Theresa Hayes Cruz, Ph.D.
Theresa Hayes Cruz, Ph.D., a biomedical engineer, is the Director of the National Center for Medical Rehabilitation Research (NCMRR) at the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development. Through basic, translational, and clinical research, NCMRR fosters the development of scientific knowledge needed to enhance the health, productivity, independence, and quality-of-life of people with physical disabilities. As Director of NCMRR, Dr. Cruz leads the development of the NIH Research Plan on Rehabilitation and NIH Rehabilitation Research Conference every five years. She is also the chair of the Medical Rehabilitation Coordinating Committee and the co-chair of the Disability Health Research Coordinating Committee. She represents NIH on various federal committees, including the Interagency Committee on Disability Research. In addition to her duties at NCMRR, Dr. Cruz is the NICHD Coordinating Team member and a former team lead in the NIH Brain Research through Advancing Innovative Neurotechnologies® (BRAIN) Initiative co-managing a grant portfolio in the areas of neurotechnology development, validation, and translation.
Dr. Cruz joined NIH in 2009 as a program analyst. In 2015, Dr. Cruz performed a research detail at the Functional and Applied Biomechanics Laboratory in the Rehabilitation Medicine Department of the NIH Clinical Center. In late 2016, she returned fulltime to NCMRR in the role of program officer where she began an early career researcher program in rehabilitation. In 2020, Dr. Cruz was named the Director of NCMRR.
Dr. Cruz received her bachelor's degree in biomedical engineering with highest honors from the School of Engineering at Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey. She received her master's and doctoral degrees in biomedical engineering from Northwestern University. Her previous research at the Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago focused on motor control and gait impairments of the lower limb following stroke.
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