David R. Gater, Jr., M.D., Ph.D., M.S.

Professor and Chair and Spinal Cord Injury Fellowship Director, Department of Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation

Medical Director of Rehabilitation, Jackson Memorial Hospital

Co-Director, NIDILRR South Florida Spinal Cord Injury Model System

Biography

Dr. Gater is the Professor and Chair of Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine as well as the Spinal Cord Injury Fellowship Program Director and the Medical Director of Rehabilitation at Jackson Memorial Hospital.

He obtained a B.S. in General Biology (1982), M.S. in Exercise and Sports Sciences (1985), Ph.D. in Physiology (1990), and M.D. (1992) from the University of Arizona in Tucson, Arizona. Dr. Gater completed an Internal Medicine internship at the U of Arizona and Affiliated Hospitals (1993), and PM&R residency training (1996) at the UC Davis Medical Center in Sacramento, California. Dr. Gater has board-certifications in PM&R, Electrodiagnostic Medicine and the subspecialty of Spinal Cord Injury Medicine.

Dr. Gater has completed Research Career Development Awards with both VHA and NIH, and has mentored many undergraduate, graduate and medical students, resident physicians, fellows and junior faculty. He has received several teaching, research and clinical awards, and is a passionate lecturer. He is currently President of the American Paraplegia Society, President-Elect of the Academy of Spinal Cord Injury Professionals and has published more than 100 manuscripts in peer-reviewed journals.

Research Interests

Dr. Gater’s research emphasizes the effects of diet and exercise training on energy metabolism, glucose and lipid metabolism, obesity/body composition, cardiovascular fitness, neuroplasticity and functional outcomes in Spinal Cord Injury, and he has been funded by NIH, NIDRR, AHA, PVA SCRF, CH Neilsen Foundation and the VHA.

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