Biography
I am a physical therapist and assistant professor in the Department of Orthopaedics and Rehabilitation, Division of Physical Therapy at the University of New Mexico. Broadly speaking, my work focuses on clinical research in pain rehabilitation, substance use disorders, and psychological and rehabilitation interventions for both.
Currently, my research involves several projects that are aimed at identifying persons at risk for developing chronic pain and substance use disorders, so that more effective interdisciplinary interventions may be developed. I am leading a pilot study examining risk factors (medical, physical, and psychological) for chronic pain, prolonged opioid use, and opioid misuse after orthopedic injury. Physical therapists play a critical role in recovery after orthopedic injuries. The long-term aim of this work is to develop psychologically informed interventions, delivered by physical therapists, that reduce the interference of pain on physical functioning, prevent the development of opioid use disorder, and support the recovery of those with a history of opioid use disorder.
I also have several projects aimed at understanding risk factors and patterns of substance use and pain during the prenatal period. I am conducting a pilot study that is exploring patterns of substance use retrospectively through electronic health record data. Additionally, in another pilot study I am collecting qualitative data to explore the potential relationship between chronic pain and substance use in mothers with a history of PTSD. The aim of both these projects is to develop interdisciplinary early interventions that are tailored to the unique challenges faced by mothers with pain and substance use disorders, again a setting where that physical therapists could intervene with movement-based therapies (such as perinatal yoga) paired with recovery support.
Personal Statement
am a physical therapist and assistant professor in the Department of Orthopaedics and Rehabilitation, Division of Physical Therapy at the University of New Mexico. Broadly speaking, my work focuses on clinical research in pain rehabilitation, substance use disorders, and psychological and rehabilitation interventions for both.
Currently, my research involves several projects that are aimed at identifying persons at risk for developing chronic pain and substance use disorders, so that more effective interdisciplinary interventions may be developed. I am leading a pilot study examining risk factors (medical, physical, and psychological) for chronic pain, prolonged opioid use, and opioid misuse after orthopedic injury. Physical therapists play a critical role in recovery after orthopedic injuries. The long-term aim of this work is to develop psychologically informed interventions, delivered by physical therapists, that reduce the interference of pain on physical functioning, prevent the development of opioid use disorder, and support the recovery of those with a history of opioid use disorder.
I also have several projects aimed at understanding risk factors and patterns of substance use and pain during the prenatal period. I am conducting a pilot study that is exploring patterns of substance use retrospectively through electronic health record data. Additionally, in another pilot study I am collecting qualitative data to explore the potential relationship between chronic pain and substance use in mothers with a history of PTSD. The aim of both these projects is to develop interdisciplinary early interventions that are tailored to the unique challenges faced by mothers with pain and substance use disorders, again a setting where that physical therapists could intervene with movement-based therapies (such as perinatal yoga) paired with recovery support.
Areas of Specialty
Orthopaedics, Motivational Interviewing, Health psychology, Physical therapy, Pain Science, Trauma informed Care, Mind-Body Interventions
Achievements & Awards
My kids have nominated for two awards for best parent, my wife has won every single time.
Languages
- English
Courses Taught
+ PT 622 Biopsychosocial Practice - In this course I am the primary instructor and within it I present healthcare with a primary focus on the psychological and social aspects of delivering healthcare and their relation to the biomedical aspects of care. More specifically, I present on the importance of therapeutic alliance, social determinants of health, empathy, motivation, grief, suicide interventions, pain, mental health comorbidities in rehab.
+ PT 505 Foundations - This course is a multi-instructor course that I am the course lead. The course is divided into three parts, basic science, professionalism, and clinical science. The overarching aim of the course is to orient students to basic science underlying physical rehabilitation, an introduction to professional issues within physical therapy, and to teach them the fundamentals of clinical practice.
+ PT 650 Differential Diagnosis - I am the primary instructor for this course where we teach clinical reasoning skills for determining appropriateness of care in the outpatient physical therapy setting. This course included two simulated patient experiences. See the section on course development for more information on changes I made to this course.
Research and Scholarship
My career has been devoted to helping patients in pain. I practiced for seven years as a physical therapist specializing in chronic pain. During that experience, I grew interested in investigating the most efficacious approaches to chronic pain. I obtained a PhD in health psychology to improve scientific understanding of pain and behavioral interventions for pain treatment. Thus far in my career, I have implemented and supervised my own experiments in both psychology and physical rehabilitation sciences. The former as part of my PhD training in psychology at the University of New Mexico (UNM) and the latter as part of my Doctorate training in physical therapy (PT). During my PT training, I was supervised by Dr. Sheng Li and Dr. Charles Leonard and my research focused on examining changes in kinematic patterns of movement with fatigue and muscular physiology in zero-gravity.
My psychology training exposed me to the additional behavioral challenges facing those in physical and emotional pain and this has led me to the study of addictions and substance use disorders. I have several publications that advance methods for assessing mechanisms of behavior change in substance use disorders. This work has increased my experience in applying and evaluating advanced statistical techniques including structural equation modeling, sensitivity, mediation and integrative data analyses.