The Curiosity to Care: The Career of Hunter Peckham, PhD

It is with immense gratitude and appreciation that the team at the MetroHealth Rehabilitation Institute and the Neuromusculoskeletal Institute bids farewell to P. Hunter Peckham, PhD, as he retires after an extraordinary career. His work has been marked by groundbreaking research, exceptional leadership, and a dedicated focus on improving the lives of individuals with spinal cord injuries (SCI).

Although research was always Dr. Peckham’s focus, it was his curiosity about restoring movement via electrical stimulation — not his initial interest in fluid dynamics — that changed the trajectory of his career after graduating from Clarkson University.

“Keep in mind, this was 1966,” he recalled when receiving an honorary degree from Clarkson. “The big news in tech was Hewlett Packard’s 2116a computer, which came with 4K of memory and, at 229 pounds, was considered ‘petite’ for its time. Cardiac pacemakers barely existed. This idea of using electrical current inside the body to move muscles in precise ways sounded more like science fiction than scholarship. No road map existed.”

A pioneer in innovative devices for persons with SCI, Dr. Peckham was part of building that roadmap. His career detour altered his future and that of dozens of researchers, individuals with SCI, and the clinical and research departments and centers at The MetroHealth System and Case Western Reserve University (CWRU).

Since that time, he has dedicated himself to helping people who have experienced loss of mobility or sensation to regain movement and touch. His early discoveries serve as a critical foundation for work that continues to expand and make meaningful change. 

“When we started developing neural implants to restore movement and function for people who had sustained traumatic spinal cord injuries, it was a dream—a reality-based dream, but still a dream,” Peckham shared when receiving the Lifetime Achievement Award from the American Spinal Injury Association (ASIA).

Today, this technology has been implanted in humans, with continued, ongoing studies.

A Hand in the Future

He is renowned worldwide for his research, which has enabled paralyzed individuals to regain control of their hands and arms. Additionally, Dr. Peckham — who joined the CWRU faculty in 1972 — was instrumental in creating the Cleveland Functional Electrical Stimulation (FES) Center, which studies and develops the application of electrical currents to generate or suppress nerve activity.

As the center's executive director, Dr. Peckham built a model of successful research collaboration among scientists, engineers and clinicians from the Cleveland Veteran's Administration Medical Center, Case Western Reserve University and MetroHealth. More importantly, he integrated persons with SCI and their caregivers into his research team — an approach we now call “transdisciplinary.”

Undoubtedly, his contributions have significantly shaped the current state of research in this field and what possibilities lie ahead.

“Hunter is one of the pioneers of implantable FES systems that restore arm and hand function to people who have been paralyzed after high cervical spinal cord injuries,” says Jayme Knutson, PhD, Director of Research, Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation (PM&R) and Interim Co-Director of the MetroHealth Rehabilitation Institute. “Hunter’s influence on the broader field of electrical stimulation for rehabilitation is enormous.”

From 2013 to 2024, Dr. Peckham served as Co-Director of the MetroHealth Rehabilitation Institute, was a key leader of the MetroHealth Center for Rehabilitation Research and helped build the research capacity and productivity of the Departments of PM&R and Orthopaedics at MetroHealth. During this period, the MetroHealth Rehabilitation Institute became nationally ranked by both the U.S. News and World Report and Newsweek, and the Department of PM&R rose to number one in the nation in NIH funding.

Dr. Peckham’s accolades extend beyond his leadership, patents, published articles and many awards. He’s also honored for his mentorship — he believed in lifting up other researchers more than competing with them.

In 1994, when John Chae, MD, was a brand-new PM&R physician, he worked under Dr. Peckham.

“Here was Hunter, already a world-renowned biomedical engineer, who was willing to take me on to train me and mentor me to where I am today,” recalls Dr. Chae, who now serves as Executive Vice President, Chief Academic Officer, at MetroHealth. “What is amazing is that my experience is not unique. There are many people—from an incredible range of disciplines and backgrounds, that Hunter impacted similarly. Hunter is brilliant and strategic, but most importantly, he is relational.”

Dr. Chae says that relational approach taught him and so many others that they could do incredible things together.

A Legacy of Respect

Dr. Peckham is also hailed for understanding that real people’s lives are behind the research.

“Hunter taught us to have the utmost respect toward each individual who participates in our research studies, to never take them for granted, and to treat their participation as a sacred trust never to be violated,” says Dr. Knutson.

His legacy of compassionate care and collaborative spirit will resonate through the innovative research at the MetroHealth Rehabilitation Institute for many years to come, certain to inspire future advancements in rehabilitation and patient care.

Fast Facts: Hunter Peckham, PhD

• Member, National Academy of Engineering
• Fellow of the National Academy of Inventors
• Lifetime Achievement Awards by the North American Neuromodulation Society (NANS) and the American Spinal Injury Association (ASIA)
• Fellow of the American Institute of Medical and Biological Engineering
• Fellow of the American Spinal Injury Association 
• Recipient of a special citation by the commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration
• Paul Magnuson Award Winner from the Department of Veterans Affairs
• 2002 Engineer of the Year by Design News
• Designated the Pioneer of Neuroprothesis by the State of Ohio
• CWRU’s Distinguished University Professor
• CWRU Frank and Dorothy Humel Hovorka Prize
• Donnell Institute Professor of Biomedical Engineering and Orthopaedics
• 14 patents
• Hundreds of publications

Special thanks to Case Western Reserve University. Many quotes and facts included in this article stem from their reporting on Dr. Peckham’s work and achievements over the years.