Clinical Research Manager
Northwestern University, Feinberg School of Medicine, Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation
Chicago, Illinois, United States
Dr. Kestner's clinical background as a Doctorate of Physical Therapy has spanned the continuum of care including acute care, acute rehabilitation, and outpatient therapy services with a focus on neurologic diagnoses and specifically traumatic brain injury (TBI). Her expansive experience at multiple levels of care has provided her with clinical experience from concussion and mild traumatic brain injury to severe TBI and Disorders of Consciousness (DoC). Her roles throughout her career have included experience as a staff therapist, research assistant, and management level roles that position me to have insight and expertise across varied stakeholder positions relevant to implementation of new clinical treatments. My early career experience focused specifically on the TBI population and patients in Disorders of Consciousness. Her roles as a staff therapist and later Program Specialist included training allied health students and licensed professionals on best practice and clinical management of this population. In her clinical leadership role as Program Specialist, she contributed to programmatic decisions and organizational education for this rare and specialized population. She has provided professional continuing education on this population nationally and continue to educate doctoral candidate physical therapy students on assessment of this population. I played an integral role as a research therapist on the original Familiar Auditory Sensory Training (FAST) randomized clinical trial, aiding in recruitment, treatment development, intervention implementation, and completing neurobehavioral assessments on participants with DoC, which provide her with unique experience to advance clinical implementation of this treatment. Dr. Kestner's current role as Clinical Research Manager includes overseeing and providing training on implementation of clinical research trials, including treatment provision, data collection, and oversite of date management and entry. This combination of expert clinical experience and research expertise provides her with a unique perspective to understand the varied positions and interests of stakeholders to advance clinical applications and implementation of FAST. Dr. Kestner has also contributed to academic resources available to clinicians managing patients with severe TBI through publication of “Physical Therapy: Mobility, Transfers, and Ambulation; Vestibular Rehabilitation” in each edition of Manual of Traumatic Brain Injury Assessment and Management.
Disclosure information not submitted.
Sunday, November 3, 2024
2:00 PM – 3:00 PM
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