Global Partners for Rehabilitation (GPFR)

Meet the Team

Our Mission:

Provide access to physical rehabilitation services for people living with a disability by supporting the education and training of caregivers within their local communities worldwide.

Vision:

Our vision is a world where every individual has access to quality physical rehabilitation services and a future that allows them to reach their fullest potential and live productive lives. 

Our Values

Respect: We respect the dignity and worth of every individual.

Equity and Inclusion: We ensure that everyone, regardless of background or circumstances, has access to the rehabilitation care they need.

Collaboration: We collaborate and build working relationships with local communities, government agencies, and organizations.

Education: We promote education and training that empowers caregivers to deliver effective rehabilitation services.

Stewardship: We operate with transparency and accountability to ensure resources are used efficiently and effectively to maximize impact.

Sustainability: We develop and support sustainable workforces capable of meeting ongoing local needs on a global basis.

Meet the Team

Julia To Dutka, EdD
PRESIDENT

Richard Oliver, Ph.D., FASAHP
TREASURER

Bruce M. Gans, MD
SECRETARY

John Ferraro
BOARD MEMBER

Peter Preziosi, PhD, RN, CAE
BOARD MEMBER

Mooyeon Oh-Park, MD MHCM
BOARD MEMBER

Robin Hedeman, OT, MHA
BOARD MEMBER

Margaret A. Turk, MD
BOARD MEMBER

Peter W. Thomas, J.D
BOARD MEMBER

Timothy L. Vidale, PT, DPT, MBA, CSOMT, CSCS
BOARD MEMBER

Kathleen Yosko PhD, RN, LNHA
BOARD MEMBER

Contact Us

info@gpfr.org

Interested in Supporting Our Mission?

Julia To Dutka, EdD

Julia To Dutka, Chief Global Health Workforce Development Institute at CGFNS International, brings an extensive background as a leader and assessment strategist in higher education, healthcare, and non-profit organizations. Julia provides CGFNS with strategic guidance and expertise across its assessment activities. As Executive Director of the TOEFL® program at Educational Testing Service (ETS), she guided its transformation with measurement and technology capabilities leading to the current TOEFL iBT®, which continues to set the global standard for English language assessment. From 2016 to 2018, Julia was chairperson of the National Association of Credential Evaluation Services (NACES), after serving for four years as chair of its strategic planning committee. Coming from an interdisciplinary background between linguistics and cognitive psychology, she has served as a professor, dean, and associate provost and is widely published in the field of education, regulation, credential assessment and certification, and language teaching and testing, as well as global labor mobility. She holds a bachelor’s degree from Hong Kong University and a Master of Arts, Master of Education, and a Doctor of Education, all from Columbia University. She is CITI certified for social and behavioral science research.

Born and raised in Hong Kong, Julia has lived the life of a PLD – person living with disability – with a childhood illness that compromised her musculoskeletal integrity and left her visibly disabled. She has devoted her life and her work to giving back to the global community of health workers and to bringing the message of hope and empowerment to others who may find strength in her story.

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Bruce M. Gans, MD

Bruce M. Gans, MD is Professor of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation at Rutgers New Jersey Medical School. In addition, he is Senior Health Policy Advisor for Powers Law in Washington, DC. He is also the Chief Policy Officer of the American Medical Rehabilitation Providers Association (AMRPA), the trade association representing the rehabilitation hospital industry. He serves as a Trustee of Industrial Logistics Properties Trust (ILPT), a real estate investment trust that owns and manages industrial properties throughout the United States. He is a Life Director of the Foundation for Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, a charitable organization that promotes the field of PM&R.

Dr. Gans served as the President of the American Academy of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation (AAPM&R) in 2005. He served as Vice Chairman and Treasurer of the American Board of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation. He is a past President of the Association of Academic Physiatrists, past Chairman of the Governing Council of the American Hospital Association (AHA) Section for Rehabilitation Hospitals and Programs, past Chair of the Health Policy and Legislation Committee of the AAPM&R, and past Chair of the Injury Prevention Grant Review Committee for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta, Georgia.

