Physical Therapy Researcher and Founder of Go Baby Go Joins Robbins College Faculty
Baylor University’s Robbins College of Health and Human Sciences is pleased to announce the appointment of Cole Galloway, PT, PhD, FAPTA, as Clinical Professor in the Department of Physical Therapy. Galloway, who officially joined the University in September 2023, is the first Robbins College faculty to be hired with focused duties and responsibilities related to the College research mission.
“Dr. Galloway’s research track record is exceptional, and we are very excited that he is bringing his expertise—as researcher, mentor, and collaborator—to Baylor, Robbins College, and our Department of Physical Therapy,” said Jason R. Carter, PhD, Dean of Robbins College. “As we seek to enhance health, quality of life, and human flourishing through our research priorities, we are grateful to have Dr. Galloway and his impact-focused work here in Robbins College."
Through research, development, and distribution efforts, Galloway and his lab seek to help children and adults co-create their lives through mobility. His team follows community-based participatory action research principles, placing the disability community at the top of the power structure and involving “subjects” as team leaders.
“Our role as researchers then becomes to translate problems identified by the community into fundable, deliverable solutions via research and development. As researchers and clinicians who live outside the disability community, we best function as 'community organizers' versus medical experts,” Galloway said. “We strive in our research, development, and distribution efforts to act with the understanding that mobility is a human right.”
In addition to individual and community support, Galloway has received NIH and NSF funding for his research. He is the founder of Go Baby Go, which focuses on “increasing mobility and quality of life solutions for children whose access to such may be limited during their early developmental years for a variety of reasons.” Through the development of ride-on cars, pediatric harnesses, slackline harnesses, and immersive therapy for children with disabilities, Go Baby Go has sparked innovative solutions for increasing independent mobility and empowering families and communities across the nation.
“The Department of Physical Therapy is delighted to have Dr. Galloway join our team in teaching and researching human movement and exploring ways to expand the joys of movement to as many individuals as possible within their various abilities," added Brian A. Young, PT, DSc, Interim Chair of the Department of Physical Therapy. "His presence is elevating all of us to higher levels in support of Baylor’s R1 growth.”
Galloway comes to Baylor after more than two decades serving on faculty at the University of Delaware. He received his BS from the University of Southern Mississippi, BS in Physical Therapy from Virginia Commonwealth University, PhD from the University of Arizona, and completed a Postdoctoral Fellowship at Indiana University. Galloway and Andrina Sabet, a pediatric physical therapist, share six children ages 17 to 34. In his free time, he enjoys movies, music, and theater—and is even a frequent performer himself.
"I am excited to continue my community-based research and technology development within the Department of Physical Therapy here at Baylor,” Galloway said. “I immediately felt welcomed personally and supported professionally—literally starting my very first day. In addition to my research responsibilities, I am looking forward to supporting the Robbins College Dean's Office in their research mentoring programs."