Is the co-founder of Align Clinic in San Mateo, California and has over 30 years of experience in the areas of prosthetic and orthotic patient care, management, product development, and scientific research. He is an active presenter, researcher, and winner of awards in prosthetics and orthotics. Grant Wood is also a specialist in scoliosis bracing with the Cheneau brace and the Rigo-Cheneau braces. He has the unique qualification of having trained and mentored with Dr. Rigo and Dr. Cheneau since 1996. Since then, Grant Wood has worked on numerous research publications, studies and workshops on the Cheneau and Cheneau Rigo braces, and he has gone on to create his own brace type: the Wood Cheneau Rigo WCR Brace®.
Grant Wood’s professional career as an orthotist and prosthetist spans work in the USA, England and Spain, where he worked for eight years at Group IDEO in Sevilla and Malaga. Grant Wood holds Bachelor of Science and Master of Science degrees from the University of Salford, School of Prosthetics and Orthotics in England. His post-graduate thesis was on idiopathic scoliosis treatment using the Cheneau brace at the Research Institute for Health, University of Salford. As well as being British certified in prosthetics and orthotics, he completed his American Board Certification in Orthotics, to become an ABC Certified Orthotist (CO) and US Board Certified in Prosthetics.
Emery has 30 years of technical, clinical, and managerial experience and works for Align Clinic specializes in scoliosis bracing for children and adults. He also provides cranial remolding orthoses, pediatric orthotics, and other various bracing needs.
Emery is native to Northeast Wisconsin and started his career as a technician in 1985 with Tyo & Tyo LTD. He is a US Army Combat Veteran and was deployed to Operation Desert Storm in 1991. After a six month deployment, he returned to his technician role, later starting school to become certified. Emery worked part-time as a staff orthotist while putting himself through school and in 1998 graduated with a Bachelors in Business Administration. In 2000, Emery was certified in Orthotics by the American Board for Certification in Orthotics, Prosthetics & Pedorthics (ABC). While in school, the company was acquired by Rehab Designs of America where he was the Area Clinic Manager for Green Bay, Manitowoc & Sheboygan. In 2004, this company was acquired by Hanger, Inc. where he was the Clinic Manager until his departure in 2014.
Emery will also continue to serve the scoliosis patients of Central Wisconsin at Scoliosis Rehab Inc. in Stevens Point, with Schroth physical therapist Beth Janssen.
Stephanie Romero is a WCR Certified Orthotist and is currently the Clinical Education Manager for Align Clinic. You may see her mentoring new clinicians during video-assisted brace fittings or training new practitioners on ZOOM. She also runs a monthly scoliosis clinic in Colorado, helping to evaluate, measure, fit, and follow up on the Wood-Rigo-Cheneau braces in Boulder at Avanti Therapy.
Stephanie has over 10 years of experience treating pediatric scoliosis, with experience at patient-focused centers such a Boston Children’s Hospital, Carrie Tingley Hospital for Children and most recently, Avanti Therapy in Boulder, CO. She loves to make connections with her pediatric patients and has been known to exchange “favorite book” lists with her patients to pass on to her kids.
Stephanie has a passion for teaching, believing that biomechanics and a high-quality patient evaluation lead to “what makes sense” in a scoliosis brace. Despite a background in engineering, she hates “formulas” in bracing and strives to teach each practitioner how to have a “scoliosis institution” that helps lead to the best possible outcome, rather than just checking the boxes to get things done.
Outside of work, Stephanie enjoys biking with her two daughters, hiking colorful Colorado, and, on a really good day, maybe actually having time to curl up and read a book.
