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Sue Smith, PT, PhD is a tenured Associate Professor and Director of the Programs in the Physical Therapy and Rehabilitation Sciences and holds a graduate research faculty appointment in the College of Nursing and Health Professions. She earned her BS degree in physical therapy from the University of Connecticut, her MS degree in health science instruction from Texas Woman’s University, and her PhD in biomechanics from Texas Woman’s University. Dr. Smith joined the Drexel faculty in 2004. She has 36 years clinical experience at a variety of practice sites and over 20 years faculty experience.
Her clinical, teaching and research focus is orthopedic and women’s health physical therapy with emphasis on quantitative evaluation, spinal pain, osteoporosis and health promotion. Dr. Smith has served as the principal or co-investigator in 19 funded research proposals. She has presented at local, regional, national, and international meetings and has published in a variety of journals. Dr. Smith has also authored or coauthored several book chapters. In addition, she has served as the major research advisor for over 15 students earning post-professional MS or doctoral (PhD) degrees. Currently she directs the Osteoporosis Education and Exercise Program and serves on committees for the Arthritis Foundation.
Current Projects
- Role of unresolved musculoskeletal impairments in the development of recurrent and chronic low back pain (with S. Silfies)
- Reliability of selected Human Performance Measures for Individuals with Los Bone Mass (J. Kapila and E. Wang)
- Effects of exercise and electrical stimulation on urinary incontinence in women (with J. Firra)
- Effect of exercise on thoracic kyphosis, trunk strength, shoulder range of motion, and function in postmenopausal women with low bone mass (with C. Grafa)
- Effect of prescribed step length and gait velocity in walking on ground reaction force in postmenopausal women with low bone mass of the hip (with L. Krum)
Current Grants
Co-PI: “Validation of Clinical Observation of Aberrant Movement Patterns in Patients with Mechanical Low Back Pain” (with S. Biely and S. Silfies)
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