The UMass Lowell Department of Physical Therapy and Kinesiology enhances the well-being and quality of life of humans through the generation of scientific knowledge and development of evidence-based practice. Our faculty hold national and international recognition for their areas of expertise, which is evidenced by the publication of numerous research articles in high impact scientific journals and the authorship of some of the most widely utilized textbooks in the fields of sports medicine, physical therapy, athletic training, kinesiology, biomechanics, exercise science, physiology, neuroscience, and rehabilitation science. In addition, many undergraduate and graduate students have been authors or co-authors on this work through the mentorship of department faculty.

Click on the plus signs below to expand the list of recent publications from our faculty and students by year.

Manuscripts

Boopathy G, Aoki E, Norcéide F, Thompson C, Lewis E, Chandra K. Digital engineering framework for promoting health and human performance with immersive technology. 2025 IEEE International systems Conference (SysCon). 1-8.

Brau SD, Cornell DJ, Mendelson BJ, Marciniak RA, Ebersole KT. Differences in fitness between cadet and general population firefighter academy recruits. Int J Exerc Sci. 2025;18(8):774-793.

Brilmyer J, Palisano RJ, O’Neil ME, Shroyer K. Physical activity intensity in youth with chronic pain with and without healthy weight: a preliminary study. Disabilities. 2025;5(3):80.

Fouhy LE#, Mangano KM, Zhang X, Dawson-Hughes B, Cornell DJ, Tucker KL, Noel SE. Associations between urinary catecholamines and glucocorticoids and bone mineral density and osteoporosis among Puerto Rican adults. J Bone Miner Res. 2025;40(4):500-510.

Gore S, Chou LN, Karmarkar A, Adhikari D, Keysor J, Taylor JA, Kumar A. Five-year trajectories of gait speed and hand grip strength in older adults with cardiometabolic multimorbidity: a national retrospective cohort study. BMC Geriatr. 2025;25(1):716.

Jee E, Ouf W, Kim J, Kim Y. Interplay between mTORC1 signaling, iron homeostasis, and muscle atrophy. Free Radic Biol Med. 2025;241(16):970-980.

Kao PC, Cornell DJ. Effects of physical fatigue on heart rate variability. Sensors. 2025;25(17):5572.

Kao PC, Lomasney C^. Walking stability and kinematic variability following motor fatigue induced by incline treadmill walking. Sensors. 2025;25(5):1489.

LaMarca A, Karim R, Larsen G, Tse I, Wechsler S, Gauthier LV, Keysor J. Behaviorally informed interventions to promote activity in the home and community for adults with neurological disorders: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Phys Ther. 2025;105(11):pzaf117.

LaMarca A, Larsen G, Lyons KD, Keysor J. Physical therapists' use of behavior change strategies to promote physical activity for individuals with neurological conditions. Healthcare. 2025;13(19):2485.

Maloney A, Lee J#, Queathem ED, Schaller K, Buckhary S, Lubahn DB, Valentine RJ, Vieira-Potter VJ. CL316,243 and skeletal muscle metabolism: role of sex and estrogen receptor beta. J Endocrinol. 2025;266(3):e250005.

Rogers DW#, Himariotis AT#, Sherriff TJ#, Proulx QJ#, Duong MT#, Noel SE, Cornell DJ. Test-retest reliability and concurrent validity of photoplethysmography finger sensor to collect measures of heart rate variability. Sports. 2025;13(2):29.

Rosen H, Berger N, Hodge S, Fujishiro A, Lourie J, Kapadia V, Duzz T, Linden M, Jee E, Kim J, Kim Y, Zou K. Inhibition of mitochondrial fission protein Drp1 ameliorates skeletal myopathy in the D2-mdx model of Duchenne muscular dystrophy. Am J Physiol Cell Physiol. 2025;329(1):C307-C324.

Roseen EJ, Joyce C, Winbush S, Pavco-Luttschwager N, Morone NE, Saper RB, Bartels S, Patel KV, Keysor JJ, Bean JF, Laird LD. Primary care barriers and facilitators to nonpharmacologic treatments for low back pain: A qualitative pilot study. PM R. 2025;Suppl 2:S164-S175.

