For Sonia Khurana, PT, PhD, assistant professor in the Ellmer College of Health Sciences' Doctor of Physical Therapy program, research begins with a single, grounding question: Why?
“Everybody has some kind of WHY that carries them,” she says. For Dr. Khurana, that passion comes from a personal place. Growing up with a younger brother who has a neurodevelopmental disability shaped her perspective early. She saw how physical, emotional, and social challenges ripple through a child’s life and into their family’s, and she wanted to do something about it.
Today, Dr. Khurana leads studies that explore motor development in children with autism. She looks at how routine movements like walking, sitting, standing can reflect brain activity and help shape interventions that improve quality of life. But for her, the research is never just data points and outcomes. It’s about real children and families. It’s about asking better questions so more kids can thrive.
That mindset is what led her to partner with medical student Kaitlin Hardy on a research study evaluating the benefits of an adaptive gymnastics program for children with autism. Hardy had been running the program since 2019. Dr. Khurana helped shape it into a clinical research project, guiding a team of student investigators through data collection and methodology. While the study results are still being analyzed, the impact is already visible. Children are more engaged. Families are hopeful. There’s a waiting list.
Dr. Khurana emphasizes that the program was not her creation, but the collaboration reflects something she sees often at 鶹: a research culture fueled by passion, purpose, and partnerships. This environment has allowed Dr. Khurana to expand her work in new directions. She’s leading a systematic review of sports-based interventions for children with autism and launching a new project through the EVMS Summer Scholars Program to study screen time, playfulness, and physical activity in early childhood.
In the classroom, she brings that same energy to future physical therapists. She teaches research methods as part of the DPT curriculum, encouraging students to be curious, to ask questions, and to see science as something that lives inside their clinical work—not separate from it.
鶹’s designation as an R1 institution has helped fuel this momentum, but Dr. Khurana says it’s the people who make the difference. “I think I get to be here at the most exciting time! 鶹 is expanding and always has new opportunities for researchers," she said. "There's a lot of collegiality and interdisciplinary work, and a lot of collaboration between faculty and students."
At 鶹, that spirit of curiosity and collaboration is creating space for faculty and students alike to turn their questions, their "why," into discoveries.