David M. Brienza, PhD

Dr. David Brienza is Professor in the Department of Rehabilitation Science and Technology, School of Health & Rehabilitation Sciences, with a secondary appointment in the Department of Bioengineering, both at the University of Pittsburgh.  He is also the Associate Dean of Research in the School of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences. Dr. Brienza received a BS, Electrical Engineering, at the University of Notre Dame.  He received his MS and PhD, both in Electrical Engineering, at the University of Virginia. Dr. Brienza currently serves as Director of the Rehabilitation Engineering Research Center (RERC) on Wheelchair and Seating Standards. He is the former Director of the RERCs on Wheeled Mobility, Spinal Cord injury and Telerehabilitation. He has worked in the fields of telerehabilitation, wheelchair R&D, pressure ulcer prevention, and seat cushion and support surface R&D since 1987. Other activities and interests include exercise equipment, intellectual property, and personal injury law. Dr. Brienza serves on the Board of Directors of the National Pressure Ulcer Advisory Panel (NPUAP). He is a Fellow and former Board Member of the Rehabilitation and Assistive Technology Association of North America (RESNA).  He is an elected Fellow of the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering, a member of RESNA, and the Wound Ostomy Continence Nursing Society. His professional services also include service for prominent journals (i.e. Archives of Physical Medicine, Journal of Clinical Biomechanics, Journal of Biomechanics) and participation in extramural funding peer review for NIDRR, NIH, PVA, EPVA, NSF, and Department of Commerce. He is appointed as Adjunct Professor at Xi’an Jiaotong University, Xi’an, China and at Duquesne University School of Nursing. Dr. Brienza's research and development experience includes Principal Investigator of NIH R01, NIH SBIR, and PVA grants, task leader for NIDRR RERC research and development tasks, and project director for other research and development projects. View a list of Dr. Brienza’s publications here.