Richard L. Lieber, PhD, oversees all research endeavors throughout the Shirley Ryan AbilityLab system of care. He joined the organization (then the Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago, or RIC) in March 2014, bringing an extensive research focus on the science and physiology of skeletal muscle. Dr. Lieber is the established expert in the field, both nationally and internationally, and is a pioneer in conducting translational research — primarily in patients with spinal cord injury and children with cerebral palsy.
Dr. Lieber, along with Chief Medical Officer James Sliwa, DO, is responsible for implementing the “Research Accelerator Program” — a novel translational approach embedded in the Shirley Ryan AbilityLab medical and research enterprise, and for demonstrating its tangible and cultural progress. To date, Drs. Lieber and Sliwa have enabled translational research with both scientists and nearly 200 non-research staff across the hospital.
Dr. Lieber also led the design of Shirley Ryan AbilityLab’s Biologics Lab, in which studies of living human cells, tissues and fluids are used to solve human problems, particularly in the context of rehabilitation and recovery. The lab’s state-0f-the-art equipment allows scientists to monitor living cells as they perform testing of various types. Shirley Ryan AbilityLab’s Biologics Lab is the only one in the world placed in a rehabilitation setting and brings together biologists, physiologists, stem-cell biologists and molecular biologists — all sharing ideas and expertise, and speeding discoveries.
As Chief Scientific Officer, Dr. Lieber oversees the work of more than 200 researchers. Under his leadership, Shirley Ryan AbilityLab has more than 150 research studies and clinical trials under way, all of which will benefit its patient populations. The grant portfolio managed by Dr. Lieber comprises more than $152 million and spans major agencies such as National Institutes of Health, Department of Veterans Affairs, Department of Defense, and National Institute on Disability, Independent Living, and Rehabilitation Research.
Dr. Lieber’s specific area of expertise is studying the design and plasticity of skeletal muscle. Currently, he is developing state-of-the-art technical and biological approaches to understanding and solving painful and debilitating muscle contractures that result from cerebral palsy, stroke and spinal cord injury.
He has published more than 350 articles in scientific journals, from the more fundamental journals such as Biophysical Journal and the Journal of Cell Biology to the more applied-science publications such as the Journal of Hand Surgery, Clinical Orthopedics and Related Research, and Archives of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation. Over the span of his career, Dr. Lieber has won numerous prestigious awards, among them: Paul B. Magnuson Award from the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs for Outstanding Achievement in Rehabilitation Research and Development, 2023; Elsass Foundation Research Prize in Cerebral Palsy, 2023; Fellow, American Institute of Medical and Biological Engineering (AIMBE), 2019; Kappa Delta Award, American Academy of Orthopedic Surgeons, 2013; Giovanni Borelli Award, American Society of Biomechanics, 2007; The Göteborg University Medal, Sahlgrenska University Hospital, 2007; Fulbright Scholarship (Sweden), 2007; and Kappa Delta Young Investigator Award, American Academy of Orthopedic Surgeons, 1994.
Dr. Lieber’s laboratory has been supported by the National Institutes of Health in both investigator-initiated grants, as well as center grants, for more than 40 years. He is a Senior Research Career Scientist in the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, where he receives support from the Rehabilitation Engineering Research and Development service. He is also a Professor of Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation, Biomedical Engineering and Neuroscience at Northwestern University.
Prior to joining Shirley Ryan AbilityLab, Dr. Lieber was Professor and Vice Chairman of the Department of Orthopedic Surgery at the University of California, San Diego (UCSD), and Principal Investigator of the San Diego Skeletal Muscle Research Center — an NIH-funded center designed to leverage muscle expertise on behalf of patients in the San Diego community. He earned his doctorate in Biophysics, with a minor in Electrical Engineering, from the University of California, Davis, where he also earned a BS in Physiology. He earned his MBA from the Rady School of Management at UCSD.
