Profiles in excellence.

This month's Profiles in Excellence focuses on the 3 newest members of the Foundation's SRC: Amy J Bastian, PT PhD, Diane L Damiano, PT PhD, and Pamela K Levangie, PT, DSc.

Amy J Bastian, PT, PhD, Director, Motion, Analysis Laboratory, Kennedy Krieger Institute, and Assistant Professor, Departments of Neurology, Neuroscience, and Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, Md, received $22,000 in Foundation-funded doctoral grants in 1994 and 1995, and has since mentored 4 other Foundation recipients who received $90,000 in Foundation scholarships. Her federal experience includes roles as reviewer for National Science Foundation grants, an ad hoc reviewer on the National Institutes of Health's (NIH) Brain Disorders and Clinical Neuroscience study section, and membership on the NIH Task Force on Childhood Motor Disorders.

Dr Bastian's research foci include cerebellar ataxia and movement disorders, cerebral palsy, and Parkinson disease. Her publications include 25 peer-viewed articles and 4 book chapters. She currently is an editorial board member for the Journal of Neurophysiology and is a reviewer on 9 other journals including Physical Therapy and Experimental Brain Research. She has served as principal investigator (PI) on grants totaling more than $1 million and is currently the PI on a 4-year $650,000 award, "Mechanisms and Rehabilitation of Cerebellar Ataxia," from NIH's National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) and the National Center for Medical Rehabili-tation Research (NCMRR). In addition, Dr Bastian is the Core-PI of the Motion Analysis Core of a Mental Retardation Developmental Disabilities Research Center that is funded by the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD, NIH) at Kennedy Krieger Institute and John Hopkins University. The role of the Motion Analysis Core is to provide quantitative methods of documenting the gait, reaching, and learning behaviors of patients in the center's projects.

Diane L Damiano, PT, PhD, Research Associate Professor of Neurology and Adjunct Associate Professor of Physical Therapy, Washington University in St Louis, received a $40,000 postdoctoral research fellowship, "Optimizing Orthotic Prescription in Cerebral Palsy," and a Dorothy Briggs Memorial Scientific Inquiry Award in 1996. She brings to the SRC experience as a reviewer on the NIH's Geriatrics and Rehabilitation Study Section, an NIH Special Emphasis Panel and as an ad hoc reviewer for the Clinical Neurosciences Study Section.

Her research expertise includes pediatric cerebral palsy and the relationship between musculoskeletal impairments and functional health outcomes in spastic cerebral palsy. She has amassed more than $1.25 million in grants as principal investigator (PI). Dr Damiano currently is PI of a 3-year, $625,000 grant, "Effects of Baclofen on Muscle Strength in Cerebral Palsy," from NIH's National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke; PI on an equipment grant, "3-D Mofion System for Movement Disorder Research," from the National Center for Research Resources; and Co-Investigator and Director of the Scientific Core on a $2.4 million program grant, "Enhancing Rehabilitation Research in the Southeast," from the NCMRR. Her publications include 26 peer-reviewed articles and 3 book chapters. She is an editorial board member for Clinical Rehabilitation and Gait and Posture and reviews for 7 other journals, including Physical Therapy and Pediatrics. Presently, Dr Damiano is mentoring, Jason Wingert, PT, MS, a 2003 Foundation PODS I recipient.

Pamela K Levangie, PT, DSc, Professor; Physical Therapy Program, Sacred Heart University, Fairfield, Conn, began her history with the Foundation as the recipient of a $12,000 Doctoral Research Grant in 1993. Prior to her time at Sacred Heart University, she was a member of the faculty of Boston University for 23 years, serving as Program Coordinator for the Master of Science in Physical Therapy Program for 12 of those years. Her research specialties include the effects of assistive devices on gait and, subsequent to her own experiences with breast cancer, the long-term effects of surgery and radiation on shoulder complex function. She has made 44 invited and juried presentations during her career.

Dr Levangie's publications include 18 articles, 2 book chapters, and 1 book. She co-authored Joint Structure and Function: A Comprehensive Analysis, a staple kinesiology text in many physical therapy curricula; in 2001, the book went into its third edition and foreign language pressings in Japan and Korea.

Dr Levangie began her clinical practice working with children with physical disabilities in a residential school setting and was an early contributor to the profession's response to mainstreaming legislation. She serves as a curriculum consultant to other physical therapy programs in kinesiology and research content and on problem-based learning, giving presentations regionally and nationally in these areas. She was awarded APTA's Dorothy E Baethke-Eleanor J Carlin Award for Outstanding Academic Teaching in 2001 and serves as a member of the editorial boards for Physical Therapy and Physiotherapy Research International.

Keep Us Posted

To all Foundation recipients--if you have an article in press based on your Foundation-supported research, please let us know and send us an advance copy as well as the publication date. Once your research is published, we will disseminate the information in Physical Therapy and other available APTA channels.