Richard Lieber, PhD, MBA, professor of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation and of Neuroscience, has received the 2023 Paul B. Magnuson Award from the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) for Outstanding Achievement in Rehabilitation Research and Development, the highest honor for VA rehabilitation investigators.
Lieber, who is also chief scientific officer and senior vice president of Shirley Ryan Ability Lab and a senior research career scientist at the Edward Hines, Jr., VA Hospital in Hines, Ill., was recognized for his commitment to returning functional capacity, mobility and quality of life to veterans with physical disabilities.
“What a thrill to receive an award named for the founder of the Shirley Ryan AbilityLab (formerly the Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago) and also the former chair of Orthopaedic Surgery at Northwestern. It feels like it’s come full circle. Paul Magnuson was an amazing innovator, and I am proud to be associated with his name,” Lieber said.
Since joining the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs Health Care System in 1982, Lieber’s work has led to major advances in the field of basic and applied muscle physiology, most notably spinal cord injury. His research has revolutionized surgical approaches to restoring hand and limb function, and has enhanced rehabilitative approaches to muscle strengthening, which have improved outcomes for veterans with spinal cord injury and other conditions such as stroke, musculoskeletal trauma and cerebral palsy.
Lieber’s research focuses on design and plasticity of skeletal muscle. He has developed surgical tools to restore arm and hand function in disabled veteran and optimize surgical muscle transfer in spinal cord-injured patients, as well as created a checklist of potential donor muscles in the wrist, forearm and hand that quantify the amount of force and excursion each donor muscle can produce.
Lieber’s most recent efforts include discovery that brain injury causing muscle contracture leads to a 70 percent decrease in muscle stem cell population, a breakthrough that has led to new pharmacologic treatments for muscle contracture.
“Over the course of his distinguished career, Lieber has consistently conducted top-notch research, especially on tetraplegia (paralysis below the neck) that directly benefits our veterans who have spinal cord injury. His career-long commitment to veterans, in addition to his many academic achievements, make him the ideal recipient for the Magnuson Award,” said Eric G. Neilson, MD, vice president for Medical Affairs and Lewis Landsberg Dean.
Lieber earned his doctorate in Biophysics from the University of California, Davis in 1983, and his MBA from the University of California, San Diego in 2013. He joined Feinberg faculty in 2014 and is also a professor of Biomedical Engineering at the McCormick School of Engineering.
Lieber has authored more than 300 peer-reviewed journal articles and has received numerous awards and honors for his work, including the Borelli Award from the American Society of Biomechanics, the Kappa Delta Award from the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons, and a lifetime achievement award from the American Academy for Cerebral Palsy and Developmental Medicine. He also holds five patents on devices for restoring limb strength and function.
The Paul B. Magnuson Award is presented annually to a VA rehabilitation research and development investigator who exemplifies the entrepreneurship, humanitarianism and dedication to veterans displayed by Dr. Magnuson during his career. The award, established in 1998 in recognition of the importance of rehabilitation research within the VA Health Care System, honors the life and legacy of Paul B. Magnuson, MD, a bone and joint surgeon who continuously sought new treatments and devices for assisting patients as they faced unique situations presented by their disability.