Fabrisia Ambrosio is a Brazilian-born physical therapist and researcher. She is the Director of Rehabilitation for UPMC International and an

associate professor Associate professor is an academic title with two principal meanings: in the North American system and that of the ''Commonwealth system''. In the ''North American system'', used in the United States and many other countries, it is a position ...

in the Department of Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation at the

University of Pittsburgh The University of Pittsburgh (Pitt) is a Commonwealth System of Higher Education, state-related research university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States. The university is composed of seventeen undergraduate and graduate schools and colle ...

. Her research focuses on developing regenerative technologies to prevent or reverse the effect of age and/or environmental exposures on stem cell and tissue function. In 2022, Ambrosio was elected a Fellow of the

American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering The American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering (AIMBE) is a non-profit organization founded in 1991, and headquartered in Washington, D.C. It represents 50,000 medical and Biomedical engineering, biomedical engineers, and academic i ...

for "outstanding contributions to the novel field of Regenerative Rehabilitation, integrating applied biophysics and cellular therapeutics to optimize tissue function."

Early life and education

Ambrosio was born and raised in

Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...

before moving to

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania, officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a U.S. state, state spanning the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern United States, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes region, Great Lakes regions o ...

as a teenager when her father became a physics professor at

Mansfield University of Pennsylvania Mansfield University of Pennsylvania is a campus of Commonwealth University of Pennsylvania, and is located in Mansfield, Pennsylvania, United States. It is part of the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education (PASSHE). The campus's total ...

. While living in

Mansfield, Pennsylvania Mansfield is a Borough (Pennsylvania), borough located in east-central Tioga County, Pennsylvania, United States, in the Tioga River (Chemung River), Tioga River valley. It is situated at the intersection of U.S. Route 6 in Pennsylvania, U.S. Rou ...

, she attended Mansfield High School. Upon graduating, Ambrosio completed her

Bachelor of Science A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, B.S., B.Sc., SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree that is awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Scienc ...

degree in biology from Mansfield University before moving to Canada for her

Master of Science A Master of Science (; abbreviated MS, M.S., MSc, M.Sc., SM, S.M., ScM or Sc.M.) is a master's degree. In contrast to the Master of Arts degree, the Master of Science degree is typically granted for studies in sciences, engineering and medici ...

at the

Université Laval (; English: ''Laval University)'' is a public research university in Quebec City, Quebec, Canada. The university traces its roots to the Séminaire de Québec, founded by François de Montmorency-Laval in 1663, making it the oldest institutio ...

. She completed her graduate degree in 1998 and returned to Pennsylvania for her Master's in physical therapy from the

Medical College of Pennsylvania Drexel University College of Medicine is the medical school of Drexel University, a private research university in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The medical school represents the consolidation of two medical schools: Hahnemann Medical College, orig ...

and Hahnemann University. Ambrosio finished her formal education with a PhD in Rehabilitation Science and Technology from the

where she focused on assistive technologies to assist patients with

multiple sclerosis Multiple sclerosis (MS) is an autoimmune disease resulting in damage to myelinthe insulating covers of nerve cellsin the brain and spinal cord. As a demyelinating disease, MS disrupts the nervous system's ability to Action potential, transmit ...

(MS).

Career

Upon completing her PhD, Ambrosio accepted a faculty position in the Department of Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation at the University of Pittsburgh (Pitt). During her early tenure at the institution, Ambrosio continued to focus on how to improve the quality of life for those with MS. In 2007, while working as an investigator at Pitt's Stem Cell Research Center, she released a study showing that those with MS who used motorized chairs had a better quality of life over those who used a manual chair. As an

assistant professor Assistant professor is an academic rank just below the rank of an associate professor used in universities or colleges, mainly in the United States, Canada, Japan, and South Korea. Overview This position is generally taken after earning a doct ...

, Ambrosio received the 2008 Foundation Research Grant to support her research into stem sells and neuromuscular electrical stimulation. Her research revealed that stem cells were sensitive to electrical stimulation, which could be manipulated to improve the outcomes of transplanting stem cells into dystrophic muscle. In 2015, Ambrosio served as the senior investigator on a study that researched how arsenic and other environmental contaminants exposures may affect stem cells and their function in adulthood. Using mice, her research team found that chronic exposure to arsenic could lead to stem cell dysfunction that impairs muscle healing and regeneration. Following this, she received two

National Institutes of Health The National Institutes of Health (NIH) is the primary agency of the United States government responsible for biomedical and public health research. It was founded in 1887 and is part of the United States Department of Health and Human Service ...

awards to study the anti-ageing effect of the protein α-Klotho and dysfunctional muscle remodeling and regeneration in environmental disease. Later that year, in December 2016, Ambrosio was named the Director of Rehabilitation for

University of Pittsburgh Medical Center UPMC is an American integrated delivery system, integrated global nonprofit health enterprise that has 100,000 employees, 40 hospitals with more than 8,000 licensed beds, 800 clinical locations including outpatient sites and doctors' offices, a ...

(UPMC) International while maintaining her rank of

in the Department of Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation. As the Director of Rehabilitation for UPMC International, Ambrosio was the co-recipient of the ''

Aging Cell ''Aging Cell'' is a peer-reviewed open access scientific journal and an official journal of the Anatomical Society. It is published on their behalf by John Wiley & Sons. It was established in 2002. Its editor-in-chief is Monty Montano (Boston OAIC) ...

's'' Best Paper Prize for 2017 for her co-authored paper "Aging of the skeletal muscle extracellular matrix drives a stem cell fibrogenic conversion." She followed this up with the discovery that α-Klotho had the ability to repair DNA damage in the

mitochondria A mitochondrion () is an organelle found in the cells of most eukaryotes, such as animals, plants and fungi. Mitochondria have a double membrane structure and use aerobic respiration to generate adenosine triphosphate (ATP), which is us ...

. Based on this discovery, she became the co-principal investigator on a project to investigate the effects of a-Klotho on those with

Alzheimer's disease Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a neurodegenerative disease and the cause of 60–70% of cases of dementia. The most common early symptom is difficulty in remembering recent events. As the disease advances, symptoms can include problems wit ...

. In the same year, Ambrosio also received the 2020 Life Sciences Award from the Carnegie Science Awards program in recognition of her scientific advances that benefit the economy, health, or societal wellbeing of the region. She was also recognized by ''Pittsburgh Business Times'' as a 2021 Women of Influence for her "pioneering research" into regenerative medicine and rehabilitation. In 2022, Ambrosio was elected a Fellow of the

for "outstanding contributions to the novel field of Regenerative Rehabilitation, integrating applied biophysics and cellular therapeutics to optimize tissue function."

Personal life

Outside of Pitt, Ambrosio and her mother established the Ambrosio Academy, a school that teaches English to disadvantaged children in Brazil. She also served as co-course director of a training course to recruit under-represented minorities and provide a hands-on introduction to research strategies and methods in bioengineering.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ambrosio, Fabrisia Living people American physiotherapists Brazilian women academics Brazilian expatriate academics in the United States University of Pittsburgh faculty University of Pittsburgh alumni Mansfield University of Pennsylvania alumni Université Laval alumni Fellows of the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering Year of birth missing (living people)