Stanwicks AJ#, Pang PC#, Allgood HC#, Kim Y, Wu YN. Short-term effects of an exercise protocol incorporating body cooling and limb compression in healthy young adults. Methods Protoc. 2025;8(6):135.

Toomer-Mensah N, O'Neil M, Quinn L. Validity of PROMIS® pediatric physical activity parent proxy short form Scale as a physical activity measure for children with cerebral palsy who are non-ambulatory. Behav Sci. 2025;15(8):1042.

Wengrovius C, Miles C, Fragala-Pinkham M, O’Neil ME. Health promotion and physical wellness in pediatric physical therapy. Pediatr Phys Ther. 2025;37(1):72-79.

  • ^denotes UMass Lowell undergraduate student author.
  • #denotes UMass Lowell graduate student author.

Manuscripts

Cornell DJ, Flees RJ, Shemelya CM, Ebersole KT. Influence of cardiorespiratory fitness on cardiac autonomic recovery among active-duty firefighters. J Strength Cond Res. 2024;38(1):66-73.

Cornell DJ, Gnacinski SL, Ebersole KT. Changes in dynamic balance ability among firefighter recruits: a longitudinal cohort study. J Strength Cond Res. 2024;38(4):734-741.

Flanagan KD#, Cornell DJ, Zhang X, Mangano KM, Tucker KL, Noel SE. Adherence to Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension (DASH) diet and disability among Puerto Rican adults. Am J Clin Nutr. 2024;120(2):389-397.

Hsu PY, Singer J, Keysor JJ. The evolution of augmented reality to augment physical therapy: A scoping review. J Rehabil Assist Technol Eng. 2024;11:20556683241252092.

Kao PC, Pierro MA#, Gonzalez DM^. Performance during attention-demanding walking conditions in older adults. Gait Posture. 2024;109:70-77.

Karim R, Keysor J. Substance use disorder education in physical therapy curricula. J Allied Health. 2024;53(1):32-37.

Kim Y, Parry HA, Willingham TB, Alspaugh A, Lindberg E, Combs CA, Knutson JR, Bleck CK, Glancy B. Postnatal development of muscle mitochondria-organelle interactions. J Physiol. 2024;602(5):891-912.

Krishna S, Valentine RJ, Quindry JC, Selsby JT. The interaction of Duchenne muscular dystrophy and insulin resistance. Exerc Sport Sci Rev. 2024;52(1):31-38.

Marciniak RA, Cornell DJ, Meyer BB, Azen R, Laiosa MD, Ebersole KT. Workloads of emergency call types in active-duty firefighters. Merits. 2024;4(1):1-18.

Parry HA, Willingham TB, Giordano KA, Kim Y, S Qazi, JR Knutson, Combs CA, Glancy B. Impact of capillary and sarcolemmal proximity on mitochondrial structure and energetic function in skeletal muscle. J Physiol. 2024;602(9):1967-1986.

Reed CH, Tystahl AC, Eo H, Buhr TJ, Bauer EE, Lee JH, Clark PJ, Valentine RJ. The interaction between acute stress and binge-patterned alcohol drinking on skeletal muscle protein synthesis in male mice. Biomolecules. 2024;14(5):527.

Roseen EJ, Patel KV, Ward R, de Grauw X, Atlas SJ, Bartels S, Keysor JJ, Bean JF. Trends in chiropractic care and physical rehabilitation use among adults with low back pain in the United States, 2002 to 2018. J Gen Intern Med. 2024;39(4):578-586.

Toomer-Mensah N, O’Neil ME, Quinn L. Measuring physical activity in non-ambulatory children with cerebral palsy: exploratory case series. Pediatr Phys Ther. 2024;36(3):353-362.

^denotes undergraduate student author.
#denotes graduate student author.

Manuscripts

AlHeresh R, Simpson E, Allaire S, Keysor J. Workplace barriers among people with rheumatic and chronic back pain: Results from the work experience survey for rheumatic conditions. Work. 2023;75(3):869-875.

