Jaya Rachwani, PT, MS, PhD

Dr. Rachwani was born and raised in Spain. She came to the US to obtain her PhD in 2014 under the supervision of Dr. Marjorie Woollacott, a world expert in postural control across the lifespan. She was then trained in perceptual-motor development by Dr. Karen Adolph, a renowned researcher in infant motor development.

In addition to her academic experience, she received her Physical Therapy degree in 2007 and is anEarly Intervention Provider in New York State. She specializes in pediatric care and neurorehabilitation for infants and children.

Her commitment to continuous learning and professional development has allowed Dr. Rachwani to stay abreast of the latest research and best practices in pediatric physical therapy. She has implemented evidence-based practices that have positively impacted the lives of numerous infants and children.

As an Assistant Professor of physical therapy and Director of the Movement Analysis Lab at Hunter College, Dr. Rachwani’s research interests center primarily on motor development in infants, motor control and learning, development of postural control, and coordination of manual actions across development.

Mission Statement:

To educate and provide with compassion and care. To learn, seek knowledge, and to continue growing in my professional field. To build and maintain relationships with love and respect.

• Research Design and Methods
• Motor Control & Learning
• Evidence-Based Practice in Physical Therapy
• Directed Research I, II, & III
• Pediatric Physical Therapy

• New York University (Postdoc in Developmental Psychology)
• University of Oregon (PhD in Human Physiology)
• Neuroscience Institute of Castilla & Leon (MS in Neuroscience)
• Catholic University of Murcia (MS in Neurorehabilitation)
• International University of Catalunya (MS in Pediatric Physical Therapy)
• University of Malaga (BS in Physical Therapy)

Book:

• Shumway-Cook, A., Woollacott, M. H., Rachwani, J., & Santamaria, V. (2022). Motor control: Translating research into clinical practice(6th edition). Wolters Kluwer.

Book chapters:

• Rachwani, J., Hoch, J.E., & Adolph, K. E. (2020). Action in development: Variability, flexibility, and plasticity. In C. S. Tamis-LeMonda & J. J. Lockman (Eds.). Handbook of infant development. Cambridge University Press, pp. 449-494.
• Adolph, K.E., Rachwani, J., & Hoch, J.E. (2018). Motor and physical development: Locomotion. Reference Module in Neuroscience and Biobehavioral Psychology. Elsevier. ISBN 9780128093245.

Articles:

• Delfing, D., Chin, K., Hentrich, L., Rachwani, J., Friel, K. M., Santamaria, V., Imms, C., & Gordon, A.M. (2024). Assessing engagement in rehabilitation: Development, validity, reliability, and responsiveness to change of the Rehabilitation Observation Measure of Engagement (ROME). Disability and Rehabilitation, 46(9), 1888–1897.
• Rachwani, J., Santamaria, V., Ai, X., Ahlouche, S., Caba, L., Palazzolo, A., Ramirez, J., & Agrawal, S. (2024). Infant sitting and multi-directional reaching skill. Journal of Motor Behavior, 56(2), 109-118.
• Kaplan, B., Kasaba, I., Rachwani, J., Adolph, K. E., & Tamis-LeMonda, C. (2023). How mothers help children learn to use everyday objects. Developmental Psychobiology, 65(8), e22435.
• Rachwani, J., Santamaria, V., Ai, X., Goldstone, H., Kanneth, J., Karim, N., Schulteis, J., & Agrawal, S. (2023). Dynamic sitting in infants: Limits of stability. Gait & Posture, 102, 210-215.

• Karpatkin, H., Siminovich-Blok, B., Rachwani, J., Langer, Z., Winsor, S. (2023). Effect of acupuncture on sensorimotor function and mobility in patients with multiple sclerosis: A pilot study. Journal of Integrative and Complementary Medicine, 29(1), 42-49.
• Karpatkin, H., Rachwani, J., Rhodes, R., Rodriguez, L., Rodriguez, R., Rubeo, A., & Cohen, E. (2022). The effect of intermittent vs. continuous walking on distance to fatigue in persons with multiple sclerosis. Disability and Rehabilitation, 44(26), 8429-8435.
• Kaplan, B. E., Rachwani, J., Tamis-LeMonda, C. S., & Adolph, K. E. (2022). The process of learning the designed actions of toys. Journal of Experimental Child Psychology, 221:105442.
• Rachwani, J., Herzberg, O., Kaplan, B. E., Comalli, D. M., O’Grady, S. M., & Adolph, K. E. (2022). Flexibility in Action: Development of locomotion under overhead barriers. Developmental Psychology, 58(5), 807-820.
• Rachwani, J., Kaplan, B. E., Tamis-LeMonda, C. S., & Adolph, K. E. (2021). Children’s use of everyday artifacts: Learning the hidden affordance of zipping. Developmental Psychobiology, 63(4), 793-799.
• Santamaria, V., Rachwani, J. (2020). Commentary on “Development and validity of the clinical assessment of body alignment for children with cerebral palsy”. Pediatric Physical Therapy, 32(2), 143.
• Santamaria V.*, Rachwani J.*, Saussez, G., Bleyenheuft, Y., Dutkowsky, J., Gordon A. M., & Woollacott, M. H. (2020). The seated postural & reaching control test in cerebral palsy: A validation study. Physical and Occupational Therapy in Pediatrics, 40(4), 441-469. *Joint first authors.
• Rachwani, J., Tamis-LeMonda, C. S., Karasik, L. B., Lockman, J. J., & Adolph, K. E. (2020). Learning the designed action of everyday objects. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, 149(1), 67-78.
• Hoch, J. E., Rachwani, J., & Adolph, K. E. (2020). Looking and locomotion: Real-time dynamics of locomotor exploration in crawling and walking infants. Child Development, 91(3), 1001-1020.
• Rachwani, J., Herzberg, O., Golenia, L., & Adolph, K. E. (2019). Postural, visual, and manual coordination in the development of prehension. Child Development, 90(5), 1559-1568.
• Soska, K. C., Rachwani, J., Hofsten, C., & Adolph, K. E. (2019). Infants plan prehension while pivoting. Developmental Psychobiology, 61(7), 1048-1063.
• Rachwani, J., Soska, K. C., & Adolph, K. E. (2017). Behavioral flexibility in learning to sit. Developmental Psychobiology, 59(8), 937-948.
• Santamaria, V., Rachwani, J., Manselle, W., Saavedra, S. L., & Woollacott, M. H. (2017). The impact of segmental trunk support on reaching and posture while sitting in healthy adults. Journal of Motor Behavior, 50(1), 51-64.
• Santamaria, V., Rachwani, J., Saavedra, S. L., & Woollacott, M. H. (2016). The impact of segmental trunk support on posture and reaching in children with moderate and severe cerebral palsy. Pediatric Physical Therapy, 28(3), 285-293.
• Rachwani, J., Santamaria, V., Saavedra, S. L., & Woollacott, M. H. (2015). The development of trunk control and its relation to reaching in infancy: A longitudinal study. Frontiers in Human Neuroscience, 9(94), 1-12.
• Rachwani, J., Santamaria, V., Saavedra, S. L., Wood, S., Porter, F., & Woollacott, M. H. (2013) Segmental trunk control acquisition and reaching in typically developing infants. Experimental Brain Research, 228(1), 131-139.
• Santamaria, V., & Rachwani, J. (2010). Fisioterapia en la artropatía hemofíica de rodilla. Cuestiones de Fisioterapia: Revista Universitaria de Información e Investigación en Fisioterapia, 39(1), 68-77.