Expert to speak on strength training for spastic cerebral palsy

Dr. Diane Damiano, research director of the Motion Analysis and Motor Performance Laboratory of the University of Virginia, will present the 13th annual Maternal and Child Health Lecture for the Division of Physical Therapy in the Department of Rehabilitation Medicine.

She will speak on “The Role of Strength Testing and Training in Children with Spastic Cerebral Palsy: Research and Recommendations” from 4:30 to 6 p.m., Thursday, May 4, in Hogness Auditorium of the Health Sciences Center. The event is open to everyone.

Damiano, also an associate professor of orthopaedics at the University of Virginia, earned a master’s degree in physical therapy from Duke University in 1979 and worked as a physical therapist for several years before earning a Ph.D. in 1993 from the Curry School of Education at the University of Virginia.

In her presentation here, she will review the neurophysiological and biomechanical factors that affect how children with spacticity use their muscles, and will discuss the principles and techniques of strength training that are most important when working with children who have motor disabilities.

Damiano has received several awards for her research, including the 1999 Research Award of the American Physical Therapy Association’s Section on Pediatrics.

For more information, contact Laura Robinson, program coordinator, at 685-7408. ¶