Al-Mfarej D, Vojtech JM, Roy SH, Townsend E, Keysor JJ, Kuntz N, Rao V, Kline JC, Shiwani B. A virtual reality exergame: clinician-guided breathing and relaxation for children with muscular dystrophy. 2023 IEEE Conf Virtual Real 3D User Interfaces Abstr Workshops. 2023;2023:270-276.

Chen YN, Wu YN, Yang BS. The neuromuscular control for lower limb exoskeleton- a 50-year perspective. J Biomech. 2023;Sep:158:111738.

Chen MJ, Xu Y, Sirois A, Li Y, Dempski R, Smith GM, Oda Y, Telliel YD, Lewis E, Wolkowicz K. WheelUp! Developing an interactive electric-power wheelchair virtual training environment. IEEE Conference on Games (CoG). 2023:1-6.

Clark PJ, Buhr TJ, Reed CH, Wee OM, Lee JH, Yuan LL, Fleshner M, Valentine RJ. The persistence of stress-induced physical inactivity in rats: an investigation of central monoamine neurotransmitters and skeletal muscle oxidative stress. Front Behav Neurosci. 2023;14:1169151.

Dhorajia VV#, Kim J, Kim Y. Early adaptive responses in the skeletal muscle of young mice with hereditary hemochromatosis. Mol Biol Rep. 2023;50(4):3179-3187.

Forcino RC, Rotenberg S, Morrissette KJ, Godzik CM, Lichtenstein JD, Schiffelbein JE, Stevens CJ, Sundar V, Brucker DL, Connolly D, Keysor J, Lyons KD. Exploring acceptability of employment interventions to support people living with cancer: qualitative study of cancer survivors, health care providers, and employers. JMIR Form Res. 2023;7:e47263.

Gannotti ME, O'Neil ME, Fragala-Pinkham M, Gorton GE, Whitney DG. Policy brief: adaptive cycling equipment for individuals with neurodevelopmental disabilities as durable medical equipment. Front Rehabil Sci. 2023;4:1160948.

Gao Y#, Epstein S#, Inalpolat M, Wu YN, Gu Y. Modeling of interface loads for EOD suit wearers. arXiv e-prints. 2023:arXiv-2302.

Gauthier L, Rider JV, Donkers S. Applying behavior change techniques to support client outcomes in outpatient neurorehabilitation: a clinician guide. Arch Phys Med Rehabil. 2023;104(4):711-715.

Joyce C, Keysor J, Stevans J, Ready K, Roseen EJ, Saper RB. Beyond the pain: a qualitative study exploring the physical therapy experience in patients with chronic low back pain. Physiother Theory Pract. 2023:39(4):803-813.

Kao PC, Lomasney C^, Gu Y, Clark JP, Yanco HA. Effects of induced motor fatigue on walking mechanics and energetics. J Biomech. 2023;156:111688.

Katti P, Kim Y, Sundaresan NR, Gouspillou G, Hinton A Jr. Cite. Editorial: Muscle plasticity: regulation of adaptive changes in muscles and mitochondrial dynamics. Front Physiol. 2023;14:1192759.

Krishna S, Echevarria KG, Reed CH, Eo H, Wintzinger M, Quattrocelli M, Valentine RJ, Selsby JT. A fat- and sucrose-enriched diet causes metabolic alterations in mdx mice. Am J Physiol Reg Integr Comp Physiol. 2023;325(6):R692-R711.

Krishna S, Spaulding HR, Koltes JE, Quindry JC, Valentine RJ, Selsby JT. Indicators of increased ER stress and UPR in aged D2-mdx and human dystrophic skeletal muscle. Front Physiol. 2023;14:1152576.

Kwon OS, Tamura Y, Kim Y. Editorial: New insights into the role of mitochondria in muscle pathophysiology. Front Physiol. 2023;14:1151120.

LaMarca A, Tse I, Keysor J. Rehabilitation technologies for chronic conditions: will we sink or swim? Healthcare (Basel). 2023;11(20):2751.

