Virtual Seminar Speaker Series with
​Dr. Mary Barbe, PhD

​Manual Therapy Treatments in an Animal Model of Repetitive Strain Injuries: Prevention Easy/Reversal Difficult
Monday, March 16, 2026  |  8am PT, 11am ET
Zoom link: ​https://virginia.zoom.us/j/5573285696
Dr. Mary Barbe is a classically trained Anatomist with expertise in Neurobiology/ Neuroscience and Musculoskeletal Biology with international recognition. She has 35 years of experience examining various aspects of peripheral and central neuroplasticity, ranging from changes occurring in the bladder (i.e., peripheral), spinal cord and brain after injury or gene knockout. She is currently exploring inducers of tissue fibrosis and degeneration occurring with overuse, and effective interventions. She has over 250 peer-reviewed publications, and a book on musculoskeletal disorders entitled,​​ ​The Fatigue Failure Mechanism.
Dr. Barbe is currently funded by the National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases, the National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health (as a member of the U24 Neurons_Mattr and Spineworks Networks), and serves on a KURe Advisory Committee at Duke University.

Past events

Click on the Resources tab to view a list of speakers and recordings from previous seminars, available on our YouTube channel.
2025 NeuronS_MATTR Summer Workshop 
Linkoping University, Sweden | June 22-26
​This intensive workshop provided participants with practical experience in specialized methodologies including microneurography, sensory evoked potentials, non-invasive autonomic measurements, and tissue analysis techniques. The workshop facilitated knowledge transfer and technical skill development for researchers interested in conducting rigorous human mechanistic studies investigating how massage and other mechanotherapies influence pain, autonomic function, and tissue healing. 
​​2024 Force Based Manipulation (FBM) Annual ​Meeting,
June 28, 2024, 10am-noon EST
The purpose of this meeting was to provide opportunities to share advances across three National Institutes of Health (NIH)-funded force-based manipulation research networks, promote collaboration, and avoid duplication of network efforts. Many joined us online for the meeting’s open session featuring updates from the trans-network scientific working groups and a keynote presentation from a prominent researcher. The keynote presentation was delivered by Valeria Vásquez, Ph.D. from McGovern Medical School at UTHealth Houston on Fine-Tuning Mechanosensitive Ion Channels: From Basic Science to Translational Research.

​Hands On! ​Summer School! The Neurophysiology of Soft Tissue Manipulation in Musculoskeletal Pain Conditions, June 20-24, 2023, Indiana University
Our inaugural summer school disseminated scientific and technical knowledge to enable investigators to perform rigorous, mechanistic research on the neurobiology of soft tissue mechanotherapies.  See the agenda here and all meeting materials here.

​9th Annual Regenerative Rehabilitation Symposium
October 27-29, 2022 (Austin, Texas)

NeuronS MATTR Network Reception, September 20, 2022 
​IASP 2022 (Toronto)
Stratus Restaurant 

NeuronS_MATTR