
Senior Research Scientist
Jeanne M. Zanca, PhD, MPT is a Senior Research Scientist for Spinal Cord Injury (SCI) Research at Kessler Foundation and Research Associate Professor at Rutgers New Jersey Medical School. Dr. Zanca’s research focuses on secondary complications of SCI, with an emphasis on empowering interventions—programs or services that enable people with SCI and their loved ones to take the actions needed in everyday life to prevent and manage complications of SCI.
Her current research focuses on promoting self-management of chronic pain and its consequences and improving quality of personal care assistance services for people with SCI. Dr. Zanca also contributed to the development of the Rehabilitation Treatment Specification System, a theory-based system for defining rehabilitation interventions that is designed to improve clinical education, practice, and research. Dr. Zanca is a co-investigator for the Northern New Jersey Spinal Cord Injury System and an active member of the Kessler Foundation Institutional Review Board. She has successfully competed for funding from the National Institute on Disability, Independent Living, and Rehabilitation Research, Department of Defense, New Jersey Commission on Spinal Cord Research, the Craig H. Neilsen Foundation, and the Paralyzed Veterans of America.
Dr. Zanca is a leader in the American Congress of Rehabilitation Medicine, serving as Chair of the SCI Interdisciplinary Special Interest Group (SCI-ISIG), Co-Chair of the SCI-ISIG Task Force on Secondary Complications and Aging, and Chair-Elect of the Rehabilitation Treatment Specification Networking Group. She is an Associate Editor for the Journal of Spinal Cord Injury Medicine. Dr. Zanca received her Ph.D. in Rehabilitation Science and Master of Physical Therapy degree from the University of Pittsburgh, where her research work focused on pressure injury prevention and early detection. Her undergraduate degree in Biology/Psychology was completed at Rutgers University.
Dr. Zanca’s research focuses on secondary complications of spinal cord injury (SCI), with an emphasis on empowering interventions—programs or services that provide knowledge, skills, or technologies that enable people with SCI and their loved ones to take the actions needed in everyday life to prevent and manage complications of SCI.