Meet Our Team of Experts

Our team of Neuro Exercise Specialists have over 60 years of cumulative experience in working with neurological populations. Our coaches’ education level ranges from at least a bachelor’s degree to a PhD in exercise and wellness related fields while holding additional certifications and training in neurological symptom-specific exercise. We understand the unique impact of the conditions affecting our clients allowing us to develop the most impactful exercise programs that help them live stronger each day.

Certifications and Specialties

Eric Johnson

CEO & Founder

Eric Johnson

CEO & Founder

Eric Johnson is a visionary Neuro Exercise Specialist and the Founder & CEO of Movement Revolution. With over 16 years of experience, he has helped transform the lives of more than 2,000 individuals living with neurological conditions such as Parkinson's disease, stroke, and multiple sclerosis.

Eric’s groundbreaking Neuro-Intensive Exercise™ method integrates cutting-edge research with personalized strategies to enhance recovery and slow disease progression. Under his leadership, Movement Revolution has expanded to four locations in Chicagoland and now serves clients virtually across the globe.

Outside of his professional work, Eric is a proud father of three and a partner to his wife, an occupational therapist who shares his passion for neuro-focused care. Together, they blend family and professional values to create a life of purpose and impact. Eric is also an avid outdoorsman who enjoys hiking, exploring nature with his family, and cheering on his favorite team, the Green Bay Packers.

Daisy Asimakopoulos

Director of Operations

Daisy Asimakopoulos

Director of Operations

Daisy’s journey into the fitness and rehabilitation field began with her love for sports. In college, her focus shifted toward working with special with special populations, where she gained experience working with children affected by neuromotor disorders and orthopedic conditions. She earned an Exercise Science degree from Illinois State University and went on to work at the top rehabilitation hospital, where she developed adaptive fitness programs for individuals with neurological disorders.

As Director of Operations, Daisy leverages her expertise in program development and client care to oversee day-to-day operations, ensure quality standards, and foster a collaborative team environment. Her strong communication skills and commitment to excellence drive her efforts to streamline processes, build relationships with clients and physicians, and enhance the overall experience for everyone involved.

In her free time, Daisy enjoys spending time with her husband & kids, traveling, and finding the best outdoor patios – live music required!

Glen Ellyn

Austin Pohlman

Lead Neuro Exercise Specialist

Austin Pohlman

Lead Neuro Exercise Specialist

Austin was a three-sport athlete in high-school, until he suffered a few major concussions in competition. Seeing the impact of rehabilitation in his own life, fostered a passion to enable and help others through their own personal journey.

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Austin turned that passion into a Bachelors degree in Exercise Science from the University of Dayton and completed his masters in 2020. A internship in the Neurology and Psychiatry department of Northwestern Medical further confirmed that this was his correct path. Leveraging a scientific approach to rehabilitation and disease prevention, Austin has helped numerous clients with varied neurological conditions from Parkinson’s disease, MS, Brain Cancer and others, to improve their functional wellbeing and become more confident in their everyday lives.

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In his free time Austin likes to walk his dog Finn, play sports with friends, and enjoys watching a good movie. He likes all types food and is always open to new suggestions or recipes.

Sydney Race

Neuro Exercise Specialist

Sydney Race

Neuro Exercise Specialist

Being active in sports growing up and having experienced months of post-surgical rehabilitation for a sports injury, Sydney desired to learn more about different avenues of exercise such as injury prevention and rehabilitation. She furthered her education majoring in Exercise Science and minoring in Public Health at Illinois State University.

Following her internship at Movement Revolution, she found a deep connection helping others through the empowerment of exercise. Working with special populations through medical fitness was something that broadened her perspective on the opportunities in the field of Exercise Science. From firsthand experience with her grandma being diagnosed with Parkinson’s, she is passionate to promote functional movement through exercise for better quality of life. She was thrilled when Movement Revolution extended a full time position where she can continue to pursue and broaden this path post graduation.

In her free time, Sydney enjoys traveling to try new foods, find the best coffee in town, and plan outdoor adventures such as hiking.

