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John L. Melvin, MD, MMSc (he/him/his)

ACRM Past President; Emeritus Professor and Chair
Sidney Kimmel Medical College at Thomas Jefferson University
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States

John L. Melvin, MD, MMSc is Emeritus Professor of Rehabilitation Medicine in the Department of Medicine of the Sidney Kimmel Medical College at Thomas Jefferson University. From 1998-2016, he was Michie Professor and Chair of this department. He was Vice President-Medical Affairs of MossRehab and Chairman of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation (PM&R) at the Albert Einstein Medical Center in Philadelphia from 1991-2002.

He has actively contributed to the development of programs for individuals with physical disabilities for many years through regional, national, and international organizational leadership, advocacy, teaching, research, and clinical services.

His early Ohio State University research with Ernest W. Johnson, MD led to the development of diagnostic techniques (sensory nerve conduction studies) that continue to be basic in the assessment of arm and leg nerve function. In the 1980s he and colleagues demonstrated that function is a better predictor of rehabilitation outcomes and costs than medical diagnoses. This was the basis for the development of the prospective payment system for rehabilitation hospital services implemented by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services in 2002.

He has presented more than 475 invited lectures throughout the world and published more than 245 papers, chapters, monographs, books, editorials, and abstracts.

Dr. Melvin has served as a member of 55 national and international expert advisory committees, including three of the Institute of Medicine and one of the National Research Council of the National Academy of Sciences.

He has been the President or Chairman of twelve major national and international organizations.

Dr. Melvin chaired the task force that coordinated the merger of the International Federation of PM&R and the International Rehabilitation Medicine Association into the International Society of Physical and Rehabilitation Medicine (ISPRM). He served as the first president of the ISPRM from 1999-2002.
Rehabilitation

Presentation(s):