Peznola S, Gauthier LV, Claypool MC, Roop B, Lammert AC. Compliance with in-home self-managed rehabilitation post-stroke is largely independent of scheduling approach. Arch Phys Med Rehabil. 2023;104(4):554-561.

Renner MN, Gnacinski SL, Porter FJ, Cornell DJ. The influence of age and dynamic balance on functional movement among active-duty police officers. J Sport Rehabil. 2023;32(3):242-247.

Shen J, Gauthier LV, Li W. A population-based study on injury risk and disparities among children with ADHD. J Atten Disord. 2023;27(8):859-866.

Shen J, Shi J, Gauthier LV, Li W. The economic burden of injuries in children with ADHD in the U.S. from 2011 to 2020. J Atten Disord. 2023;27(14):1561-1570.

Teixeira PEP, Pacheco-Barrios K, Branco LC, de Melo PS, Marduy A, Caumo W, Papatheodorou S, Keysor J, Fregni F. The analgesic effect of transcranial direct current stimulation in fibromyalgia: a systematic review, meta-analysis, and meta-regression of potential influencers of clinical effect. Neuromodulation. 2023;26(4):715-7127.

^denotes undergraduate student author
#denotes graduate student author

Manuscripts

Alley JR, Valentine RJ, Kohut ML. Mitochondrial mass of naïve T cells is associated with aerobic fitness and energy expenditure of active and inactive adults. Med Sci Sports Exer. 2022;54(8):1288-1299.

Bhat A, Fiss A, O'Neil ME, Sansom JK, Heathcock JC, Dusing SC, Christy JB, APTA APPT Research Agenda Task Force. Steps to revising the APTA Pediatrics research agenda. Pediatr Phys Ther. 2022;34(3):418-420.

Borstad A, Nichols-Larsen D, Uswatte G, Strahl N, Simeo M, Proffitt R, Gauthier L. Tactile sensation improves following motor rehabilitation for chronic stroke: the VIGoROUS randomized controlled trial. Neurorehabil Neural Repair. 2022;36(8):525-534.

Eo H, Valentine RJ. Saturated fatty acid-induced ER stress and insulin resistance are prevented by imoxin in C2C12 myotubes. Front Physiol. 2022;13:842819.

Gauthier LV, Nichols-Larsen DS, Uswatte G, Strahl N, Simeo M, Proffitt R, et al. Video Game Rehabilitation for Outpatient Stroke (VIGoROUS): a multi-site randomized controlled trial of in-home, self-managed, upper-extremity therapy. eClinicalMedicine. 2022;43:101239.

Gore S, Keysor J. COVID-19 Postacute sequela rehabilitation: a look to the future through the lens of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and pulmonary rehabilitation. Arch Rehabil Res Clin Transl. 2022;4(2):100185.

Himariotis AT#, Coffey KF, Noel SE, Cornell DJ. Validity of a smartphone application in calculating measures of heart rate variability. Sensors. 2022;22(4):9883.

Kao PC, Norton A, Wu YN, Ramsay JW, Gregorczyk KN, Yanco HA. Characterizing human performance during soldier-relevant tasks with a knee-actuated exoskeleton. J DoD Res Eng. 2022;5(4):12-24.

Kao PC, Pierro MA#. Motor adaptation to cognitive challenges and walking perturbations in healthy young adults. Gait Posture. 2022;92:167-175.

Katti P, Hall AS, Parry HA, Ajayi PT, Kim Y, Willingham TB, Bleck CKE, Wen H, Glancy B. Mitochondrial network configuration influences sarcomere and myosin filament structure in striated muscles. Nature Commun. 2022;13(1):6058.

Kim Y, Ajayi PT, Bleck CKE, Glancy B. Three-dimensional remodeling of the cellular energy distribution system during postnatal heart development. Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci. 2022;377(1864):20210322.

Lefferts WK, Davis MM, Valentine RJ. Exercise is aging: a new perspective on the mechanisms behind exercise as preventive medicine against age-related chronic disease. Front Physiol. 2022;13:866792.

