Dr. Nelli Ban was born and raised in Russia but spent summers in Ukraine living with her grandparents. She immigrated to the United States in 2000, where she earned her Doctorate in Physical Therapy from Rosalind Franklin University in North Chicago.
Shortly after graduating, Dr. Ban started working at a busy outpatient orthopedic/sports medicine clinic in the Skokie area. Thereafter, she began working for a home health agency where she treated more than a thousand patients. Her whole career has been dedicated to helping her patients recover from a variety of injuries and disabilities. Dr. Ban devotes most of her time to ensuring that all of her patients are able to recover and return to their pre-injury state. She also works with the patient's physician to implement rehabilitative treatments, focusing on the patient's recovery.
However, after years of observing that the patient population was not receiving the level of care and attention they deserve at large chain physical therapy clinics, Dr. Nelli Ban decided to start her own practice. With a firm belief that all patients deserve easy access to high-quality and efficient physical therapy treatments, Cadence Physical Therapy Co. was born.
At Cadence Physical Therapy Clinic, the patient is the primary focus. Dr. Ban’s team of experienced and highly skilled Doctors of Physical Therapy (DPT) combines an individualized one-on-one approach to patient care and state-of-the-art equipment that has been shown to get patients better faster with fewer PT visits needed.
Dr. Ryan Towns completed his bachelor’s degree in Kinesiology at Michigan State University and went on to receive his doctoral degree in physical therapy at Midwestern University in Downers Grove.
As Cadence Physical Therapy’s Clinical Director, Dr. Towns oversees and assures the quality of care delivered to patients. His broad experience working in a variety of settings with many different patient populations has given him the full knowledge of the significance of treating each case individually. He believes each case is unique to the specific person, regardless if two people have the same diagnosis. Dr. Towns is committed to consistently developing and progressing his clinical skills in order to provide the very best care for all patients. In the near future, he hopes to earn his Orthopedic Certified Specialist and Dry Needling certifications.
I am Dr. David Thomas and I am a Physical Therapist and the Director of Marketing here at Cadence Physical Therapy. I earned my Bachelors with a major in Kinesiology and a minor in Nutrition at University of Illinois in Chicago. I completed my graduate degree to become a Doctor of Physical Therapy at Governors State University. I have also successfully completed dry needling certification (FDN; Functional Dry Needling), which is a skilled intervention aimed to address myofascial trigger points, muscular, and connective tissues for rapid management of neurological-related musculoskeletal pain and movement impairments. Currently, I am still an active NASM (National Academy of Sports Medicine). I am also a certified Pain-Free Performance Specialist (PPSC), which allows me to combine the foundational principles of physical therapy with more advanced level rehabilitation for athletes and individuals looking to begin, or return to, sports such as body-building, cross-fit, baseball, basketball, soccer etc. Finally, I completed professional research examining the utilization of direct access for wellness and the prevention of osteoporosis in the outpatient orthopedic setting which can be accessed via google scholar. My aspirations are to further enhance my clinical, therapeutic, and hands-on skills in the Outpatient Setting to better serve a more diverse population suffering from musculoskeletal conditions and sport-related injuries. Finally, I am a firm believer that exercise IS medicine for the body, if done correctly. As Director of Marketing for a private outpatient clinic, I strive to reach out to the Northwest Chicago Suburban community, physicians and patients alike, to demonstrate the benefits of one-on-one skilled physical therapy and why we provide the best patient outcomes.
Dr. Jessica Karluk is one of Cadence Physical Therapy's dedicated and bilingual DPTs. For Polish-speaking patients, Dr. Karluk will be able to communicate your needs.
She earned her Bachelors of Science in Exercise Science with a specialty in Physical Therapy while minoring in Psychology from Saint Louis University, where she also continued her education to pursue her Doctorate of Physical Therapy.
Dr. Karluk has clinical experience ranging from various outpatient settings to inpatient settings that include neuro rehab, skilled nursing care, orthopedic and geriatric care. Her diverse background has given her the opportunity to work with various diagnoses and has given her a better understanding of the situations that many patients face before seeking outpatient care.
She strives to treat patients with a patient-oriented and function-based approach to help patients accomplish their health and wellness objectives. Dr. Karluk also intends to continue to develop her clinical skills and, in the near future, to obtain certification in dry needling.
Dzenan Nezirevic is Cadence Physical Therapy's occupational therapist. He speaks English and Bosnian fluently and Spanish at an advanced level. Apart from that, he's able to understand a lot of Slavic-based languages.
