Faculty Research

James R. Brennan, PT, PhD, MS.
Professor Brennan submitted a paper to the Society for Disability Studies entitled How Physical Therapists Psychologized Women with Chronic Pain. He is beginning data collection on the validation of a survey to measure the spirituality in Islam and he is also in the data collection phase on a qualitative study investigating photo elicitation on spirituality and healing.

Laura Z. Gras, PT, DSc, GCS.
In 2005, Dr. Gras was involved in a poster presentation entitled Department-Sponsored Research Mentorship: A Strategy for Facilitating Faculty Scholarship at the American Physical Therapy Annual Scientific Meeting and Exposition, a poster at the Neurodevelopmental Treatment Associations Annual Conference entitled, Perceived Benefits of Therapists who Attended a NDT/Bobath Three Week Course in the Treatment of Adult Hemiplegia, and 4 poster presentations that were highlighted at the American Physical Therapy Association of Massachusetts, Physical Therapy Conference and Exposition. She conducted a one-day course entitled, How to Get Your Patients from Supine to Standing to physical therapists at Northeast Health in October. She is currently the research advisor to 5 physical therapy capstone experiences, of which 2 have received the Broughton Award. Dr. Gras is working collaboratively with researchers at the Lighting Research Center at RPI on the project, The Effectiveness of Lighting Interventions on Preventing Falls in the Elderly. Part of this research was presented at the International Conference of Aging, Disability and Independence in St. Petersburg, Florida in February 2006.

Janet Hakey-Brusgul PT, DPT, MS, CSCS.
Professor Hakey-Brusgul is currently involved in a research project entitled Systemic Lupus Erythematosus Information in Physical Therapy Practice in Districts in New York State.

Esther Haskvitz, PT, PhD, ATC
Dr. Haskvitz presented two research papers at the 2008 Combined Sections meeting of the American Physical Therapy Association in collaboration with Dr. Julia Chevan of Springfield College: 1) A Comparison of Occupational Prestige Ratings of Physical Therapy by DPT and MSPT Students and 2) Do as I Do: Exercise Habits of Physical Therapy Professionals. Two papers have been accepted for presentation at the 2009 Combined Sections meeting of the American Physical Therapy Association. The Effectiveness of the Snapdome Weight Bearing Indicator in Teaching Partial Weight Bearing Gait will be presented with Dr. Julia Chevan and was a joint project with students at both The Sage Colleges and Springfield College. Physical Therapist Management of Patients with Chronic Prostatitis/Chronic Pelvic Pain Syndrome: A Case Report was a capstone project of Dr. Linda VanAlstyne, a Transition DPT Program student and will be presented in collaboration with her and Dr. Kendra Harrington. Dr. Haskvitz has also written a new book titled Applied Sports Medicine for Coaches in collaboration with Dr. James Johnson and Dr. Barbara Brehm of Smith College and it was recently published by Lippincott Williams & Wilkins.

Michelle A. Hunt M.S., P.T.
Professor Hunt is working on her dissertation research which will be evaluating the effectiveness of modality treatment with non-chronic wounds. Professor Hunt presented the results of two research projects at the New York State Society on Aging Annual Conference. The NYSSA is an interdisciplinary association of professionals working in geriatrics/gerontology. The research projects looked at care issues for people with Alzheimers disease in long-term care and educational issues involved with engaging health care students in field of geriatrics. She will be presenting at the American Physical Therapy Association Annual Conference in June 2006 on the use of interactive computer-based tutoring for students learning motion analysis.

Gabriele R. Moriello, PT, MS, GCS.
Professor Moriello published an article, Influence of an educational intervention on pre-allied health students' attitudes toward older adults in the March 2005 issue of Gerontology & Geriatrics Education. She also presented preliminary data for the study, The Effect of Body Weight Support on Gait Parameters in Children with Down Syndrome as a poster at The Massachusetts APTA Annual Conference on November 5th, 2005. Professor Moriello is working on another project, The Effect of Body Weight Support on the Quality of Transfers and Gait in a Person with Chronic Anoxic Brain Injury.

Kathleen Schultze, PT, DPT, MS, CHT.
Professor Schultzes research involves a collaborative project with other members of the New York Physical Therapy Clinical Education Consortium. The article by this group will appear in the Spring 2006 Journal of Physical Therapy Education entitled, Self Reported Characteristics of Physical Therapy Clinical Instructors: A Comparison to the APTA Guidelines and Self-Assessments for Clinical Education.

Marjane B. Selleck, PT, MS, PCS.
Professor Marjane Selleck began serving on the Advisory Board to the New York State Department of Health Bureau of Early Intervention IDEA General Supervision Enhancement Grant (GSEG) to Develop Child and Family Outcomes for the NYS Early Intervention Program. She also conducts state wide training programs for the NYS Early Intervention Program for providers of Early Intervention services. With Dr. Gras, and Dr. Pamela Levangie from Sacred Heart University, she presented a poster at the American Physical Therapy Association Annual Scientific Meeting and Exposition in Boston in June 2005: Department-Sponsored Research Mentorship: A Strategy for Facilitating Faculty Scholarship. She is an invited speaker at the American Physical Therapy Association Annual Combined Sections Meeting in San Diego, CA in February 2006: presentation title Research and Physical Therapy: Best Practice Strategies for Facilitating Research Productive Departments.

Danielle B. Vittone, PT, DSc, MSPA, OCS.
Dr. Vittone has presented two poster presentations in November 2005 at the American Physical Therapy Association of Massachusetts Annual Conference in Norwood Massachusetts. The poster presentations were entitled: An Investigation of Teaching domestic Violence in the Doctor of Physical Therapy Curriculum, and An Investigation of Physical Therapy Outcomes in Victims of Physical Injury with Symptoms of Posttraumatic Stress Disorder.