Pediatric Rehabilitation Medicine Faculty

Program Director, Pediatric Rehabilitation Medicine

Clinical Assistant Professor, Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation

Dr. Tim Krater's MM Bio

Dr. Krater focuses his clinical care on caring for and improving quality of life of individuals with functional limitations. His philosophy for medical care is to guide patients to develop the skills and supports to access their communities, to build a life within their communities, and to live as independently as possible.

Associate Program Director, Pediatric Rehabilitation Medicine

Clinical Assistant Professor, Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation

Pediatric Clinical Faculty

Dr. Jessica Pruente MM Bio

Jessica Pruente, MD attended medical school at Michigan State University, College of Human Medicine, and completed her residency training in PM&R at the University of Colorado in 2016. She also completed a Pediatric Rehabilitation Medicine fellowship at the Shirley Ryan AbilityLab (formerly Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago) in 2018. She is the program director for the PRM fellowship.

Dr. Pruente’s clinical responsibilities include outpatient rehabilitation management of children with Cerebral Palsy, Spina Bifida, and other neurologic or musculoskeletal conditions affecting development. She is the PMR lead for the multi-disciplinary myelomeningocele program and the Medical Director of the Infant Initiative to improve early identification and management of Cerebral Palsy. She also provides pediatric PMR care through an outreach clinic in Marquette Michigan. Her research interests include the early identification of Cerebral Palsy and early intervention to improve functional outcomes.

Previous Program Director, Pediatric Rehabilitation Medicine

Clinical Professor, Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation

Dr. Rita Ayyangar MM Bio

Rita Ayyangar, MD developed several Pediatric Rehabilitation programs at the University of Michigan including the Pediatric Rehabilitation Medicine Fellowship Program, and the intrathecal baclofen program. She was also instrumental in developing the injection under sedation program for botulinum toxin and phenol injections and initiating the use of US guidance for injections in the pediatric population. She has a particular affinity for the management of children with complex needs and is currently actively involved in the Pediatric Palliative Care Service, and is board certified in Hospice and Palliative Medicine (as well as pediatrics, PM&R, and pediatric rehabilitation medicine.) She has served on the AAPM&R Board of Governors as well as several academy committees. She was Vice Chair and Chair of the Council for Pediatric Rehabilitation/Developmental Disabilities and received the 2015 AAPM&R Out-standing Council Service Award. Dr. Ayyangar has made national and international presentations on topics related to spasticity management and cerebral palsy and has received several honors including recognition as one of the Best Doctors in America as a pediatric specialist in 2013, 2014 and 2015, 18 and 2019 by US News and World Report.

Clinical Assistant Professor, Department of Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation

Pediatric Clinical Faculty

Dr. Angeline Bowman MM Bio

Angeline Bowman, MD completed her PM&R residency at Detroit Medical Center—Rehabilitation Institute of Michigan and subsequently her pediatric rehabilitation fellowship at the University of Michigan in 2019.

Her clinical responsibilities include holding joint clinics with the department of orthopedic surgery, ITB management, spasticity management through phenol and toxin injections, and general pediatric PMR clinics. She is also the PMR lead of the Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy Clinic.

Clinical Assistant Professor, Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation

Educational Faculty Lead,  Pediatric Rehabilitation Medicine

Medical Director, Pediatric Inpatient Rehabilitation

Dr.  Alecia Daunter MM Bio

Alecia Daunter, MD is an Assistant Professor of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation. She has lived in Michigan all of her life, and completed her medical degree, residency, and pediatric rehabilitation fellowship training at the University-ty of Michigan. She is board certified in Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation. She joined the Michigan Medicine faculty in 2018.

She is the medical director for inpatient pediatric rehabilitation services and staffs the pediatric inpatient/consult service six months out of the year. In the outpatient setting, she has general pediatric rehabilitation clinics at the Pediatric Rehabilitation Center, as well as specialty clinics in pediatric oncology and spinal muscular atrophy. Dr. Daunter also coordinates resident education in pediatric PM&R.

Clinical Professor, Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation

Medical Director, Pediatric Rehabilitation Clinics

Adult and Pediatric Clinical Faculty

Dr. Joseph Hornyak MM Bio

Joseph Hornyak, MD, PhD is Medical Director of Outpatient Pediatric Rehabilitation Services. He serves on the Evidence Based Practice Committee, and chairs the Evidence Committee, for the AAPM&R.  He is actively involved in medical education, serving on the steering committee of the UM Academy of Medical Educators  His teaching has been recognized with departmental (Silver Crutch x 4), medical school (inaugural League of Educational Excellence) and university (Provost’s Teaching Innovation Prize) awards.

Dr. Hornyak taught the medical portion of the Team-Based Clinical Decision Making course, the first course offered at UM for Inter-professional Education. He frequently serves on graduate student committees in the UM School of Kinesiology as well. Clinically, Dr. Hornyak practices pediatric and adult PMR. Since joining UM, he has been key in the development of multi-disciplinary care clinics for children and adults with neuromuscular diseases.

James W. Rae Collegiate Professor & Chair

Associate Chair of Education

Dr. Edward Hurvitz MM Bio

Edward A. Hurvitz is a Professor in the Department of Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation at the University of Michigan. He specializes in the diagnosis and management of pediatric onset disabilities, especially cerebral palsy (CP) through the lifespan. His research focuses on adolescents and adults, including areas such as health and fitness, health-related outcomes, and transition to adulthood. Dr. Hurvitz served as James W. Rae Collegiate Professor and Chair of the Department of Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation from 2006 until early 2024 . Prior to that, he was the Chief of the Rehabilitation Service at the Ann Arbor VA Medical Center between 1991 and 1996. He also served as co-PI for the department’s former T32 rehabilitation research training program. His clinical and academic focus has been on individuals with cerebral palsy and other brain-related syndromes that start in the childhood years, including adolescents and adults. His current work focuses on body composition and fitness in children and adults with cerebral palsy, as well as overall health and function in adults with cerebral palsy. 

Active Emeritus Professor, Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation

Adult and Pediatric Clinical Faculty

Dr. Virginia Nelson MM Bio

Virginia Nelson, MD is a Professor Emerita with over 40 years of direct patient experience with clinical rehabilitation of children and adults with a wide variety of disorders, including brachial plexus lesions, cerebral palsy, and peripheral nerve lesions,. She has served on the Board of Directors (BoD) of the AACPDM, secretary of the BoD of AACPDM, chairman of the Pediatric Special Interest Group of AAPMR. Her research includes a variety of topics related to childhood onset disabilities as documented in the following representative publications drawn from a list of approximately 50 peer-reviewed publications. As co-Investigator on several university- and NIH-funded grants, she has worked closely with Dr. Brown and Dr. Yang in supporting many research endeavors.