Born and raised in Chicago, IL, Dzenan went to high school in Niles West in Skokie, IL. He earned his Bachelor's degree in Exercise Science from Western Michigan University. While attending Western Michigan University, he was a Division 1 soccer player for the program where they ranked #4 in the nation at one point. Following his experience at Western Michigan, he also attended the University of St. Augustine down in Miami, Florida where he earned his masters in Occupational Therapy.
Having worked in a variety of settings including skilled nursing facilities, home health, outpatient, and pediatrics, Dzenan has a full understanding of patient recovery. According to him, each patient is different and requires their own unique plan of recovery.
His goal is to sit for the Certified Hand Therapist licensing exam when he becomes eligible in the near future.
With over a decade of experience working in customer service, Bobbi is well-versed in the ins and outs of the industry. A desire to expand her knowledge and meet new people prompted Bobbi to join Cadence Physical Therapy, where she hopes to build upon her experience.
As Cadence Physical Therapy’s Practice manager, her job has its perks and difficulties, which she is relishing according to her. Bobbi loves the daily progress she witnesses in patients as a result of their physical treatment. Each day at the office, she gets to see the “meaningful, life-changing results,” which keep her focused on our common goal: changing people’s lives.
Marianna came to work at Cadence Physical Therapy in 2019 as a Front Desk Receptionist and Physical Therapy Technician.
She recently graduated with a major in Health Information Management from University of Illinois in Chicago. Like most of our staff, Marianna is fluent in several languages like Russian and Ukrainian.
Currently, she is the clinic’s Marketing Specialist and our cheery ray of sunshine that ensures our strong relationship with MDs and the multi-disciplinary team.
My name is Angel and grew up in Waukegan, IL. I am currently working as a Personal Trainer at Anytime Fitness at Libertyville and as a Rehab Tech for Cadence. I’ll be attending Lake Forest College to continue my studies to end in a Physical Therapy school.
Clarizza manages the billing and collections process of Cadence Physical Therapy. When it comes to prompt and reliable billing assistance, she is the person to trust. Clarizza brings with her a decade of experience in healthcare, working in the reimbursement and billing sectors. Her background includes positions as a medical biller and healthcare insurance supervisor prior to joining the team.
David attended DePaul University for Finance and Loyola University with a Master of Science in Supply Chain Management. I benefited from those degrees as a transportation analyst for Packaging Corporation of America and as a financial analyst for Stepan Co. After 14 years in corporate America, my wife (Dr. Nelli Ban) and I opened Cadence Physical Therapy Co in 2016. Nothing is better than working with physical therapists on a daily basis. Physical therapists are the most altruistic, and caring people in all of healthcare. The same cannot be said for the people I worked within corporate America.
Since opening, I have worked in every position in the company except physical therapist. I was a front desk receptionist, aide (I was terrible and have absolutely no balance to do the exercises correctly), benefits coordinator, internal/external marketing, post office courier, lunch delivery courier for staff, handyman, human resources, biller, office supply purchaser, email marketing person, etc. I am so grateful for the staff we have now, and Cadence Physical Therapy Co is having an impact on the Buffalo Grove community beyond my wildest imagination. I am most proud of the fact that our success has come without the branding of a “big box” physical therapy clinic such as ATI / Athletico / Team Rehab. I really feel that those chain companies take the soul out of physical therapy.
Nelli and I “bootstrapped” this entire business with the $150 left that we had in our checking account (we got laughed out of the room by all the banks in the Buffalo Grove area when we applied for our physical therapy startup loan). I still can’t believe that our initial landlord at 1691 Weiland Rd in Buffalo Grove was foolish enough not to ask for any bank statements before giving us his space. I guess he was desperate and no one wanted to open up next to a nail salon jamming out techno music at a 130-decibel level with hundreds of cigarette buds and Dunkin donut cups in the parking lot…. Thankfully, we have now moved and we are in a new state-of-the-art 4500 sq ft facility.
Most importantly, I am a husband and father of 3 amazing children who have my wife’s intelligence and good looks, and sense of humor. Cadence Physical Therapy helps support our family and enables us to spend a few moments of quality time with them. The best part of being a father is when the kids run to me and give me the unsolicited kiss and hug after a long day’s work. I love the quality time I get to spend with my kids on weekends and whenever they have breaks from school.
My favorite memory was back in May 2009, I went on a dating site, and instant messaged this woman three or four times. As a student of marketing, I knew that you have to pursue a lead until you get a “hard no.” After the fourth time texting this girl on a dating site at 10:30 PM on a weekday night she finally responded back and we proceeded to have a great conversation. Long story short, I married that pretty and smart girl around 1 year, 5 months, and 13 days later after that instant message. The moral of the story - keep going after a lead until you get a hard no. Perhaps, that is why you get so many postcards/emails/newsletters from us….you haven’t given us the Hard No!
