Dr. Tate is a Professor in Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation (PM&R) and the coordinator for the Brazil Platform for Global Reach, at the University of Michigan Medical School. Currently, the Tate SCI Lab includes several research projects in spinal cord injury and spinal cord disease (SCI/D). Her recent and past research funding includes the U.S. Department of Defense Spinal Cord Research Program (SCIRP), the National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research (NIDILRR), The Craig H. Neilsen Foundation, National Institutes of Health/National Institute of Child Health, and Human Development/National Center for Medical Research (NIH/NICHD/NCMRR), Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and others.
Her research focuses on psychological adaptation, decision making and wellness after injury and quality of life outcomes. She served as the Director and Principal Investigator (PI) of the University of Michigan SCI Model System (UM-SCIMS) from 1995 until 2016. Most recently, she conducted a study examining the effects of neurogenic bladder and bowel complications on quality of life after SCI.
Nationally, she served as a member of the Executive Board of the American Spinal Injury Association (ASIA) and the American Congress of Rehabilitation Research (ACRM) and as a member of the Advisory Board of the National Center for Medical Rehabilitation Research at NCMRR/ NIH. Programmatic board assignments included those of the Craig H Neilsen Foundation Psychosocial Research Program and the Department of Defense Congressionally Directed Research Program for SCIRP. As a grant reviewer, she served as Chair and member of study sections for the NIH, AHRQ and of other federal organizations funding SCI research. In 1998, she was appointed as a member of the Evaluation of Veterans Disability Benefits taskforce of the Institute of Medicine (IOM). Most of her international research and collaborations with other centers focuses on research and clinical care of persons with SCI/D around the world. Recently, she served as the co- chair of the quality-of-life taskforce of the International Spinal Cord Society (ISCoS) and currently is a member of this society and of the European Spinal Psychologists Association (ESPA). With a team of collaborators and staff, Dr. Tate has worked with many investigators at the University of Michigan as well as national and international colleagues.
