Deborah Thorpe (United States of America)

Session

Focused symposium:  Fit-Active-Habits: Measuring Fitness and Physical Activity in Cerebral Palsy (Speaker)

Biography

Dr. Thorpe is an associate professor in the Division of Physical Therapy, Center for Human Movement Science at The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in Chapel Hill, NC. She holds Center Investigator positions in the Center for Development and Learning and the Carolina Institute for Developmental Disabilities/Neurodevelopmental Disabilities Research Center. Dr. Thorpe has been a pediatric physical therapist for 21 years. She has spent the last 12 years primarily in a teaching and research capacity with clinical consultations to enhance fitness and physical activity for individuals with cerebral palsy (CP). She has been a Pediatric Certified Specialist with the American Physical Therapy Association for 16 years. Dr. Thorpe was the 2003 recipient of the United Cerebral Palsy Association Research and Education Foundation, Ethel Hausman Clinical Research Scholars Award. She was a co-coordinator for the first APTA, Section on Pediatrics Research Summit in October 2004 on "Promotion of Fitness and Prevention of Secondary Complications for Children with Cerebral Palsy". Her present research focuses on fitness and physical activity interventions for persons with CP across the lifespan. She currently has an NIH K23 (career development award) to study the development of secondary conditions and the effects of aquatic fitness intervention in adults with CP. Dr. Thorpe has presented her research and ideas on fitness and health promotion for persons with developmental disabilities nationally and internationally.

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