Gans received his M.D. degree from the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine in Philadelphia and an MS in Biomedical Electronic Engineering from the Moore School of Engineering at the University of Pennsylvania. He also holds an MS degree from the University of Washington. He served his medical internship at the Philadelphia General Hospital and residency in Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation at the University of Washington, Seattle. Dr. Gans received his BS degree in electrical engineering from Union College, Schenectady, New York.

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Peter Preziosi, PhD, RN, CAE

Peter Preziosi is a leader in the global effort to strengthen health systems by improving career development and mobility for health workers. Recently appointed President and Chief Executive Officer of CGFNS International, the world’s largest credentials evaluation organization for the nursing and allied health professions, he is working to revitalize its leadership in developing and implementing credentialing solutions for a globalizing health workforce.

Prior to joining CGFNS in January 2023, Dr. Preziosi led quality, standards development and credentialing at the World Health Organization’s initiative to build a technology-driven global learning center, the WHO Academy, with a goal of upskilling millions of health workers worldwide.

After beginning his career as a registered nurse, Dr. Preziosi has spent nearly three decades in high-profile positions at corporations, government agencies and nonprofits. His work has included leading strategic innovation, partnership-building and healthcare reform initiatives for national and international organizations including Verizon’s healthcare innovation incubator, Concentrix Corporation, the Association for Healthcare Documentation Integrity, Planned Parenthood Federation of America, the National League for Nursing and the AMDEC Foundation, a New York-based biomedical research consortium. He also worked for the City of New York’s Health and Hospital Corporation and he directed the Mayor’s Office of Medicaid Managed Care.

Dr. Preziosi holds a PhD in health policy and a master’s degree in government administration from the University of Pennsylvania, as well as a master’s in education from Columbia University’s Teachers College. His bachelor’s degree in nursing is from Florida State University. He currently serves on the Board of Directors of SONSIEL, a society of nurse scientists, innovators and entrepreneurs, and is a member of the American Society of Association Executives, where he is a Certified Association Executive.

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Margaret A. Turk, MD

Margaret A. Turk, MD is State University of New York (SUNY) Distinguished Service Professor of Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation (PMR), Pediatrics, and Public Health & Preventive Medicine at SUNY Upstate Medical University and Vice Chairman of SUNY Upstate Medical University Department of PMR. Among her clinical contributions are establishing the PMR Pediatric Rehabilitation Medicine clinical program, the spasticity and tone management program, and the brain injury rehabilitation program spanning the continuum from concussion to severe brain injury. As a medical educator, she has promoted integrating disability education within medical school curricula, locally and nationally. The Disability Integration Toolkit is a product of these efforts (https://www.upstate.edu/pmr/education/toolkit/index.php). Educational contributions globally include over twenty years of visiting professorships and invited participation in promoting rehabilitation in China through educational meetings nationally, regionally, and locally. SUNY Upstate Department of PMR also has hosted over 70 Chinese PMR physicians as visiting scholars. Dr. Turk’s research is focused on life-long disability, health care accessibility issues, and differences and disparities in health/health care for people with disability including peer-reviewed articles and book chapters on the topics. She has been federally funded to explore disability and health concepts and has provided expertise as a member of a National Institutes of Health (NIH) funded project’s Data and Safety Monitoring Board, an NIH working group determining Rehabilitation Common Data Elements for funded research, and as a consultant for the National Council on Disability. Other professional service contributions include leadership in the field on professional organization committees and specifically on the American Board of Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation, also serving as Chair. She has also contributed to national/international reports on disability, rehabilitation services, health promotion, and disability research. Dr. Turk is a founding and present Co-Editor-in-Chief of Disability and Health Journal. Within New York State (NYS), she co-chairs the advisory group for the NYS Department of Health Disability and Health Program, serves on AccessCNY’s Board (a community board that supports person-centered services for people with disability), and is a member of the newly formed NYS Office for People with Developmental Disabilities (OPWDD) Medical Taskforce to enhance quality services and patient safety for people served through NYS OPWDD programs. She has received numerous awards over the years for her contributions.

