Dr. Schwertfeger earned her PhD in Interprofessional Healthcare Studies in Spring 2020 and her DPT in Summer 2016 from Rosalind Franklin University, her BSPT from the University of Illinois at Chicago, an MBA with a concentration in Healthcare Administration from Keller Graduate School of Management in 2003, and a Certification as a Trainer for the Brain Injury Specialist Certification from the Academy of Brain Injury Specialists/ Brain Injury Association of America in 2015. She developed and led the educational neurologic clinics for the DPT program and taught in and acted as department liaison to the interdisciplinary neuroscience and physiology courses from 2015 through 2020. Dr. Schwertfeger currently teaches lectures in the medical and interprofessional pharmacy college, and is completing an advanced postdoctoral polytrauma / TBI research fellowship with mentor Dr. Bharathi Swaminathan and secondary mentor Sangeetha Madhavan. She also holds an honorary membership in the Motor Behavior and Neurorehabilitation Laboratory of Dr. Carolee Winstein at the University of Southern California.

Dr. Schwertfeger has extensive experience in long term acute care (LTAC), outpatient, inpatient rehabilitation facility (IRF), and home healthcare working with adults with neurologic and complex medical impairments. Her clinical practice focuses on adult neurologic and medically complex care using evidence-based practice (EBP) with a focus on stroke and acquired brain injury. Her research focuses on interprofessional, patient centered care, and tailored neuromodulation interventions to advance health policy and outcomes for adults with acquired brain injury.

She currently serves on the Academy of Neurologic Physical Therapy (ANPT) Advocacy and Consumer Affairs Committee, and the ANPT Stroke Special Interest Group and Balance and Falls Podcast teams, and she is the immediate past Chair of the ANPT Balance and Falls Special Interest Group (SIG). She is serving her third term as an At-Large Delegate for the Illinois Chapter to the APTA House of Delegates. Dr. Schwertfeger is the 2021 recipient of the Outstanding Service Award from the ANPT Balance and Falls Special Interest Group, the 2017 recipient of the Illinois Babette Sanders Leadership and Service Award, and the 2015 Federal Government Affairs Leadership Award.