Stephen J. Page



Stephen J. Page is an American biomedical researcher, scholar, clinician, professional speaker, and science educator known for his research on motor recovery and neurorehabilitation after stroke. Page developed stroke interventions such as modified constraint-induced movement therapy and applications of mental practice in neurorehabilitation, including the first application of mental practice to stroke survivors to increase neuroplasticity Page has authored scientific research articles about topics such as electrical stimulation, myoelectrics, outcome measurement, and neuromodulation. He has held academic appointments at The Ohio State University Medical Center and The University of Cincinnati College of Medicine.

A 2017 study in The American Journal of Occupational Therapy named Stephen J. Page the most-cited author in occupational therapy from 1991 to 2014.

Education
Before earning a PhD in motor learning and control from The University of Tennessee in 1998, Page earned a Bachelor of Arts in 1993 from The College of Wooster and a Master of Science in exercise science from Ball State University in 1995.

Page completed a multidisciplinary post-doctoral fellowship in rehabilitation research at The Kessler Institute for Rehabilitation, where he subsequently worked as a clinical research scientist from 2000-2002. 

In 2012, Page earned a postdoctoral Master's of Occupational Therapy (MOT) from The University of Findlay.

Academic career
Stephen J. Page has authored or co-authored more than 130 scholarly journal articles, book chapters, and monographs. According to Google Scholar, his research articles have been cited by 10,842 publications.

Page began his academic career at the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine's Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation from 2002 to 2011 as an associate professor in Rehabilitation Sciences and Neurosciences and Director of the Neuromotor Recovery and Rehabilitation Laboratory.

From 2011 to 2020, Stephen Page was on the occupational therapy faculty at Ohio State University at the Wexner Medical Center's School of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences, where he created and co-directed the Ohio Neurorehabilitation Academy and also directed the Better Rehabilitation and Assessment for Improved Neuro-recovery (B.R.A.I.N.) Laboratory.

Professional Career in Stroke Rehabilitation and Health Communication
Beyond his academic career, Stephen Page is a practitioner and educator in treating strokes through neurorehabilitation.

A Licensed Occupational Therapist in the State of Ohio, Page received certification in Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS) and Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation (tDCS) from Harvard Medical School and the National Center for Neuromodulation in Rehabilitation at the Medical University of South Carolina. Page has advocated the usage of these technologies in the neurorehabilitation of patients following strokes, traumatic brain injuries, spinal cord injuries, focal hand dystonia, and neuropathic pain.

In 2012, Page co-founded the Certified Stroke Rehabilitation Specialist program, the sole stroke rehabilitation certification program for physical and occupational therapists, offered by Neurorecovery Unlimited, LLC, in conjunction with the American Stroke Association.

Page served as a health/medical communications team leader for The National Stroke Association from 2012 to 2018.

Since leaving academia in 2020, Page has worked as an independent biomedical communicator, professional speaker, and stroke rehabilitation educator as President of Neurorecovery Unlimited, LLC, to train clinicians globally. He remains affiliated with academic research as an invited editor and manuscript reviewer for many scholarly journals in his field.

Selected Honors and Awards

 * Fellow, The American Heart Association
 * Fellow, The American Occupational Therapy Association
 * Fellow, The American Congress of Rehabilitation Medicine
 * Fellow, Research Consortium, The American Alliance for Health, Physical Education, and Recreation
 * Distinguished Member Award, The American Congress of Rehabilitation Medicine
 * Deborah Wilkerson Award (inaugural recipient), The American Congress of Rehabilitation Medicine

Selected publications

 * Page, S. J., Levine, P., & Leonard, A. (2007). Mental practice in chronic stroke: results of a randomized, placebo-controlled trial. Stroke, 38(4), 1293–1297. (Cited 617 times)
 * Page, S. J., Fulk, G. D., & Boyne, P. (2012). Clinically important differences for the upper-extremity Fugl-Meyer Scale in people with minimal to moderate impairment due to chronic stroke. Physical Therapy, 92(6), 791–798. (Cited 600 times)
 * Page, S. J., Levine, P., Sisto, S., & Johnston, M. V. (2001). A randomized efficacy and feasibility study of imagery in acute stroke. Clinical Rehabilitation, 15(3), 233–240. (Cited 502 times)
 * Page, S. J., Sisto, S., Levine, P., & McGrath, R. E. (2004). Efficacy of modified constraint-induced movement therapy in chronic stroke: a single-blinded randomized controlled trial. Archives of physical medicine and rehabilitation, 85(1), 14–18. (Cited 470 times)
 * Page, Stephen J; Levine, Peter; Leonard, Anthony; Szaflarski, Jerzy P; Kissela, Brett M (2008-03-01). Modified Constraint-Induced Therapy in Chronic Stroke: Results of a Single-Blinded Randomized Controlled Trial. Physical Therapy. 88(3): 333–340 (Cited 265 times)
 * Page, Stephen J.; Szaflarski, Jerzy P.; Eliassen, James C.; Pan, Hai; Cramer, Steven C. (May 2009). Cortical Plasticity Following Motor Skill Learning During Mental Practice in Stroke. Neurorehabilitation and Neural Repair. 23(4): 382–388 (Cited 261 times)
 * Wilson, Richard D.; Page, Stephen J.; Delahanty, Michael; Knutson, Jayme S.; Gunzler, Douglas; Sheffler, Lynne; Chae, John (November 2016). Upper Limb Recovery after Stroke: A randomized, controlled trial comparing EMG-triggered, cyclic, and sensory electrical stimulation. Neurorehabilitation and Neural Repair. 30(10): 978–987 (Cited 85 times)
 * Page, Stephen J.; Griffin, Christine; White, Susan (2020). Efficacy of Myoelectric Bracing in Moderately Impaired Stroke: A Randomized, Controlled Trial. Journal of Rehabilitation Medicine. 52(2) (Cited 13 times)