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Peter W. Thomas, J.D

Peter Thomas is Managing Partner at Powers Pyles Sutter & Verville, PC, a Washington, DC-based law and lobbying firm that focuses on healthcare, education and the law of tribal nations. He has a federal law and legislative practice in the areas of healthcare and disability policy; Medicare coverage and reimbursement policy; access to medical rehabilitation services; coverage, coding and payment of orthotics, prosthetics, and assistive devices and technologies; and appropriations and policy advocacy involving rehabilitation and disability research and development. Peter has served on the President’s Advisory Commission on Consumer Protection and Quality in the Health Care Industry, the National Advisory Board for the National Center for Medical Rehabilitation Research (NCMRR) at NIH, the National Advisory Council of the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ), and the Institute of Medicine’s Committee on Improving the Disability Decision Process. He also serves as a Co-Principal Investigator for a PCORI-funded research project on peer support for trauma survivors. Peter has also served on a number of non-profit boards including the Foundation for Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, the American Trauma Society, the Viscardi Center, the Commission on Accreditation of Rehabilitation Facilities (CARF), and the Center for International Rehabilitation/Physicians Against Land Mines. Peter recently joined the board of a new international rehabilitation organization known as Global Partners for Rehabilitation. He speaks nationally and internationally on rehabilitation and disability issues, routinely presents at national association meetings, and authors multiple articles in various publications annually. Peter served as Co-Chair of the Health Task Force of the Consortium for Constituents with Disabilities (CCD) for over 30 years and is general counsel to the National Association for the Advancement of Orthotics and Prosthetics (NAAOP) as well as counsel to the Orthotic and Prosthetic Alliance. Peter has used two prosthetic legs since age 10 and is a co-author of The Americans with Disabilities Act: A Guidebook for Management and People with Disabilities. He graduated from Georgetown University Law Center in 1989, Boston College in 1986, and is licensed to practice law in New York State and the District of Columbia.

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Timothy L. Vidale, PT, DPT, MBA, CSOMT, CSCS

Dr. Tim Vidale is the CEO of Momentous Sports Medicine. He currently serves as a Physical Therapist for the Baltimore Ravens and was formerly the Physical Therapist and Assistant Rehab Coordinator for the Minnesota Twins. He was featured in Forbes magazine as one of the top 1000 Entrepreneurs of 2021.

Dr. Vidale is a graduate of Florida A&M University where he was a hurdler and decathlete on the track and field team. Dr. Vidale went on to attain his Doctorate of Physical Therapy from Rutgers University. Following graduation, Dr. Vidale relocated to Washington, D.C. where he earned his MBA from George Washington University. He completed his Sports Physical Therapy fellowship (FAAOMPT) at the Institute for Athlete Regeneration. Prior to that he served as an Assistant Professor in the Doctor of Physical Therapy program at Howard University. He was the Head Physical Therapist for the DC Slayers and DC Furies Rugby clubs from 2012-2016 and served Team USA as a Physical Therapist at the 2015 Pan American Games in Toronto, Canada with the United States Olympic Committee. He also served as the Physical Therapist for USA Softball National team.

Dr. Vidale is a published author, with publications in internationally distributed textbooks and scholarly journals and is also a content reviewer for the International Journal of Sports Physical Therapy. Dr. Vidale specializes in treating sports and orthopedic injuries. He sits on the State Board of Physical Therapy for Washington, DC, and currently serves as on the Nominating Committee for the American Academy of Sports Physical Therapy(AASPT). Dr. Vidale is also the chairman of the Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Committee and serves on the Practice Committee in the AASPT, and is also involved in the American Physical Therapy Association, American College of Sports Medicine and the Private Practice Section. He resides in Washington, DC.

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