LaDora Thompson Named Inaugural Travis Roy Professor

Dean Chris Moore, LaDora Thompson and Travis Roy. Sargent College received a $2.5 million gift to establish the Travis M. Roy Professorship in Rehabilitation Sciences and support an ongoing partnership with the Travis Roy Foundation.
Dean Chris Moore, (from left), with Travis Roy and LaDora Thompson, the inaugural Travis M. Roy Professor in Rehabilitation Sciences.

Thompson to work with researchers, therapists

LaDora Thompson has been named the first Travis M. Roy Professor in Rehabilitation Sciences. Thompson, who arrived at BU in October from the University of Minnesota Medical School, also chairs the department of physical therapy and athletic training. She says she sees the professorship as a unique opportunity to translate basic research to clinical application—to collaborate with other scientists, students, and patients to improve the lives of people with spinal cord injuries and other disabilities.

“There are experts here at Sargent College who investigate what are the optimal tools that will assist individuals to have a greater quality of life. There are also leaders in the field of technology development for those that have disabilities,” says Thompson, a physical therapist whose current research focuses on understanding how muscles function at the cellular and molecular levels.

Read the full article in BU Today