Good Shepherd Rehabilitation and Lehigh University have joined forces to advance the research and development capabilities of both organizations and offer better treatments to people with disabilities.

The 10-year partnership was announced Friday morning, in a joint news conference at Good Shepherd’s Rehabilitation Hospital in Upper Saucon Township. As part of the partnership, Juan Aceros, an associate professor of bioengineering at Lehigh, and Shirin Madarshahian, an assistant professor of biostatistics and health data science at Lehigh, were appointed as research scientists at Good Shepherd in July.

Emily Lyter, administrative director of Good Shepherd Learns, Creates and Researches, said the idea for this partnership came about in 2023 when Matthew Mattern, director of partner engagement, corporate and foundation relations at Lehigh’s College of Health, saw her speak at an event. She said they ended up talking and the rest fell into place.

The advantages of partnering for both organizations became apparent early on. Both organizations seek to use and create new technologies that would advance the future of rehabilitation through joint research opportunities, tools and technology that help the lives of people with disabilities. But each faced limitations.

“I really like to think of health care and the community is like a circle. While people come in to have care in one of our facilities, they then go out into the world and they live in the community,” Lyter said. “For health care, our goal in rehabilitation is to improve people’s lives outside in the community. And with the collaboration with Lehigh, we are able to impact that world where previously we were not. Additionally, their expertise allows us to create things that solve some of our problems that previously were unsolvable.”

In turn, Lehigh’s researchers are able to get a direct connection to patients that their technologies seek to help.

This is not Good Shepherd’s first time partnering with a local university to further advance its technological goals. One of the key plans Good Shepherd had for its state-of-the-art Center Valley hospital was a 3D printing, automation and wearable artificial intelligence lab, and that was made possible in part by teaming with Moravian University.

This Lehigh University partnership goes even further, Lyter said. She said one example of this is the joint hiring of Aceros and Madarshahian between the two organizations, allowing that bridge between research and clinical care to coexist easily. Another aspect is that the technology Good Shepherd develops with Lehigh will mean further expanding the clinical trials Good Shepherd can offer to patients.

“The results of those studies will build new evidence that improves care. So, down the road, the improvement of care our patients in Lehigh Valley will really be the first because this is where it’s developed,” Lyter said.

However, she added, patients will have to wait a little bit longer as pilot studies won’t start until the new year.

To give a taste of what Good Shepherd and Lehigh hope to accomplish, tools and technology under development through the partnership were put on display.

One piece of technology on display was the “Go Baby Go”, a child-sized electric toy car custom-designed by Aceros that allows small children with disabilities to drive around and explore their environment.

“A kiddo who previously may have trouble moving around, or they’re unable to independently move around, they see this really fun, exciting toy. They get on the toy and now they’re doing things that actually may have therapeutic benefits, such as improving their ability to interact with the world, allowing them to engage with their siblings or family, in ways that they weren’t able to previously, and because it’s a cool toy, they’re interested in it,” Lyter said.

“There’s a lot to gain from getting kids to interact with things that are fun and also helpful for their recovery or development. I’m an adult physical therapist. I can tell an adult to raise their arm 10 times. I cannot tell a kid to do that. It has to be fun and interactive.”

Another bit of tech showcased at the news conference were wearable muscle sensors that help clinicians track the treatment of people with dysphagia, a condition where people have difficulty swallowing.

Dysphagia affects more than 9 million adults in the U.S. each year. It is usually caused by the weakening of muscles and nerves of the neck and throat, said Dhurv Seshadri, assistant professor of bioengineering.

To show off the sensors, Charles Rulon, a Lehigh student pursuing a master’s of bioengineering, wore them on his neck while Hayley Whitney, who is pursuing a doctoral degree of bioengineering, recorded the data. Seshadri said the idea is to collect data from people who are able to swallow food normally and compare that to data collected from people with dysphagia.

Whitney added that they are even measuring the differences seen in swallowing different types of foods. The goal of this research is to be used to design wearable technology that will provide small shocks to the muscles that allow swallowing to help relieve the problems caused by dysphagia. Seshadri added that another goal is to make less expensive but still high-quality versions of these sensors that can be distributed to other parts of the world with less buying power.

“Ultimately, the data, the analytics that we’re providing from our studies, will be used for clinical decision-making to see what is the severity of swallowing,” Seshadri said. “Are patients improving with the treatments and therapies that are going on here at Good Shepherd? This is a classic example where data science and innovation at Lehigh translates directly into the clinic at Good Shepherd to help patients.”

https://www.mcall.com/2025/09/20/good-shepherd-rehab-lehigh-university-partnership/