Abstract
Pamela W Duncan, PT, PhD, FAPTA
Dr Duncan has actively participated in and contributed to physical therapist practice, physical therapist professional education, professional preparation of other health care providers, national policy development related to rehabilitation after stroke and aging, and scientific investigation. She has served several government appointments and provides leadership within several organizations. She served as co-chair of the Consensus Panel on Establishing Guidelines for Stroke Rehabilitation for the Agency for Health Care Policy, Research, and Education. She was a panel member on the National Institutes of Health's Total Hip Replacement Consensus Conference and served on the Strategic Planning Group for Stroke Research for the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke. She recently was appointed to serve on the Steering Committee of the Department of Education's National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research and is currently on the Executive Leadership Council of the American Stroke Foundation and the Advisory Committee of the Canadian Stroke Network. She has served on committees and panels for the American Heart Association and was president of APTA's Neurology section.
Dr Duncan's research activities focus on geriatric rehabilitation, stroke rehabilitation, and health outcomes measurement. She developed the Functional Reach Test, used to assess balance in older adults. In the past 20 years, she has received $13 million in research awards as principal investigator or co-investigator from agencies such as the National Institutes of Health, National Institute on Aging, American Heart Association, Department of Veteran's Affairs, and National Center for Medical Rehabilitation Research and from multiple private funding sources. Dr Duncan has disseminated her research findings in more than 80 peer-reviewed articles in 20 different journals, and she has written a book and 12 book chapters.
Dr Duncan's work has influenced the care and rehabilitation of patients in the United States and worldwide. Physical therapy education programs across the country incorporate her findings and professional vision into the preparation of the next generation of physical therapists.
APTA has awarded Dr Duncan the Marian Williams Award for Research in Physical Therapy, the Catherine Worthingham Fellowship Award, and the Mary McMillan Scholarship Award. She has also received research awards from the APTA Neurology Section, Sports Physical Therapy Section, and Section on Geriatrics, as well as a service award from the Neurology Section. She is an elected fellow of the Stroke Council of the American Heart Association and has given 8 invited lectureships at universities across the United States.
One Grip a Little Stronger