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Allen Heinmann, PhD, director of the Center for Rehabilitation Outcomes Research (CROR) at Shirley Ryan AbilityLab, has been named the 2025 Faculty Mentor of the Year by the Northwestern University Medical Faculty Council.
Heinemann, who is also professor of physical medicine and rehabilitation in the Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, has mentored dozens of graduate and medical students, post-doctoral fellows, residents and early career scientists over the course of his 43-year career. Many of his mentees have gone on to become leaders in rehabilitation psychology, rehabilitation measurement and rehabilitation-focused health services research.
“The criteria that faculty and scientists get graded on typically are their grant writing and grant getting success, and their publications,” says Heinemann. “Those are certainly very valuable, but I think a more important and lasting legacy is the people you train and the skills they develop and the success they have that endures.”
Heinemann credits several mentors for shaping his interests in social and rehabilitation psychology. At Washington State University, he took a class with Milton Rokeach, author of The Nature of Human Values (1973). At the University of Kansas, his primary mentor was Beatrice Wright, known for her work in rehabilitation psychology and her book, Physical Disability – A Psychological Approach (1983). A seminar with Benjamin Wright, who advanced the Rasch Measurement Model, deepened Heinemann’s interest in psychometrics. Later, Deborah Wilkerson, former president of the American Congress of Rehabilitation Medicine, mentored him in organizational leadership and service quality.
“These mentors were all very generous with their time and interested in supporting the next generation of scientist-scholars,” Heinemann says.
His own role as a mentor first took shape while he was at the Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago (RIC), now known as Shirley Ryan AbilityLab. He joined RIC in 1985 as assistant director of the rehabilitation services evaluation unit, the program that became CROR.
In the late 1990s, Heinemann became aware of Advanced Rehabilitation Research Training (ARRT) grants, funded by the National Institute on Disability, Independent Living and Rehabilitation Research. The grants included support for post-doctoral fellows. Heinemann applied for his first ARRT grant in 1998 and secured continuous five-year fellowship grants since. “The ARRT grant really launched the beginning of my formal mentoring activities, allowing me to mentor fellows engaged in research both at Northwestern University and RIC.”
Heerak Choi, PhD, a current ARRT fellow in the Center for Education and Health Sciences at Northwestern University, focuses on how self-stigma affects people with disabilities. She is mentored by Heinemann as well as Northwestern University faculty members Aaron Kaat, PhD, associate professor of medical social sciences and Lucy Bilaver, PhD, associate professor of pediatrics. Choi also works on a CROR project that seeks to identify facilitators and barriers to employment for people with physical disabilities.
“Dr. Heinemann’s expertise in the rehabilitation of individuals with disabilities and his guidance on research development and implementation have been instrumental in enhancing my knowledge and critical thinking skills,” says Choi. “As a dedicated mentor, Dr. Heinemann always helps his mentees recognize their potential by both challenging and supporting us. Working with him has motivated me to become a well-rounded professional by developing skills and cultivating knowledge and compassion toward individuals with disabilities.
Heinemann also co-leads a collaborative mentoring program at Shirley Ryan AbilityLab with Miriam Rafferty, PT, DPT, PhD, director of implementation science, for early career scientists that is managed by the Center for Smart Use of Technologies to Assess Real World Outcomes (C-STAR). C-STAR provides expertise, instruction and mentorship on the use of technology in the rehabilitation field. Alex Wong, PhD, assistant director of CROR, was mentored by Heinemann through C-STAR. He received a C-STAR grant to develop cognitive performance tests that can be administered via a smartphone app to provide clinicians with a real-time understanding of a patient’s neurocognitive status and recovery.
“Allen's mentorship has been instrumental in shaping my journey in health services and outcomes research during my postdoc training,” says Wong. “His guidance not only laid a strong foundation for my work in the new C-STAR digital measurement research, but also steered my career development in medical rehabilitation research. I am deeply grateful for his unwavering support and insightful direction throughout my career.”
Heinemann also participates in the University of Colorado’s NIH-funded annual Training in Grantsmanship for Rehabilitation Research (TIGRR) program, supported by the University of Colorado and the Shepherd Center. Potential mentees submit applications to participate in the four-day workshops that offer emerging rehabilitation researchers expertise and support in grantsmanship.
Heinemann earned his undergraduate degree in psychology from Washington State University and his master’s and doctoral degrees in clinical psychology at the University of Kansas with a specialty focus in rehabilitation. He completed an internship at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston and then accepted an assistant professor position in the department of psychology at the Illinois Institute of Technology.
In addition to his role as a researcher, administrator and mentor at Shirley Ryan AbilityLab, Heinemann is a fellow and past-president of the American Congress of Rehabilitation Medicine and serves as co-editor-in-chief of its journal, Archives of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation. He is a past president of the Rehabilitation Psychology Division of the American Psychological Association, and a diplomate in Rehabilitation Psychology (ABPP). He serves on the editorial boards of the Journal of Head Trauma Rehabilitation and Rehabilitation Psychology. He is the recipient of the APA Division 22 Roger Barker Distinguished Career Award. He also serves on the Standing Committee of Medical and Vocational Experts for the Social Security Administration's Disability Programs.