# Predoctoral Training in Physical Therapy and Rehabilitation Research

> **NIH NIH T32** · UNIVERSITY OF DELAWARE · 2021 · $215,284

## Abstract

PROJECT SUMMARY/ABSTRACT
Clinical rehabilitations scientists with the formal research training to bring multidisciplinary research
approaches to answer important questions related to rehabilitation are scarce. The goal of this pre-doctoral
training program is to continue to improve the quality and quantity of individuals who will contribute to the
knowledge and evidence that drives best practice in physical rehabilitation. This successful and innovative
training program, coordinated through the Department of Physical Therapy, has had 20 years of previous
funding. All trainees who have completed the DPT portion of the program have successfully passed the
national licensure examination in Physical Therapy on their first attempt and have become licensed to practice
physical therapy. All past trainees have become postdoctoral fellows or entered into faculty or research-
intensive positions. Those in faculty positions are in some of the most outstanding Physical Therapy programs
in the US. Their work has received awards, been published in journals of high quality (highest impact journals
in rehabilitation), and been frequently cited. In addition, 6/11 of our trainees who are in faculty positions have
been PI or Co-I on NIH funding, with 4 as PIs on active R01 grants. Additionally, our most recent cadre of T32
program graduates have funding from private foundations (e.g., American Heart Association), PCORI, and one
is a Fulbright Scholar. These data are a representation of the outstanding scientific impact of our previous
trainees. It is also notable that all of the current trainees or those who are in post-doctoral positions have
received scholarships and/or external funding, again a testament to the outstanding productivity and quality of
work of our trainees. The program fuses two independent training programs: an outstanding entry level
Doctorate in Physical Therapy (DPT) and a very successful interdisciplinary PhD program in Biomechanics and
Movement Science. The program is analogous to the MD/PhD programs that train medical scientists. By
helping to reduce the often sizable debt incurred during the DPT training program, trainees are able to delay
the opportunity to earn the salaries that clinicians enjoy and move directly into the PhD program. Students in
the program become both physical therapists and rehabilitation research scientists. Trainees are selected from
a pool of outstanding students with diverse undergraduate backgrounds who enter the DPT program. Many of
these students express an interest in research before admission to the program. This training program attracts
the best and brightest individuals with a sincere interest in physical rehabilitation research and tracks them
early in their training into research careers. The need is enormous. Both new and established academic
physical therapy programs need doctorally trained individuals for teaching and research positions. Graduates
of this training program are ideal faculty members who...

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10150047
- **Project number:** 5T32HD007490-22
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF DELAWARE
- **Principal Investigator:** DARCY S. REISMAN
- **Activity code:** T32 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2021
- **Award amount:** $215,284
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 1996-08-20 → 2025-04-30

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10150047

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10150047, Predoctoral Training in Physical Therapy and Rehabilitation Research (5T32HD007490-22). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-23 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10150047. Licensed CC0.

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