Bernadette Gillick, PhD, MSPT, PT

Education

BA, BS, Marquette University, Milwaukee, Wisconsin
MS, Chicago Medical School, Chicago, Illinois
PhD, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota
Fellowship, Behavioral Clinical Trials, National Institutes of Health, Warrenton, Virginia

Professional Activities

Dr. Bernadette Gillick is tenured associate professor in the Division of Developmental Pediatrics and Rehabilitation Medicine. Locally, she is director of the Waisman Center Neuromodulation Laboratory and director of research design at the Institute for Clinical and Translational Research (ICTR). Nationally, Gillick serves on the Cerebral Palsy Foundation Scientific Advisory Council and on the Board of Directors for the American Academy of Cerebral Palsy and Developmental Medicine. Internationally, she is involved in the Cerebral Palsy Alliance Research Foundation Scientific Advisory Board and is a US Representative for the International Alliance for the Academies of Childhood Disability.  

An expert in pediatric stroke and early brain injury, rehabilitation, neuromodulation, and neuroplasticity, Gillick is a reviewer for the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and for over 20 peer-reviewed medical journals.  

Gillick has been honored with many awards, including the Eugene Michels New Investigator Award from the American Physical Therapy Association, the McKnight Land Grant Professorship, and the American Academy of Cerebral Palsy and Developmental Medicine Mentor of the Year Award. In addition, she has been invited to present more than 150 talks throughout North America, South America, Europe, and Asia. 

Gillick has an affiliate appointment in the College of Engineering Department of Biomedical Engineering.

Clinical Interests

Gillick directs training in neuromodulation and also mentors medical, physical therapy, graduate, post-graduate, and undergraduate trainees nationally and internationally. She is a licensed physical therapist and provides care for children and adults with neurologic diagnoses. 

Research Interests

Gillick studies novel assessment and intervention tools to advance lifelong outcomes in children who have experienced early brain injury. She pioneered a neuromodulation program integrating non-invasive brain stimulation in children with brain injury, stroke, and cerebral palsy. Gillick developed the combination of rehabilitation and non-invasive brain stimulation that has significantly improved hand function in children with cerebral palsy. Her work’s goals are to facilitate early detection and diagnosis of cerebral palsy, and to enhance rehabilitation interventions that are precisely targeted to individual development.