Anna Rangos Rizakus Endowed Chair in Health Sciences and Ethics

David L. Somers, Ph.D., PT

Dr. Somers was appointedas the second holder of the Rangos Rizakus Chair in July 2009.

Somers, chairman of the physical therapy department in the Rangos School of Health Sciences since July 2008, was previously assistant director of the department and a founding director of the graduate program in rehabilitation science at Duquesne. His research has focused on pain and electrical nerve stimulation in physical therapy.

Before arriving at Duquesne in 1993, Somers served as assistant professor and academic coordinator of clinical education at the Medical University of South Carolina’s College of Health Related Professions. He was previously a staff physical therapist at Physical Rehabilitation Services in Charleston, S.C., as well as at Woodrow Wilson Rehabilitation Center in Fisherville, Va.

Somers was a postdoctoral fellow in molecular neuroscience at the Medical University of South Carolina, where he received his doctoral, master’s and bachelor’s degrees.

His research has been published in the Journal of Pain, Physical Therapy, Archives of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Neuroscience Letters and Neuroscience for Rehabilitation.

Endowed through a gift from John Rangos Sr., in memory of his mother, the Rangos Rizakus Chair is spearheading the University's expanded initiatives in health sciences ethics.