Post-Polio Rehabiliation

Eastern Virginia Medical School (EVMS) professor, physician, and polio survivor Sunita Dodani, MD, PhD, is Founding Director of the EVMS Healthcare Analytics and Delivery Science Institute.  Dr. Dodani earned her medical degree from the Aga Khan University Medical College in Karachi, Pakistan, where she completed her residency in family medicine and undertook training in preventive cardiology.  Later, she completed her Masters in Epidemiology and Community Health from the Dalhousie University, Halifax, Canada, followed by a PhD in chronic diseases from the University of Pittsburgh. She has served on faculty at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine and as Assistant Dean of Research at the Georgia Regents University College of Nursing in Augusta, GA.  Dr. Dodani was the Founding Director of the Center for Outcome Research and Education at the University of Kansas School of Medicine in Kansas City.  Later, with the University of Florida,  she was an Associate Professor of Cardiology at the Jacksonville campus with joint appointment at the College of Public Health and Health Professions in Gainesville.  She was an adjunct Associate Professor and research collaborator at the Mayo Clinic Department of Medicine in Jacksonville.  Dr. Dodani is a National Institutes of Health-funded researcher.  In partnership with teams from EVMS, Sentara and other institutions, she is  working to develop, test, and scale innovative new health interventions and models of cost-effective health care delivery.

In 2008, she founded the Center for Post-Polio Rehabilitation (CfPPR).  With the help of local partners, the CfPPR provides post-polio rehabilitation services free of charge in developing countries where polio is still endemic. Its mission is to empower those stricken with polio to ambulate and become independent, active citizens.  CfPPR provides polio survivors with comprehensive, holistic rehabilitation, including corrective surgery, physical therapy, orthotic/prosthetic services and home-environment remodeling services.