�����Թ�

Department of Physical Therapy faculty presented research and led educational sessions at the 2025 American Physical Therapy Association Combined Sections Meeting.

Held Feb. 13–15, APTA-CSM drew thousands of attendees to Houston. At the conference, Assistant Professor Anjali Sivaramakrishan, PT, PhD, was awarded the Academy of Neurologic Physical Therapy Balance and Falls Special Interest Group Research Award.

“This is the first national award I’ve received at a national level, so that’s really exciting for me,” Sivaramakrishnan said. 

Much of Sivaramakrishnan’s research is specifically focused on improving balance and strength in the lower extremities of people with Parkinson’s disease.

“Balance is a perpetual problem; everyone with Parkinson’s Disease is going to have difficulty with balance,” she said. “The purpose of our research is to find out why people with Parkinson’s Disease fall and how we can address that.”

Two faculty members presented educational sessions. Assistant Professor Bobby Belarmino, PT, DPT, PhD, was a presenter for “Current Exercise Prescription for Selected Diagnoses in Acute and Post-Acute Settings.” He and his co-presenters suggested ways to prescribe high-intensity exercise to a packed audience.

“What we have found out is that physical therapists tend to underdose their exercise prescriptions because of the fear of overdoing it,” he said. “In reality, research suggests that if you don’t do the appropriate dosage of exercise, you are not getting the appropriate physiological  benefits of exercise training, and now there is a lot of literature suggesting that getting high-intensity exercise has more benefit. It reduces morbidity and mortality and also has better cardio-protective benefits.”

Associate Professor Sandeep Subramanian, PT, Ph.D., M.Sc, was one of four presenters in an educational session titled “ What the Hand — Application of Technology to Enhance Hand Recovery in Persons Post Stroke.”

The session was specifically geared toward hand recovery in people recovering from stroke and included information on motor learning, which Subramanian presented, sensorimotor neuroscience behind hand recovery, as well as available virtual reality and robotic devices and the evidence behind virtual reality.

“It was very well received,” he said.  “There were loads of discussion and questions on how to use these devices in a niche area.”

Department of Physical Therapy Chair and Associate Professor Bradley Tragord, PT, DPT, DSc, praised the faculty’s robust involvement at the conference.

“I'm incredibly proud of our faculty's outstanding contributions at CSM 2025,” Tragord said. “Their presentations, research and engagement highlight the innovative and impactful work being done at �����Թ� and within the School of Health Professions. It's a testament to their dedication and expertise and reinforces our commitment to advancing the physical therapy profession.”

Other faculty presentations (department faculty in bold) included the following, all poster presentations unless otherwise noted: 

• “Feasibility of Blood-Flow Restriction Training Prehabilitation in Older Adults Awaiting Total Knee Replacement.” Authors: Gustavo Almeida, in collaboration with five former DPT students and two orthopedic surgeons
• Demo: “Manual therapy and kinesio taping for orthopedic conditions.” Julie Barnett
•  “Associations between Gait Speed and Psychological Stressors in Patients Hospitalized with Acute Heart Failure.” Authors: Bobby Belarmino (presenter), Rajashree Mondkar (Houston Methodist Hospital)
• Does the Prevalence of Imposter Phenomenon Change over the Course of a DPT Program? Michael Geelhoed and Bradley Tragord
•  “Neurophysiological Effects of Fast Gait Training with Functional Electrical Stimulation in Individuals with Chronic Stroke.” Vyoma Parikh, Anjali Sivaramakrishnan (presenter), Jiang Xu, Trisha Kesar
• . Margot Shima, Mikayla Marshall, Eric Dumais, Sandeep K. Subramanian, PT, PhD, Sandra Dorman, Vineet B. Johnson and Carol Li. Presenters: Vineet Johnson and Sandeep Subramanian
• . Sandeep K. Subramanian, PT, PhD, Yessenia Isabel Perez, SPT, Brian Metting, SPT, Ivana Setka, SPT, Alyssa June Soderdahl, SPT, Summer Rolin and Jeremy J Davis
• . Jillian L Williams, Clint Alan Dreyer, SPT, Cordero Perales, SPT, Nicollette Rodriguez, SPT, Summer Rolin, Jeremy J Davis and Sandeep K. Subramanian, PT, PhD.