Breea Bell

Community Development Coordinator & Lead Neuro Exercise Specialist

Breea Bell

Community Development Coordinator & Lead Neuro Exercise Specialist

Breea realized early on in her career that she was passionate to work with the special population community concentrating on Parkinson’s disease, Stroke, Multiple Sclerosis, among others. Breea has a personal connection with the Parkinson’s community as her grandfather had the disease for 12 years. Making a difference in the lives of individuals with adaptive needs is a passion she strives to achieve each day here at Movement Revolution.

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Breea has a bachelors degree and Masters Degree in Exercise Science with a dual concentration in Preventative Injury and Rehabilitation. She also is certified through the National Academy of Sports Medicine (NASM) with both the Corrective Exercise Specialist and Performance Enhancement Specialist certifications in addition to her NASE Speed specialist Level II certification.

Anna Dudziak

Neuro Exercise Specialist

Anna Dudziak

Neuro Exercise Specialist

Anna always had a passion for sports growing up and continued to foster it while playing soccer throughout high school and college. Her interest in exercise science stemmed through her own experience with injuries and the rehab that followed. She suffered an ACL tear as well as a wrist fracture both of which required surgery and months of rehab.

Though it was physically and mentally challenging, she used her personal experience to dive more into the exercise physiology world. As her interests grew, she continued her education and completed her M.S in Clinical Exercise Physiology from Benedictine University. She now uses the knowledge she gained to better understand her clients and tailor each session to them individually.

In her free time, she enjoys travelling with family and friends to meet new people, enjoy new experiences, and indulge in new cultures.

Deerfield

Ed Cruzat

General Manager & Neuro Exercise Specialist

Ed Cruzat

General Manager & Neuro Exercise Specialist

Ed graduated from the University of Illinois, Champaign-Urbana with a degree in Kinesiology. His passion for movement and education truly blossomed in his mid-20s when he herniated discs in his lower back. Ed rehabilitated his spine with orthopedic doctors, physical therapists, and chiropractors. He grew a thirst for knowledge on proper biomechanics and rehabilitative techniques through that process. This has led to a career spanning 15 years of experience in movement science and rehabilitative therapy. Collecting various certifications over the years, he has helped and educated people through their injuries – an essential driving force in his life. Ed is excited to carry that passion and experience to Movement Revolution as a Neuro Exercise Specialist.

In his free time, Ed absolutely loves video games. He also dabbles in boxing/Muay Thai, mountain biking, kettlebell training, and basketball. He is a die-hard Bulls fan but an even bigger fan of his wife and baby daughter.

Matt Costa

Neuro Exercise Specialist

Matt Costa

Neuro Exercise Specialist

Matt developed an interest for studying the human body while training for multiple sports in high school. He was fascinated with how each exercise translated into a sport-specific movement on the field. Matt studied exercise science at Slippery Rock University in western Pennsylvania, where he went on to get his Master’s degree in Adapted Physical Activity, studying Physical, Intellectual, and Developmental disabilities.

Matt is extremely passionate about working with individuals with chronic conditions, and was previously the Director of Training for a nonprofit organization in Pittsburgh. He has tremendous experience working with individuals with Strokes, Spinal Cord Injuries, and Traumatic Brain Injuries. He believes everyone can improve their quality of life through purposeful physical training!

In his free time, Matt enjoys any outdoor activity! He is an avid golfer, enjoys recreational sports, snowboarding, and watching the Buffalo Bills on Sundays.

Nikita Patel

Neuro Exercise Specialist

Nikita Patel

Neuro Exercise Specialist

While in college Nikita was living with girls from the soccer team, who were always training and working out. Watching them be active got her into exercising. She graduated from Aurora University with a bachelors in Health Science. She started personal training at the local gym and enjoyed working with clients, sharing my knowledge with them but was not fully fulfilled in that job.

One day while she was working out Nikita injured her back and ended up having to do physical therapy. During rehab, she found that she enjoyed being in a clinical setting. It incorporated aspects from personal training within an orthopedic setting. She ended up transitioning from personal training to a rehabilitation setting.

She learned to work with a variety of patients with a multitude of conditions, primarily orthopedic and some neuro conditions. In her time working there she found her true passion for working with people, teaching them about their body, and helping them reach their goals. Whether that be getting them back to doing an activity they loved or just being able to live day to day life with less pain. While working at Athletico she pursued a masters degree in Kinesiology with a focus on exercise science. She looks forward to working in a new setting with a different client basis while utilizing her skills as well as continuing to learn more.

