Carly R Cooper

Carly R Cooper, PhD, serves as an Assistant Professor in the Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation at the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences School of Medicine. She concurrently holds the position of Program Director for the U.S. Army-Baylor Doctor of Occupational Therapy (DScOT) program at Brooke Army Medical Center in San Antonio, Texas, while maintaining active duty status as a Lieutenant Colonel in the U.S. Army with 15 years of clinical and leadership experience.

Her academic credentials include:

• PhD in Educational Psychology and Research, University of Kansas (2022)
• DSc in Occupational Therapy, Baylor University (2011)
• MS in Occupational Therapy, Touro University Nevada (2009)
• BS in Kinesiology, University of Nevada Las Vegas (2007)

Dr. Cooper's research integrates clinical rehabilitation with psychological measurement, specializing in traumatic brain injury recovery and fear avoidance behaviors among military personnel. Her work emphasizes developing validated assessment tools like the Military Fear Avoidance Questionnaire to address stress management gaps in operational environments. This interdisciplinary approach bridges occupational therapy, behavioral health, and military medicine to optimize rehabilitation protocols.

As DScOT Program Director, she mentors doctoral candidates in evidence-based practice while leveraging her field experience from deployments in Afghanistan. Her leadership in the Combat Stress Casualty Course has trained hundreds of military medical personnel in frontline stress intervention techniques, directly impacting force readiness and resilience programs.

Current operational responsibilities include directing the Army-Baylor DScOT program's academic-military integration and advancing musculoskeletal rehabilitation research through the Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation Department. Her career trajectory demonstrates consistent progression from clinical occupational therapy roles to academic leadership within the military health system.