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Senior Scientist, Adjunct Professor
Carolinas Rehabilitation/ Wake Forest School of Medicine
Dr. Mark Hirsch is a movement scientist, born and raised in Germany, and currently Professor, Department of Orthopedic Surgery and Rehabilitation, Wake Forest School of Medicine in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, and Senior Scientist at Carolinas Rehabilitation, Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Charlotte, NC. Hirsch is the Director of the Department of PM&R Residency Research Education Program and directs the Parkinson's lab at Carolinas Rehabilitation. In 1996 (at age 30) he was awarded a PhD titled "Activity-dependent enhancement of balance in persons with Parkinson’s disease following strength and balance training" from Florida State University. He completed an NIH T32 fellowship in neurorehabilitation research at Johns Hopkins Hospital, Department of PM&R, with Professor Barbara De Lateur (96-99) and advanced training in movement disorders at Dusseldorf University, Department of Neurology (mentored by Professor Heinrich Hefter) (2000). Dr. Hirsch has made seminal scientific contributions in the area of exercise and Parkinson’s disease, which has provided great insights into the importance of exercise and physical activity promotion as a clinical first line treatment for Parkinson’s disease. Dr. Hirsch is also known for his pioneering work in the area of Parkinson patient/provider /scientist collaboration. In 2007, using elements of the Dutch ParkinsonNet, he co-developed with Dr. Sanjay Iyer, the Parkinsonnetwork in Charlotte NC, which received funding from the Park Foundation in 2011 and became known as RENEW Carolinas Parkinson Initiative. RENEW has won awards including the Ray of Hope Award for outstanding clinical care and research from the Parkinson Association of the Carolinas. He works with doctors and therapists who want to give patients more control in their care, and he promotes cooperation in the health care system. He calls the system he envisions participatory healthcare. His work on physical activity promotion and brain neurotrophins has been critical in the field of neurorehabilitation. Dr. Hirsch is co-chair of the ACRM Committee on Diversity, Equity and Inclusion and has contributed to several ACRM diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives. One example, in 2017, the ACRM Neurodegenerative Diseases Networking Group implemented a special symposium – the Women in Rehabilitation Science Symposium - honoring the scholarly contributions of women in rehabilitation science (presented annually in its 7th season) at the ACRM National Conference Progress in Rehabilitation Research). Additionally, in 2017 Dr. Hirsch and the NDNG Awards Task Force members developed the ACRM-level “Women in Rehabilitation Science Award” honoring research and scholarship accomplishments of women in rehabilitation science. This award was approved by the Board of Governors in 2017 and given for the first time in 2018 and each year thereafter in recognition of world-class rehabilitation research conducted by a female scientist.