Liam Moore

Neuro Exercise Specialist

Liam Moore

Neuro Exercise Specialist

Liam was originally born in Seattle, Washington where he grew up and discovered his passion for exercise through his love of swimming, climbing, and soccer. During High school Liam underwent three ACL surgeries in a four year stretch and spent much of that time in rehab. Due to this he grew to appreciate the rehabilitative properties of exercise as well as the unique meaningful relationship that trainers provide to their clients when helping them reach their goals. Liam began to volunteer as a swim coach for children with intellectual disabilities and made it his goal to turn this passion into a career.

Liam left Seattle in order to study Exercise Physiology at Marquette University in Milwaukee Wisconsin. While here he developed an interest in working with special populations and connected with Movement Revolution in order to complete his Senior internship. He loved every second of the internship and developed a passion for training clients with neurological conditions and was thrilled when they reached out about making him a full member of the team post-graduation. Liam received his Bachelors of Science in Exercise Physiology degree from Marquette and moved out to Chicago in order to continue his work at Movement Revolution.

In his free time Liam enjoys going for walks, riding his bike, reading, and exploring new places.

Shari Manakul

Senior Business Administrator

Shari Manakul

Senior Business Administrator

Shari graduated with her bachelors of Science in Nursing from Chamberlain University. Soon after graduating Shari’s father was diagnosed with dementia so she put everything on pause to become her father’s primary caretaker for five plus years. She is confident that a big reason as to why her dad is still here today is because of the exercise and daily routine that she did with him. That exercise truly prolonged his quality of life. Which is why she strongly believes in the work at Movement Revolution.

Although she decided the hospital setting was not for her, she still enjoys helping others and bringing light into people’s lives. Shari has an immense compassion for others and in her free time she loves to volunteer and donate to women’s shelters and local food pantries.

Tess Grimes

Neuro Exercise Specialist

Tess Grimes

Neuro Exercise Specialist

Tess found her love for exercise through sports growing up and continued that passion into her college studies. She graduated from Marquette University in 2021 with a Bachelors in Exercise Physiology. During college she was motivated to help others learn how to begin exercising and became an ACSM Certified Personal Trainer. While training college students, she found that lot of people needed direction on how to start and began to help them not only with exercise but changes to their lifestyle. Moving forward she went on to teach group training classes and learned the best ways to challenge them on a daily basis. Tess realized that communication and relationships with the people she trained was what continued to make the most impact on their goals. Tess’s goal is to make movement and exercise something that can be carried over into everyday life.

In her free time, Tess enjoys doing anything outdoors and is always open to trying new outdoor activities.

Bailey Rowley

Neuro Exercise Specialist

Bailey Rowley

Neuro Exercise Specialist

Bailey developed her mindset of exercise is medicine’ growing up as a competitive swimmer and going through physical therapy herself. Seeing mindful, deliberate exercise help her get back to what she loved doing, sparked her interest in studying exercise science at the University of Kentucky.

Since graduating, Bailey has worked in an outpatient orthopedic setting as a rehab aide as well as in a commercial gym as a personal trainer. Both of these experiences led her to pursue further education in kettlebells, pre/post-natal exercise and stretching/mobility work.

Today, Bailey still enjoys swimming and competes in triathlons, as well as furthering her kettlebell skills at the gym. In her spare time, she enjoys going to live shows, trying new restaurants and traveling – and loves recommendations for all of these!

Parth Patel

Neuro Exercise Specialist

Parth Patel

Neuro Exercise Specialist

Parth began his journey as an adult as a biophysics major. During that time, he learned that he did not enjoy spending time alone in a lab. He had been active through martial arts, lacrosse, and powerlifting throughout his young adult life and into adulthood. Many times, he would get injured and would try to learn why this occured and how to prevent this moving forward. This led him to earning his Bachelor’s degree from the University of Iowa in Health and Human Physiology.

During this time, Parth had been working as a rehabilitation aide at Athletico Physical Therapy and that’s where he learned of his passion to help patients. He remembers the first patient that he worked with post-surgically and helped progress and the absolute joy it brought him to help someone else achieve something that was so meaningful to himself. He then moved on to Northwestern Medicine where he worked in a variety of settings including outpatient orthopedic, neurological, lymphadema, and in-patient. During this time, he earned his Master’s degree in Kinesiology with an emphasis in Exercise Science and Pain Science. It was during this time that he took a high liking to pain science and pain disorders and helping those experiencing pain to the betterment of their lives and handing them the tools necessary to meet their goals.

