Minneapolis VA Health Care System Research Service
RECOVER Clinical Research Team
RECOVER Staff: Leadership | Affiliated Investigators | Clinical & Rehabilitation | Engineering & Design | Administration & Support | Collaborators
Juan E. Cave II, MSPO, CPO
Research Prosthetist Orthotist, RECOVER Center, Minneapolis VA Health Care System
Juan is a Certified Prosthetist-Orthotist and is the Advanced Research Prosthetist-Orthotist and Clinical Motion Analysis Lab Supervisor with RECOVER. Juan, originally from Southern New Jersey, has a Biomedical Engineering degree from the Georgia Institute of Technology and a master’s degree in Prosthetics and Orthotics from California State University, Dominguez Hills. Juan has over ten years of clinical experience in direct patient care and four years of Prosthetic-Orthotic research experience. He is the vice-president of a non-profit adaptive sports organization. His career interests are focused on helping patients who do not believe they will walk again return to an active life.
Amber Wacek, PT, DPT, ATP
Research Physical Therapist, RECOVER Center, Minneapolis VA Health Care System
Amber is the research physical therapist with RECOVER. She has 15 years of experience with outpatient and inpatient rehabilitation of neurological diagnoses with a focus on wheeled mobility and seating. She is a board-certified clinical specialist in neurological physical therapy, and an assistive technology professional. Her research and clinical interests are focused on improving seating and wheeled mobility outcomes for users, and maximizing participation for those who use wheeled mobility.
Emily Zoltai, MSPO, CPO
Research Prosthetist Orthotist, RECOVER Center, Minneapolis VA Health Care System
Emily grew up right here in Minnesota with a strong passion for art and science. From a young age she liked being outdoors, drawing and making things by hand. She attended college at the University of Oregon, where she graduated with a degree in Human Physiology and Special Education. It was in Oregon that she discovered her love for adaptive sports - learning to climb and ski in the mountains. After she graduated in 2013, she traveled to South America to learn more about providing prosthetic care to low resource populations. When she returned, she completed both a Technical and Master’s degree in Prosthetics and Orthotics and Century College/Concordia University. After completing her schooling, she did her residency at Scheck and Siress in Chicago, IL. When she returned to Minnesota in 2022, she began working with Ukrainian soldiers, which led to her prosthetic work caring for veterans. She now works as a research Prosthetist Orthotist where she can share her passions of adaptive design and prosthetic innovation with a fabulous interdisciplinary team in RECOVER!
Nicole R. Walker, PhD, CPO
Research Prosthetist Orthotist, RECOVER Center, Minneapolis VA Health Care System
Grants Management Specialist, Research Service, Minneapolis VA Health Care System
Nicole is a Research Prosthetist Orthotist in RECOVER. Originally from Colorado, she earned her BS in Health and Exercise Science from Colorado State University in 2015 and MS in Orthotics and Prosthetics from Baylor College of Medicine in 2018. She completed her PhD in Rehabilitation Science at the University of Minnesota in 2025. Her graduate research focused on the experiences and needs of prosthesis users, including the development and implementation of technologies aimed at serving women Veterans with amputations. Nicole is excited to work in RECOVER and the opportunity to be involved in translating research findings to clinical practice to improve outcomes for patients!
Kierra J. Falbo, MPO, CPO
Research Prosthetist Orthotist, RECOVER Center, Minneapolis VA Health Care System
PhD Candidate, Rehabilitation Science, University of Minnesota
Kierra earned her Bachelor’s degree in Biomedical Engineering from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and her Master’s degree in Prosthetics and Orthotics from Northwestern University. She completed her clinical residency in orthotics at the University of Michigan and her clinical residency in prosthetics at the University of Washington. Kierra has been a Research Prosthetist Orthotist with RECOVER since 2020, and she is also a doctoral candidate in Rehabilitation Science at the University of Minnesota. Her research focuses on amputation care, prosthetics, and rehabilitation, with particular interests in phantom limb pain and personalized medicine.
Myrriah Laine Dyreson, MSPO, CPO
Research Prosthetist Orthotist, RECOVER Center, Minneapolis VA Health Care System
Myrriah earned an undergraduate degree in biomedical engineering from the University of Minnesota. She went on to get a Masters in Orthotics and Prosthetics from Concordia University, St. Paul. Her clinical residency was completed at Tillges Orthotic Prosthetic in the Twin Cities. Myrriah is now a Research Prosthetist Orthotist for RECOVER and has been with the VA since 2019. She is also a PhD student in Rehabilitation Science at the University of Minnesota. Her research interests revolve around conducting studies with translatable results that can directly equip care teams with the evidence needed to develop personalized treatment plans that optimize overall health and well-being for those with lower limb loss.
