Exercise and Cardiometabolic Health
Faculty Investigators
Todd Cade, PT, Ph.D
Student
Grace Ditzenberger, DPT Student
Our laboratory aims to study mechanisms of and treatments (nutritional/exercise/pharmacologic/gene therapy) for abnormalities in cardiometabolic disease, focusing on substrate (e.g. amino acid, glucose, fatty acid) metabolism, energetic, and functional abnormalities in skeletal muscle, heart, adipose tissue, liver, and brain.
Learn more about our research on exercise and cardiometabolic health.
Neurological Rehabilitation
Faculty Investigator Jody Feld, PT, DPT, PhD
Student Lindsay Heffron, DPT Student
Our research aims are to reduce mobility disability, falls, and chronic sedentary behavior in people living in the community with subacute stroke. In doing this, our intent is to improve their physical activity levels, quality of life, and participation in society. In order to accomplish these aims, we are working on developing individualized multifactorial assessment protocols with strong prognostic value to guide personalized rehabilitation in post-acute care.
Movement Matters for Adults with Multiple Comorbid Conditions and Medical Complexity
Faculty Investigator Amy M. Pastva, PT, MA, PhD, CHSE
Dr. Amy Pastva has two decades of experience as a physical therapist and an academician and has participated as a clinician-scientist at the Principle Investigator (PI) or Co-Investigator (Co-I) levels on foundation and federally-funded projects where she developed care transition and rehabilitative strategies aimed at positively influencing physiological mechanisms of health and improving patient-centered outcomes of physical function and quality of life for adults with chronic and/or medically complex conditions such as heart failure, respiratory failure, cancer, and stroke.
Learn more about Dr. Pastva’s research.
Education Innovation Lab
Faculty Investigators
Kyle Covington, PT, DPT, PhD
Katie Myers, PT, DPT Jamie Greco, PT, DPT, EdD
Marcus Roll, PT, DPT Chad Cook, PT, MBA, PhD, FAPTA
Jody Feld, PT, DPT, PhD Kara Lardinois, PT, DPT
Faculty Residents (current)
Zachary Rethorn, PT, DPT
Kelly Reynolds, PT, DPT
Jack Magill, PT, DPT
The Duke DPT Education Innovation Lab is a community of faculty scholars with a shared vision of advancing educational research in the pursuit of excellence in physical therapy education. We aim to be change agents in education, with research projects that investigate and answer critical questions that elevate the standards in crucial components of DPT education. The ultimate purpose of our work is to translate educational research outcomes into delivery of excellent educational experiences, preparing future clinicians that will truly transform society.
Learn more about the Education Innovation Lab.
Neurobiology of Nervous System Damage and Recovery
Faculty Investigator
Timothy D. Faw, PT, DPT, PhD
Students
Lindsay Heffron, DPT Student
Alea Penner, DPT Student
Gabriel Witt, DPT Student
Our translational research investigates the cellular and molecular underpinnings of nervous system damage and recovery, including testing novel interventions to improve outcomes. To do this, we utilize small animal models of clinically-relevant nervous system injuries (spinal cord injury, stroke, traumatic brain injury) alongside clinical trials in human participants. We are specifically interested in the roles of neuroinflammation and rehabilitation in motor learning, myelin plasticity, and recovery of sensory and motor function after injury.
Learn more about Neurobiology of Nervous System Damage and Recovery
Clinical Informatics and Data Science
Faculty Investigator
Maggie Horn, DPT, MSPH, PhD
Dr. Horn’s research agenda focuses on understanding the multifactorial experience in patients with musculoskeletal pain by leveraging secondary data from claims, administrative, clinical outcomes, and registry data sources. She has a particular interest in developing sustainable and scalable processes to collect patient-reported outcome measures and clinical data through the EHR to undertake research and quality improvement projects and develop data analytics platforms.
Learn more about Clinical Informatics and Data Science
Orthopedic Sports Medicine
Faculty Investigator
Laura Pietrosimone PT, DPT, PhD
Dr. Pietrosimone’s research focuses on lower extremity biomechanics and physical activity in orthopedic and sports medicine populations. Specifically, her work seeks to advance translational science through the development of innovative rehabilitation strategies that address the lasting consequences of both acute and chronic lower extremity injury to promote joint health and optimize patient quality of life.
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The program has determined that its curriculum meets the state educational requirements for licensure or certification in all states, the District of Colombia, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands secondary to its accreditation by the Commission on Accreditation in Physical Therapy Education, based on the following: CAPTE accreditation of a physical therapist or physical therapist assistant program satisfies state educational requirements in all states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands. Thus, students graduating from CAPTE-accredited physical therapist and physical therapist assistant education programs are eligible to take the National Physical Therapy Examination and apply for licensure in all states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands. For more information regarding state qualifications and licensure requirements, refer to the Federation of State Boards of Physical Therapy website at www.fsbpt.org. The Doctor of Physical Therapy Program at Duke University is accredited by the Commission on Accreditation in Physical Therapy Education (CAPTE), 3030 Potomac Avenue, Suite 100, Alexandria, Virginia 22305-3085; 703-706-3245; accreditation@apta.org; http://www.capteonline.org. If needing to contact the program/institution directly, please call 919-681-4380 or email dptadmis@duke.edu.