Rafiei MH, Gauthier LV, Adeli H, Takabi D. Self-supervised learning for electroencephalography. IEEE Trans Neural Netw Learn Syst. 2022:PP.

Reed CH, Buhr TJ, Tystahl AC, Bauer EE, Clark PJ, Valentine RJ. Effects of voluntary wheel running and alcohol consumption on skeletal muscle signaling in female mice. Alcohol. 2022;104:45-52.

Seo G, Lee SW, Beer RF, Alamri A, Wu YN, Raghavan P, Rymer WZ, Roh J. Alterations in motor modules and their contribution to limitations in force control in the upper extremity after stroke. Front Hum Neurosci. 2022;16:937391.

Summers CM, Valentine RJ. Two hours of heat stress induces MAP-Kinase signaling and autophagasome accumulation in C2C12 myotubes. Cell Biochem Biophys. 2022;80(2):367-73.

Teixeira PEP, Tavares DRB, Pacheco-Barrios K, Branco LC, Slawka E, Keysor J, Trevisani VFM, Gross DK, Fregni F. Development of a clinical prediction rule for treatment success with transcranial direct current stimulation for knee osteoarthritis pain: a secondary analysis of a double-blind randomized controlled trial. Biomedicines. 2022;11(1):4.

Wu YN, Norton A, Zielinski MR, Kao PC, Stanwicks A#, Pang P#, Cring CH, Yanco H. Characterizing the effects of explosive ordnance disposal operations on the human body while wearing heavy personal protective equipment. Hum Factors. 2022;64(7):1137-1153.


Book Chapters / Textbooks

Moriarty-Baron J, O’Sullivan SB. Interventions to improve standing and standing balance skills. In: Bezkor EW, O’Sullivan SB, Schmitz TJ. Improving Functional Outcomes in Physical Rehabilitation, 3rd ed. Philadelphia, PA: FA Davis Company; 2022:235-267. ISBN: 9781719640909

Moriarty-Baron J. Interventions for vestibular rehabilitation. In: Bezkor EW, O’Sullivan SB, Schmitz TJ. Improving Functional Outcomes in Physical Rehabilitation, 3rd ed. Philadelphia, PA: FA Davis Company; 2022:349-375. ISBN: 9781719640909

Moriarty-Baron J. Case Study 9: Patient with vestibular dysfunction. In: Bezkor EW, O’Sullivan SB, Schmitz TJ. Improving Functional Outcomes in Physical Rehabilitation, 3rd ed. Philadelphia, PA: FA Davis Company; 2022:441-443. ISBN: 9781719640909

^denotes undergraduate student author
#denotes graduate student author

Manuscripts

AlHeresh R, Vaughan MW, Brenner IH, Keysor J. Recruitment cost and outcomes for an arthritis work disability prevention randomized clinical trial: The Work It study. Contemp Clin Trials Commun. 2021;24:100862.

Bailey JE, Gurgol C, Pan E, Njie S, Emmett S, Gatwood J, Gauthier L, Rosas LG, Kearney SM, Robler SK, Lawrence RH. Early patient-centered outcomes research experience with the use of telehealth to address disparities: scoping review. J Med Internet Res. 2021;23(12):e28503.

Bries AE, Webb JL, Vogel B, Carrillo C, Day TA, Kimber MJ, Valentine RJ, Rowling MJ, Clark S, Schalinske KL, McNeill EM. RNA sequencing reveals key metabolic pathways are modified by short-term whole egg consumption. Front Nutr. 2021;8:652192.

Buhr TJ, Reed CH, Shoeman A, Bauer EE, Valentine RJ, Clark PJ. The influence of moderate physical activity on mouse brain monoaminergic responses to binge-patterned alcohol ingestion. Front Behav Neurosci. 2021;15:639790.

Cheng R#, Dhorajia VV#, Kim J, Kim Y. Mitochondrial iron metabolism and neurodegenerative diseases. Neurotoxicology. 2021;88:88-101.