Alexandria M. Lloyd, MS
Amputation Research Facilitator, RECOVER Center, Minneapolis VA Health Care System
Alex earned an undergraduate degree in Exercise Science from Southeast Missouri University (2016) and graduate degree in Biomechanics from Ball State University (2019). Alex has worked at the VA since 2019 as a research study coordinator. Her research interests include the design, development, and implementation of lower limb prosthetic components.
John Belew, PhD, RN
SCID Research Facilitator, RECOVER Center, Minneapolis VA Health Care System
John has worked as a registered nurse in rehabilitation in a variety of settings since 1992. His PhD is in nursing. He works on a variety of RECOVER projects, mostly focused on topics related to spinal cord injuries and disorders.
Katherine Metcalf, MS, LPCC
Clinical Research Therapist, RECOVER Center, Minneapolis VA Health Care System
Katie grew up in the Twin Cities and completed her undergraduate degree through the University of Wisconsin Stevens Point in 2013. After a year off to gain experience, Katie completed her Master’s degree in Mental Health Counseling through Minnesota State University Mankato in 2016. Katie previously worked within the community, providing services for clients who were involved in the legal system before moving to the VA and providing clinical care as a portion of Project MARCH.
Tamara Vos-Draper, PhD, OTR/L, ATP, SMS
Mixed Methods Specialist, RECOVER Center, Minneapolis VA Health Care System
Health Science Specialist, Minneapolis VA Health Care System
Tammy is a mixed methods researcher on the RECOVER team. She joined RECOVER in May 2024, has been an occupational therapist (OT) for 30 years (BA, 1993, St. Catherine's University) and has a degree in rehabilitation science from the University of Minnesota (PhD, 2018). She's from southwest Minnesota originally but enjoyed living in Kentucky early in her OT career. In her OT role at Mayo Clinic (2001-2018), Tammy enjoyed designing practical devices and strategies for people with spinal cord and other injuries or disorders to help them do the things that were most meaningful to them. She brings this thoughtful and resourceful approach to RECOVER and is passionate about helping the center pursue design and development of practical devices and conduct research about how the devices impact Veterans' daily lives and their ability to do the things they most care about.
Alexandra (Soleil) Bell, BFA, MS
Human Factors and Ergonomics Researcher, RECOVER Center, Minneapolis VA Health Care System
Soleil has a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Industrial Design (RISD, 2015), and Master of Science in Human Factors and Ergonomics (University of Minnesota, 2020). After befriending a Veteran with an above knee amputation at the gym, she began to wonder why his prosthesis, a device inherently designed to help him move, was constantly being removed during workouts due to it ‘getting in the way’. It is this same curiosity that has compelled her to begin work at the VA in 2019 to help design and develop inventions at the benefit of our Veterans and VA clinicians. Soleil manages the Technology Transfer Assistance Program for Minneapolis (VA-MADE TTAP), functions as a Human Factors and Ergonomics researcher, and has been a study coordinator within RECOVER.
Madeline Czeck, PhD
Health Science Specialist, RECOVER Center, Minneapolis VA Health Care System
Madeline is an Exercise Physiologist and earned degrees in Kinesiology from the University of Minnesota (BS, MS, PhD in 2023). Madeline joined the RECOVER team in 2024 as a Postdoctoral Fellow. Her research focuses on understanding goals and motives, increasing access, and decreasing barriers to participation and engagement in sport and physical activity.
