Administrative Staff

Steve Kautz, Ph.D.
Core Director
kautz@musc.edu
843-792-3867

Dr. Kautz designed and equipped the individual laboratories that constitute the Quantitative Behavioral Assessment & Rehabilitation (QBAR) Core shortly after his recruitment to MUSC in 2010. Dr. Kautz designed and directed a similarly organized laboratory at the VA Brain Rehabilitation Research Center in Gainesville, FL for six years and has a history of funding with direct relevance to behavioral assessment and rehabilitation. Over the past 12 years, he has been Principal Investigator (or Co-Principal Investigator) of 16 different awards in stroke rehabilitation totaling more than $7 million, relatively evenly split between the NIH and the VA. He is well-published and widely recognized as an expert in applying biomechanical and neurophysiological principles to understand the coordination of movement in persons with post-stroke hemiparesis. His research combines theoretical and experimental studies of the control of movement, functional biomechanics, and clinical neurorehabilitation with the goal of improving function in persons with neurological disorders. He has nearly 20 years of experience in measuring motor performance related to neuromuscular control (nearly all in persons after stroke or healthy control subjects) and has published more than 70 peer-reviewed articles.

Dr. Kautz also mentors faculty through his role as director of QBAR. He has substantial experience in mentoring junior faculty, having served as primary mentor for five Assistant Professors who have been awarded VA Career Development Awards (mentoring all five in quantitative behavioral analyses in stroke rehabilitation research). In total, he has served as a mentor on 17 mentored grants for junior faculty, either NIH K awards or VA Career Development Awards, with a majority of the mentees (12) pursuing stroke rehabilitation research.

Randal Davis, MBA
Director, Strategic Research Initiatives
davisra@musc.edu
843-792-9789

Mr. Davis is a member of the Stroke Recovery Research Center (SRRC) Executive Committee and is the Center’s Evaluation Director. Additionally, he serves as the College’s Director of Strategic Research Initiatives. He has a high level of proficiency with a broad range of general and specialized software tools for grant and project management and has extensive experience as a project/administrative officer on various multi-year municipal, state, and federal grants with emphasis on team science across multiple public/private institutions.

Kelly Krajeck
Program Manager
krajeck@musc.edu
843-792-0189

Kelly is the Manager of Research Operations for the Stroke Recovery Research Center (SRRC). She directs and manages program design as well as overseeing day-to-day research activity. Kelly received her Master’s in Heath Administration from MUSC in 2019 and has been working in various research related roles within the University for almost 10 years.

LuAnne O'Connor
Grants Administrator
harleylu@musc.edu
843-792-3320

Ms. O'Connor is responsible for business management and administration of the Administrative Core of the SRRC. Specifically, she is responsible for post-award financial management, including handling budgetary/personnel allocations, monitoring spending, and preparing financial reports. She is also responsible for ensuring that all activities are in compliance with Federal, State, Institutional, and award-specific regulations and requirements.

Alyssa Chesnutt
Research Physical Therapist Assistant
hydar@musc.edu
843-792-8171

Mrs. Chesnutt is a research physical therapist assistant who works on many of the lower extremity research studies at the SRRC. In addition to assisting with research recruitment and data collection, Mrs. Chesnutt plays a large role in the community outreach efforts by leading several SRRC-supported annual events, facilitating the Young Stroke Survivor Support Group, and sharing information about the SRRC to area clinicians and stroke survivors.

Chris Schachte, IT Coordinator
schachtc@musc.edu
843-792-0800

Mr. Schachte is the Information Technology Coordinator for the Center, acting primarily as the Webmaster. Please feel free to contact him with any questions regarding the content or presentation of the website and information technology of the Stroke Recovery Research Center.