Faculty Research
Not only are the faculty of Baylor University's Department of Physical Therapy exceptional instructors and experienced practitioners, but many are avid researchers. Through knowledge and innovation, these practice scholars seek to make significant impacts in the field of physical therapy and beyond.
Annual Research Highlights
Research Areas
- Low back/pelvic pain, and shoulder/knee/hip pathology
- Manual therapy, exercise interventions, and clinical outcomes
- Return-to-sport, load management, and biomechanics
- Musculoskeletal imaging and movement analysis
- Stroke, spinal cord injury, Parkinson’s disease, and cerebral palsy
- Neuroplasticity, motor learning, and gait and balance recovery
- Technology-assisted rehab and task-based training
- Older adult mobility and fall risk
- Community-based interventions
- Chronic disease management and health promotion
- Health disparities and access to care
- Teaching methods, assessment strategies, simulation
- Clinical reasoning and diagnostic accuracy
- Student success, belonging, and mentorship
- Clinical faculty development and practice readiness
- Technology and Innovation in Physical Therapy
- Wearables, motion capture, robotics, and sensors
- Telehealth and digital rehab platforms
- Novel outcome measures and real-world performance tracking
View the Department of Physical Therapy faculty directory to check out current research interests for individual faculty members.
Research News
See More NewsIn 2024, Department of Physical Therapy faculty Shane Koppenhaver, PT, PhD, Clinical Professor and Associate Chair, and Laurel Proulx, PT, DPT, PhD, Clinical Assistant Professor, received a four-year $2.5 million grant award from the Department of Defense to test a novel intervention for female service members suffering from debilitating chronic pelvic pain. The potential outcomes of this research could include better access to care and rapid yet effective treatment, expediting service members’ return to duty.
Jessica Feda, PT, DPT, DSc, Clinical Assistant Professor in the Department of Physical Therapy in Baylor University’s Robbins College of Health and Human Sciences, has received a $200,000, two-year Paris Patla Manual Therapy Research Grant from the Foundation for Physical Therapy Research to study how to best identify patients with neck pain likely to benefit from cervical spinal manipulation.
Megan Flores, PhD, PT, Clinical Associate Professor in the Department of Physical Therapy in Baylor University’s Robbins College of Health and Human Sciences, has received a two-year, National Institutes of Health (NIH) subaward in partnership with Sandra Vanegas, PhD, Research Assistant Professor in the Texas Center for Disability Studies in the University of Texas at Austin’s Steve Hicks School of Social Work. Baylor received $74,063 from the $275,000 award, and Flores will serve as Baylor’s principal investigator (PI).
This past year, faculty in Baylor University's Department of Physical Therapy have continued their combined excellence in collaboration, research, and teaching, specifically through the receipt of internal grant awards. The projects highlighted here received funding either through the Robbins College of Health and Human Sciences Research Award program, or through the Academy for Teaching and Learning's University Teaching Exploration Grant.
