Dr. Walter Frontera is a Professor in both the Department of Physical Medicine, Rehabilitation, and Sports Medicine and the Department of Physiology and Biophysics at the University of Puerto Rico School of Medicine. Dr. Frontera was presented with an award at the Rusk Rehabilitation Research Symposium held on Friday June 16 and his presentation at that symposium will be aired in a future segment. This interview is part 2 of 2 and explores critical areas in health care where changes are warranted, patients who lack significant others, an NIH conference on moving rehabilitation forward, patient resilience, transformative developments such as health care analytics, leveraging technologies such as virtual reality, and developments in genomics and robotics.
Dr. Frontera's main research interest is geriatric rehabilitation and in particular the study of the mechanisms underlying muscle atrophy and weakness in the elderly. Based on his studies of human sarcopenia, he has developed rehabilitative interventions using therapeutic exercise to slow down or reverse skeletal muscle alterations associated with advanced adult age. Dr.Frontera has served as the Inaugural Professor and Head of the Department of PM&R at Harvard Medical School and Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital in Boston and also as Chief of the PM&R Service at the Massachusetts General and Brigham and Women’s Hospitals. He has more than 230 scientific publications including 96 peer-reviewed articles and 16 edited books, along with presenting more than 220 invited lectures in 53 countries. Currently, Dr. Frontera serves as the Editor-in-Chief of The American Journal of PM&R. In 2008, he was elected member of the National Academy of Medicine. He completed his medical studies and a residency in physical medicine and rehabilitation at the University of Puerto Rico and he has a doctoral degree in applied anatomy and physiology from Boston University.
Dr. Walter Frontera is a Professor in both the Department of Physical Medicine, Rehabilitation, and Sports Medicine and the Department of Physiology and Biophysics at the University of Puerto Rico School of Medicine. Dr. Frontera was presented with an award at the Rusk Rehabilitation Research Symposium held on Friday June 16 and his presentation at that symposium will be aired in a future segment. This interview is part 1 of 2 and explores Dr. Frontera's insights on mitochondrial function of skeletal muscle, his areas of research, the kinds of patients that he treats, arriving at accurate diagnoses, and translation of clinical findings and evidence-based research to the bedside.
Dr. Frontera's main research interest is geriatric rehabilitation and in particular the study of the mechanisms underlying muscle atrophy and weakness in the elderly. Based on his studies of human sarcopenia, he has developed rehabilitative interventions using therapeutic exercise to slow down or reverse skeletal muscle alterations associated with advanced adult age. Dr.Frontera has served as the Inaugural Professor and Head of the Department of PM&R at Harvard Medical School and Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital in Boston and also as Chief of the PM&R Service at the Massachusetts General and Brigham and Women’s Hospitals. He has more than 230 scientific publications including 96 peer-reviewed articles and 16 edited books, along with presenting more than 220 invited lectures in 53 countries. Currently, Dr. Frontera serves as the Editor-in-Chief of The American Journal of PM&R. In 2008, he was elected member of the National Academy of Medicine. He completed his medical studies and a residency in physical medicine and rehabilitation at the University of Puerto Rico and he has a doctoral degree in applied anatomy and physiology from Boston University.
Dr. Caitlin Andersen works in the Emergency Room/Observation Unit at Tisch Hospital at NYU Langone Medical Center. She currently serves as a staff physical therapist at Rusk, working in the acute inpatient department. Her experience includes being employed in outpatient neurological and inpatient neurological populations. Her undergraduate degree in Dietetics and Chemistry was obtained from the University of Nebraska and she has a doctorate in physical therapy from Northwestern University. In this interview, Caitlin discusses her work in the acute care setting as a physical therapist, involvement in activities to prevent recurrence of health problems, the role of patient-reported outcomes, and some key topics in rehabilitation research.
Isabelle Matejovsky is a full-time Senior Physical Therapist at NYU Rusk. Her experience includes working in a variety of Physical Therapy departments at NYU, including Tisch Hospital, Acute Inpatient Rehabilitation, General Outpatient, and currently in the outpatient Vestibular physical therapy department. She has worked with a multitude of complex diagnoses within each department, however, neurological diagnoses are her special interest. She has presented at two national American Physical Therapy Association conferences within the Neurology section. Today, she is here to speak with us about Wallenberg Syndrome, a rare type of brainstem stroke syndrome that involves a constellation of symptoms and a specialized, multi-disciplinary rehabilitation pathway. Her Doctor of Physical Therapy degree is from New York Medical College. In this interview, Isabelle discusses Wallenberg Syndrome, the role of physical therapists in treating it, how unique the condition is from a rehabilitation standpoint, possible long-term deficits, and research questions it would be useful to pursue through further study regarding this Syndrome.