in stroke and has worked to translate these findings to other patient populations. The research was funded by the National Institutes of Health, among other foundations and governmental sponsors.
His second domain is assistive technologies. He is designing mobility solutions for the visually impaired. Dr. Rizzo and his team have developed a new mechanical white cane that hybridizes the conventional cane with an adaptive mobility device called "DragonFly" which leverages a disparate navigation strategy that avoids the swinging and inefficiencies of current cane use, avoiding frequent musculoskeletal injuries and mitigating falls. He and his team have also developed a new advanced wearable platform that can be considered a sensory augmentative aid with omnidirectional spatial perception. This device maps the environment in three dimensions through the use of distance and ranging sensors, along with sensor fusion, and then selectively re-displays the information via a torso-mounted haptic interface, vibrating the obstacles in the user's immediate vicinity onto their abdomen spatiotopically. Audio output is also leveraged through a bone conduction headset that also contains a microphone for voice control. The research was funded by the National Science Foundation, among other foundations, corporate sponsors, and governmental agencies.
References.
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