Parth loves spending time with his girlfriend, Nicky, traveling, experiencing new and unique things, especially within nature, and he absolutely loves trying new foods.

Christina Johnson

Neuro Exercise Specialist & Occupational Therapist

Christina Johnson

Neuro Exercise Specialist & Occupational Therapist

Christina is excited and honored to be an occupational therapist and NES at Movement Revolution. Christina has always had a love of helping others and a drive to solve or modify situations to help improve her patient’s quality of life. She is passionate about her clients success and deeply cares about their recovery.

Christina is originally from the Chicagoland area, but went to undergrad and grad school at St. Ambrose University. She has her masters in occupational therapy and has been practicing for roughly 18 years in Neuro and Trauma, inpatient, and outpatient settings. She has significant experience working with persons recovering from stroke, brain injury, spinal cord injury, Parkinson’s disease, MS, and many other medically complex conditions. Prior to joining Movement Revolution’s incredible team, Christina worked at Rehab Institute of Chicago/Shirley Ryan Ability Lab (10 years), Advocate Christ Medical Center (6 years).

Outside of work, Christina spends the majority of time with her husband, 3 children, 2 dogs, and friends and family. She feels her happiest outside, enjoying good food, volunteering in the community, and continuing to learn & research all areas of science and health.

Chicago

Conner Berg

Lead Neuro Exercise Specilaist

Conner Berg

Lead Neuro Exercise Specilaist

From a young age Conner was always involved in a variety of sports, always trying to improve at various skills across a multitude of disciplines. Throughout the years he experienced plenty of injuries and ailments including some chronic ankle pain since childhood, which led him to spend plenty of time in the athletic trainers office in high school. Following his time and conversations he decided to pursue athletic training at college, which then led into studying kinesiology and exercise science at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee.

Using a blend of his martial arts experience and studies from school, he was able to complete his degree with an internship while also coaching clients through fitness with a focus on kickboxing and strength training. This eventually led to working in the industry focused on rehabilitative exercise in an integrative health clinic, helping patients through anything from acute injuries to chronic ailments. With over 6 years of experience from a multitude of different angles and perspectives he has seen how important quality of movement and the right approach to training can seriously improve the overall well-being of everyone. Firsthand experience helped guide him, as he observed his Grandfather navigate the challenges of Alzheimer’s disease. From educational to functional to fun he is very excited to have been connected with Movement Revolution and continue the journey of educating and helping special populations live better and be more empowered in not just movement, but life.

In his free time, Conner loves to continue his life long practice of martial arts, play around with different sports and movement disciplines (especially outdoors), play video games as well as guitar, cook and spend time with family and friends (most importantly his parents dogs) and is a big Chicago sports fan, especially the Blackhawks and Bears.

Jeff Spear

Neuro Exercise Specialist

Jeff Spear

Neuro Exercise Specialist

Jeff started his health journey by diving into sports at a young age and never looked back. Played baseball, basketball, and tennis and brought all three of them into high school, but only tennis into College where he played at College of DuPage and then onto the club team at University of Illinois at Chicago. At UIC, Jeff graduated with a Kinesiology degree and has interest in going back in the future to continue his studies into physical medicine.

He gained his interest in the body during his first anatomy class where he held an enlarged heart. The immensity of this heart got his mind racing about how could this have happened and what were the mechanisms that caused this condition. These were the questions that drove his interest into physical medicine and to be able to assist a wide range of people with their health journeys. He was able to hone these skills right out of college as he dove into the rehab world, working with patients dealing with a wide range of pain and functional challenges.

In his free time he continues to play Tennis and Basketball, swims, hikes, plays the drums, and make sure to make the time to see his family and friends whenever he can.

Our Team

Meet Our Team of Experts

Certifications and Specialties

Glen Ellyn

Deerfield

Chicago

THINK BIG. MOVE STRONG. NEVER QUIT.

THINK BIG. MOVE STRONG.
NEVER QUIT.