Saint Joseph's University presents the 26th Annual Patricia Leahy Memorial Seminar:

The Next Era of Neurorehabilitation: AI, Robotics, and the Power of the Therapist

September 24, 2026 at 5:00 - 8:00 PM 

Location: 3rd floor of IPEX, 773 S 43rd St. at Woodland Avenue, Philadelphia, PA 19104

Patricia (Patti) Leahy, MS, PT, NCS, died on October 9, 1995, of breast cancer at the age of 39. She was an assistant professor in the Department of Physical Therapy at University of the Sciences in Philadelphia from 1987 to 1995. Her areas of specialization were in teaching rehabilitation and neuroscience.

Professor Leahy was an active member of the American Physical Therapy Association and the Neurology Section. She was largely responsible for transforming the Neurology Report from a section newsletter into a recognized journal. Patti was one of the first three physical therapists to receive specialist certification in neurology and was a member of the Neurologic Specialty Council.

Before her death, Patti established a scholarship fund to financially assist PT students during clinical education. She felt that it was important to enable students to expand their horizons by seeking clinical sites outside of the Philadelphia area. The annual Patricia Leahy Memorial Lecture serves to add monies to this fund and to honor the memory of Professor Leahy. The evening will consist of two things that Patti enjoyed—learning and a social event!

Speaker: Alwyn Johnson, Biomechanist, Cofounder, CEO, and Principal Investigator of Recupero Robotics LLC and Rochelle Mendonca, PhD, OTR/L, FAOTA, FNAP, Assistant Professor of Rehabilitation and Regenerative Medicine, Columbia University Prior to co-founding Recupero, Alwyn was CTO and a Principal Investigator at startups in Colorado, where he led the development of 3D printed prostheses, modular prosthetic sockets, and reconfigurable trunk exoskeletons. Alwyn has coordinated projects from blue sky to verification and validation, and multi-national commercial introduction. He has co-authored peer reviewed scientific papers, and holds patents related to exoskeletons, upper limb prostheses and rehabilitation robotics. He has served as Chair and Standing Panel Member on NIH Center for Scientific Review SBIR Panels. He is a Mechanical Engineer alumnus of University of Wisconsin – Madison and Temple University.

Rochelle Mendonca is an Assistant Professor and Director of Doctoral Programs in Occupational Therapy at Columbia University, New York, NY, USA. She received her BS in Occupational Therapy from Seth G.S. Medical College and her MS in Occupational Therapy and PhD in Health Sciences from University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. Dr. Mendonca has also worked as an occupational therapist for over 20 years in pediatrics, home care, long-term care, and neurological rehabilitation. Her research interests and funding include disability and technology, accessibility, robotic rehabilitation and assistive technologies, home safety, and aging in place. She is a member of the American Occupational Therapy Association, RESNA (Rehabilitation Engineering Society of North America), the New York State Occupational Therapy Association (NYSOTA), the World Federation of Occupational Therapists (WFOT), and the All-India Occupational Therapists’ Association (AIOTA).

Contact Hours: 2.5 CEUs (PA, DE, NJ)

Registration is $55 for SJU/USci/PCPS alumni, students, teaching assistants and clinical instructors. $70 for all other attendees.