Ahlam Salameh, PhD
CPM
Assistant Professor, Preclinical Sciences
Campus:
CPM
Biography
Dr. Ahlam I. Salameh is an Assistant Professor at the Kent State University College of Podiatric Medicine, where she teaches physiology and neuroscience and serves as course coordinator for several foundational medical science courses within the preclinical curriculum. She is also a Research Health Scientist at the VA Northeast Ohio Healthcare System. Her contributions to medical education were recognized with the 2024 Preclinical Faculty of the Year Award.
Dr. Salameh earned her PhD in Physiology and Biophysics from Case Western Reserve University, where her doctoral research investigated neuronal acid-base homeostasis and neuron-glia interactions. Following her doctoral training, she expanded her research from basic neuroscience to translational neurorehabilitation, developing expertise in motor control, gait, sensorimotor integration, and noninvasive neuromodulation. Her interdisciplinary career bridges fundamental neuroscience, clinical research, and medical education, with the goal of improving functional outcomes for individuals living with neurological conditions.
Research
Dr. Salameh's research program seeks to understand the neural mechanisms underlying human movement and to develop mechanism-based neuromodulation strategies that improve mobility and sensorimotor function across neurological and age-related conditions.
- One major focus of her work examines how the nervous system coordinates movement and how neurological injury, particularly stroke, alters corticomotor control, sensorimotor integration, gait, and functional mobility. Her research integrates neurophysiological, biomechanical, and neuroimaging approaches, including transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS), electromyography (EMG), brain connectivity analyses, gait assessment, and neurophysiological signal processing. Much of her recent work has centered on understanding lower-extremity motor control after stroke and identifying neurophysiological biomarkers associated with recovery and rehabilitation outcomes.
- A second focus of her research is the development and evaluation of neuromodulatory interventions targeting the brain, spinal cord, and peripheral nervous system. Her current studies investigate afferent-spinal sensorimotor integration, spinal stimulation, and paired peripheral-spinal neuromodulation approaches aimed at improving gait, balance, and mobility. These efforts have applications in stroke rehabilitation, healthy aging, chronic pain, and diabetic peripheral neuropathy.
Dr. Salameh has received competitive federal funding as Principal Investigator, including an NIH F32 Individual Postdoctoral Fellowship and a VA Career Development Award, and has contributed to additional NIH, VA- and Department of Defense-supported research programs. She has authored and co-authored publications in leading journals including Stroke, Brain Stimulation, Brain and Behavior, Frontiers in Physiology, Brain Sciences, Neurobiology of Disease, and The Journal of Physiology.
Education
PhD, Case Western Reserve University
MS, The University of Akron
MS, The University of Akron
Awards/Achievements
- American Society of Neurorehabilitation TIGRR Award
- American Physiological Society Gunn Student Award (finalist)
- Case Western Reserve University Graduate Student Senate Achievement Award
- Principal Investigator & Research Health Scientist
- Cleveland Functional Electrical Stimulation (FES) Center
- VA Northeast Ohio Healthcare System