Cornell DJ, Ebersole KT, Azen R, Zalewski KR, Earl-Boehm JE, Alt CA. Measures of functional movement quality among firefighters. Athl Train Sports Health Care. 2021;13(5):262-270.

Cornell DJ, Gnacinski, SL, Ebersole KT. Functional movement quality of firefighter recruits: longitudinal changes from the academy to active-duty status. Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2021;18(7):3656.

Cornell DJ, Noel SE, Zhang X, Ebersole KT. Influence of body composition on post-exercise parasympathetic reactivation of firefighter recruits. Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2021;18(1):339.

Dean N#, Gu Y, Kao PC, Wu YN, Zielinski M, Inalpolat M. Pressure monitoring based identification of the EOD suit-human interface load distribution. Int J Intell Robot Appl. 2021;5:410-423.

DiCarlo JA, Gheihman G, Lin DJ, 2019 Northeast Cerebrovascular Consortium Conference Stroke Recovery Workshop Participants (Gauthier LV). Reimagining stroke rehabilitation and recovery across the care continuum: results from a design-thinking workshop to identify challenges and propose solutions. Arch Phys Med Rehabil. 2021;102(8):1645-1657.

Eo H, Valentine RJ. Imoxin inhibits tunicamycin-induced ER stress and restores insulin signaling in C2C12 myotubes. Am J Physiol Cell Physiol. 2021;321(2):C221-229.

Gauthier LV, Proffitt R, Borstad A, Kelly K. Constraint-induced movement therapy via telehealth builds client autonomy with therapist guidance. Brain Inj Prof. 2021;18(2):20-21.

Joyce C, Roseen EJ, Keysor JJ, Gross KD, Culpepper L, Saper RB. Can yoga or physical therapy for chronic low back pain improve depression and anxiety among adults from a racially diverse, low-income community? A secondary analysis of a randomized controlled trial. Arch Phys Med Rehabil. 2021;102(6):1049-1058.

Kao PC, Pierro MA#, Wu T#, Gonzalez DM^, Seeley R#. Association between functional physical capacity and cognitive performance under destabilizing walking conditions in older adults. Exp Gerontol. 2021;155:111582.

Kao PC, Pierro MA#. Dual-task treadmill walking at self-paced versus fixed speeds. Gait Posture. 2021;89:92-101.

Luna A, Casertano L, Timmerberg J, O’Neil ME, Machowsky J, Leu CS, Lin J, Fang Z, Douglas W, Agrawal S. Artificial intelligence application versus physical therapist for squat evaluation: a randomized controlled trial. Sci Rep. 2021;11(1):18109.

Marciniak RA, Ebersole KT, Cornell DJ. Relationships between balance and physical fitness variables in firefighter recruits. Work. 2021;68(3):667-677.

Nein C, Chen KH, Wu YN, Chuang SL, Yang BS. Using range of motion to examine the effects of deep brain stimulation on gait function of Parkinson’s disease patients with freezing of gait: a proof-of-concept study. J Biomech Sci Eng. 2021:16(2):21-00093.

Noel SE, Cornell DJ, Zhang X, Mirochnick JC#, Mattei J, Falcón LM, Tucker KL. Patterns of change in cardiovascular risk assessments and ankle brachial index among Puerto Rican adults. PLoS One. 2021;16(1):e0245236.

Sherriff TJ#, Ebersole KT, Cornell DJ. Relationship between gastrocnemius muscle length and overhead squat movement compensations among active-duty firefighters. Int J Athl Ther Train. 2021;26(4):230-235.

Shirazi BR, Valentine RJ, Lang JA. Reproducibility of novel indices of reactive hyperemia using laser speckle contrast imaging. PLoS One. 2021;16(1):e0244795.

Wu YN, Stark C#, Gravel J, White M, Avery J, Enis T, Cantu RC. Effects of interval-training exercise on people who have had persistent post-concussive symptoms for less than one year: a pilot study. J Neurotrauma. 2021;38(5):573-581.

^denotes undergraduate student author
#denotes graduate student author