Kristamarie Pratt

Education

PhD, University of Southern California

MEng, Cornell University

BS, Cornell University

Teaching Focus

Associate Professor Pratt has an expertise in orthopedic biomechanics, human anatomy, kinesiology, and research methods relating to rehabilitation sciences and sports medicine. She believes an understanding of foundational concepts is imperative to be successful in clinical practice. Dr. Pratt teaches in the Doctor of Physical Therapy program and the Master of Science in Prosthetics & Orthotics program. She is primarily responsible for teaching biomechanics, a course that focuses on understanding how the body moves, and a scientific inquiry course that teaches future clinicians evidence-based practice skills and how to be a knowledgeable consumer of the literature. Dr. Pratt also assists in kinesiology, gross anatomy, motor control, and doctoral research courses and serves as the liaison between the undergraduate Exercise Science program and the DPT program.  

Professional Interests

Dr. Pratt’s research is clinically motivated and experimentally tested. She studies abnormal movement patterns focusing on lower extremity movement impairments following injury. Specifically, her work aims to develop and validate clinical tools, particularly wearable sensors, for quantifying altered movement patterns. By providing clinicians and patients with objective information regarding movement quality, this work will help develop patient specific training programs and improve outcomes following surgery and/or rehabilitation. Dr. Pratt’s research is not only translational, but also multi-disciplinary as it combines engineering principles with physical therapy and rehabilitation practices. Her current research projects are focused on the identification of movement impairments following anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction surgery. Dr. Pratt is also the Director of the Motion Analysis and Kinesiology Laboratory.