Dr. Heather Ross earned a Bachelor of Arts in Exercise and Sport Science from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, a Master of Physical Therapy from East Carolina University, and a Ph.D. in Anatomy and Neurobiology from Virginia Commonwealth University. She received post-doctoral training in the Department of Anatomy and Cell Biology and McKnight Brain Institute at the University of Florida. She is a 2019 graduate of the APTA Fellowship in Higher Education Leadership. Dr. Ross served as a K12 Rehabilitation Research Career Development Program Scholar (2009-2012) and full-time faculty member (2009-2015) in the University of Florida’s Physical Therapy Department. Her primary research focus was neural stem cell biology, applications to rehabilitation, and neurological recovery and repair. She has been a member of the Brenau DPT faculty since 2015, served as program director and chair since 2018, and was appointed as assistant dean of the Ivester College of Health Sciences in 2022.
Dr. Ross has practiced in the acute, subacute and outpatient settings, serving primarily patients with neurological diagnoses. She has been active in leadership roles at the institutional, state and national levels. She is the founding chair of the Brenau University Faculty Leadership Team, a shared governance body, and currently serves as a board member for the Georgia Physical Therapy Political Action Committee as well as the American Council of Academic Physical Therapy.