Behdad Tahayori, PT, PhD

Dr. Tahayori was born and raised in Iran and earned his Master’s degree in Physical Therapy from Iran University of Medical Sciences in Tehran. He completed his PhD in Kinesiology and Neuroscience at Indiana University Bloomington, where he studied spinal plasticity and inhibitory mechanisms in the spinal cord using noninvasive electrophysiological techniques to improve motor function in individuals with CNS disorders.

He completed post‑doctoral training at the City University of New York, focusing on restoring reciprocal lower‑extremity activation in patients with partial spinal cord injury, followed by a second post‑doctoral fellowship in Biomedical Engineering at Florida International University. There, he worked with animal models to investigate spinal cord plasticity using invasive techniques that may inform new treatments for CNS injuries.

As a licensed physical therapist actively involved in patient care, Dr. Tahayori is committed to translational research that connects experimental neuroscience with clinical practice. He holds a patent for a novel training method for individuals recovering from cerebrovascular accidents and has published more than ten peer‑reviewed papers. He is also a recipient of a prestigious American Heart Association Fellowship. His research focuses on the neuromechanics of movement, with particular emphasis on spinal control of human motor function.