Faculty and students present research and participate in service at largest national PT conference

 

Faculty and students from the Department of Physical Therapy presented at the  2022 American Physical Therapy Association (APTA) Combined Sections Meeting held in San Antonio Feb. 2–5.

“This is the largest national PT meeting of the year, with typically more than 10,000 attendees participating,” said Greg Ernst, PT, PhD, associate professor and chair of the department. “Many faculty and some students had presentations as well as service activities on various national committees.”

One of those presentations was a virtual reality educational symposium titled “Moving from the Lab to Clinic: Integrating Technologies for Facilitating Motor Recovery Post-Stroke” organized by Assistant Professor Anjali Sivaramakrishnan, PT, PhD. The more than 60 people who attended the session heard from panelists including Dr. Sivaramakrishnan, who discussed research on integrating non-invasive brain stimulation in combination paradigms for stroke rehabilitation, Assistant Professor Sandeep Subramanian, BPTh, MSc, PhD, who presented research on virtual reality-based therapy in upper limb rehabilitation, Emory University Associate Professor Trisha Kesar, PT, PhD, who discussed functional electrical stimulation (FES)-based interventions for restitution of post-stroke gait deficits and Rutgers University Professor Judith E. Deutsch PT, PhD, who discussed a case scenario on stroke and virtual reality-based rehabilitation.  

“The goal was to have the audience think about what type (of technology) do you use and how do you evaluate the outcomes,” she said, adding that panelists also shared two case scenarios, with the goal of showing clinicians how they might apply the research in the clinic.

PT faculty and students who participated at the conference include (faculty and School of Health Professions DPT students listed; other presenters can be found by clicked on presentation titles):

– Gustavo J. Almeida, PT, PhD: Effect of Blood-Flow Restriction Compared with High-Intensity Interval Training on Muscle Power and Lactate Threshold, with students Trey Conroy, Corey Steven Dole, Joshua Alexander Caniglia, Karley Rosales and Ebony-ayanna Willis; and Improving Functional Capacity and Exercise Self-Efficacy in Cancer Survivors: A Holistic Approach to Rehabilitation, with students Samantha Ayala, Alberto Barrera and Andrea Saenz.

– Julie B. Barnett, PT, DPT: Effect of Blood-Flow Restriction Compared with High-Intensity Interval Training on Muscle Power and Lactate Threshold, with students Trey Conroy, Corey Steven Dole, Joshua Alexander Caniglia, Karley Rosales and Ebony-ayanna Willis.

– Greg Ernst, PT, PhD: An Integrative Approach to the Diagnosis, Prognosis, and Management of Common Upper Extremity Mononeuropathies.  

– Michael Geelhoed, PT, DPT: Co-Curricular Interprofessional Education Activities Involving Physical Therapy Students: A Secondary Analysis of a Scoping Review, with students Vanessa Marie Alonzo and Ryan Andrew Garza.

– Selina M. Morgan, PT, DPT, NCS: Validation of non-exercise test (NET) in children with disability:  a case series, with students Isabel Gracia, Megan Vargas, Juan Ortiz, William Lopez, Jocelyn Julissa Davila, Barrett Dana Ketter, Keely Rose Ozment, Emily Geisler and Katherine Elizabeth McCallie.

– Dr. Sivaramakrishnan and Dr. Subramanian: Intra-Individual Variability in Cognition Predicts Functional Decline in Parkinson’s Disease and Do Virtual Reality Based Interventions Influence Levels of Post-Stroke Depressive Symptoms: Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis with students Jasmine Ariana Ha Mohammad and Walter Sales. 

– Bradley Scott Tragord, PT, DPT, DSc: “Demonstration and Evaluation of Physical Examination Techniques Intended to Identify Proximal Femoral Bone Stress Injuries.”   

Several faculty members participated in national service activities at the conference, including Dr. Ernst, Dr. Geelhoed, Dr. Sivaramakrishnan, Associate Professor Martha Acosta, PT, DPT, GCS, and Assistant Professor Bobby Belarmino, PT, DPT, PhD, CCS. The poster, Do Virtual Reality Based Interventions Influence Levels of Post-Stroke Depressive Symptoms: Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis, for which Dr. Subramanian was first author and students Jasmine Ariana Ha Mohammad and Walter Sales were co-authors, won the best poster award from the Stroke Special Interest group of the Academy of Neurologic Physical Therapy.