Anna Toth, BAN, RN, MSN, NP
Nurse Researcher, RECOVER Center, Minneapolis VA Health Care System
Nurse Practitioner, SCI/D Center, Minneapolis VA Health Care System
Hannele Nicholson, PhD
Research Study Coordinator, RECOVER Center, Minneapolis VA Health Care System
Hannele was born and raised in Minneapolis, Minnesota. She has found that life follows an interesting, winding path. She has a BA, an M.Phil, and PhD in Linguistics that she earned from the Universities of Minnesota, Oxford University, and the University of Edinburgh, respectively. After spending six years in the U.K, she and her husband move back to Minnesota where Hannele spent some time teaching Linguistics at Cornell and Ohio State University. She completed a post-doc at Notre Dame University in 2011 but ultimately decided to pursue degree in Speech-Language pathology because she wanted to help people with communication difficulties develop strategies for effective communication. She joined the Minneapolis VA as a research coordinator in 2016 to work on a multisite grant between VA Pittsburgh and Minneapolis VA to develop a patient-reported outcome measure for people living with aphasia and in 2020 to work on a separate grant to improving anomia testing conditions by using item response theory. Since 2023, Hannele has also been a part of a team of GRECC researchers who seek to improve medical record documentation of caregiver information. Hannele joins the RECOVER team excited to improve the lives of Veterans living with lower limb loss in innovative ways that improve their daily lives. Outside of work she has two children, a husband, and a menagerie of resident and foster dogs, cats, and reptiles that keep her busy. She enjoys traveling, reading, walking, and exploring to see where life will lead.
Katharyn (Katie) Cristan, MPH
Research Study Coordinator, RECOVER Center, Minneapolis VA Health Care System
Katie pursued her undergraduate degree in Psychology from College of St. Benedict and her graduate degree in Public Health and Community Health Promotion from the University of Minnesota – Twin Cities. Katie has worked at the Minneapolis VA since 2021. Her research interests include development and evaluation of technological home-based pain programs to improve health outcomes and quality of life for Veterans with amputations and Veterans with spinal cord injuries and disorders.
Nicole Schaumann, MS
Research Study Coordinator, RECOVER Center, Minneapolis VA Health Care System
Nicole was born and raised in Minnesota. In high school she learned about the field of prosthetics in a Mentorship class, through which she found the RECOVER group at the Minneapolis VA. This class allowed her to shadow with Dr. Looft as the Motion Analysis Lab was being created. Following this interest, she completed her degree in Biomedical Engineering at the University of Minnesota Twin Cities. During her summers she continued to volunteer in the Motion Analysis Lab at the Minneapolis VA. Nicole also completed her Masters in Rehabilitation Science at the University of Minnesota. Since graduating she has continued to work in the Motion Analysis Lab with RECOVER and remains interested in the field of prosthetics and orthotics, along with a growing interest in adaptive sports.
Miranda Johnson, BS
Research Assistant, RECOVER Center, Minneapolis VA Health Care System
Miranda spent her childhood in Australia, where her parents ignited her curiosity and love for knowledge. When Miranda was 14, her family made the big move to Utah. Miranda majored in Neuroscience and Psychology at Brigham Young University in Provo. During her studies, she jumped into several research positions. For two years, she enjoyed working as a laboratory technologist, where she extracted and sequenced DNA and RNA from various plants, insects, fish, and mammals. She then landed a research assistant role in the Non-Human Primate Laboratory studying Rhesus Macaques as a model for human development and joined Health Behaviors Research Group focusing on Type 1 Diabetes and its effects on the brain. By the end of 2024, she was excited to take on a new challenge as a Research Coordinator at the Minneapolis VA. In her current role, she’s involved in several amazing projects, and she mainly focuses on studies about kinematic measures and treatment outcomes for patients with Parkinson’s Disease and Hydrocephalus.
Zekiel Branstad, MS
Research Assistant, RECOVER Center, Minneapolis VA Health Care System
Zekiel holds a master’s degree from the University of Minnesota in Rehabilitation Science and an undergraduate degree in Biomedical Engineering from the University of Iowa. His current work focuses on developing mobile devices to increase independence for those with spinal cord injuries. In addition, he also works alongside research study coordinators in the motion analysis laboratory.
Chay'La Hart
Research Study Coordinator, RECOVER Center, Minneapolis VA Health Care System
Agnes Jensen, MPH
Engagement Facilitator, RECOVER Center, Minneapolis VA Health Care System
Agnes is from Detroit, Michigan and grew up in a family of many Veterans. She holds a BS in Economics from the US Naval Academy and an MPH from the University of Minnesota. She served six years as a Navy supply officer (at sea and ashore) before discharging to pursue a career in government service. She has been working with fellow Veterans and the VA since 2004, working on research studies in the areas of chronic pain management, family caregiving, and mental health. Within the RECOVER center, Agnes plans and facilitate Veteran and Caregiver Engagement Panel meetings, helping to incorporate the veteran voice into RECOVER's work.
Erin Amundson, MPH
Engagement Facilitator, RECOVER Center, Minneapolis VA Health Care System
Health Science Specialist, CCDOR, Minneapolis VA Health Care System
