Jonathan Wood’s path into physical therapy (PT) began like many others: a high school sports injury sparked his interest in becoming a PT and working with athletes.

He earned his bachelor’s degree in health sciences, followed by a doctorate in physical therapy from Utica University (formerly Utica College) in 2014. Along the way, his career trajectory shifted.  

“During my first neuroanatomy class in my DPT program, I became fascinated by the brain and how it controls the way we think and move, and the devastating and profound effects a brain injury can have on movement,” said Wood.

After obtaining his doctorate and working for a few years in clinical settings, Wood completed a Neurologic Physical Therapy residency program at The Johns Hopkins Hospital in partnership with the University of Delaware.

“I received mentoring in research from several people at Hopkins and the faculty at UD. This experience of forming and refining research questions inspired me to pursue further research training,” said Wood.

This inspiration led him to enroll in UD’s Biomechanics and Movement Science Interdisciplinary Program, where he earned his Ph.D. in 2023. He’s now completing a postdoctoral fellowship at Jefferson Moss Rehabilitation Research Institute at Thomas Jefferson University.

This spring, Wood will return to UD as an assistant professor in the Department of Physical Therapy.

“UD has one of the best PT departments in the country,” Wood said. “It’s important to me to advance the physical therapy profession, and UDPT’s emphasis on research made the program stand out.”

Wood plans to spend his first year at UD establishing his research lab.

“I’m interested in motor learning—how people learn new movements and how neurological diseases affect that learning. I plan to test concepts from motor learning with the goal of improving rehabilitation for people with neurologic problems like stroke and Parkinson’s disease,” said Wood. “I’m excited to mentor students and drive my research forward.”

He looks forward to helping students develop strong research questions and showing them how to think critically and theoretically.

“Research is a lot of problem-solving and thinking of ways to address challenges that no one’s ever thought about or solved before,” he said. “The spirit of curiosity and enjoyment in the process is something I hope to inspire in my students.”

Wood lives with his wife and two young children in Newark. In his free time, he enjoys playing with his kids, golfing, and refining his pizza-making skills