Physical Therapy professor’s collaborations yield robust research program

By Kate Hunger

Physical Therapy Assistant Professor Gustavo Almeida, PT, Ph.D., joined the faculty in June 2019. Since that time he has pursued a range of collaborations that he credits for helping him establish a robust research program. “The summer was very productive,” he said.

One of Almeida’s areas of research interest is a blood-flow restriction as a pre-rehabilitation tool for patients with osteoarthritis who are awaiting total knee replacement. He recently presented on the topic at an annual meeting in Brazil.
 
In addition to collaborating with other researchers at UT Health San Antonio, Almeida has continued to collaborate with researchers at the University of Pittsburgh, where he served as a research assistant professor and received his Ph.D. in Rehabilitation Science.

“I’ve made a lot of progress, and I am achieving my goals,” he said. “All these people I’ve been collaborating with have made me a very productive researcher.”

Almeida had two papers and a textbook chapter accepted for publication. The paper, “Effect of pre-habilitation in older adults undergoing total joint replacement: An Overview of Systematic Reviews,” was accepted by Current Geriatric Reports and was in collaboration with Associate Professor Boris Zelle, M.D., in the Department of Orthopaedics in the Long School of Medicine and Samannaaz Khoja, PT, Ph.D., in
the Department of Physical Therapy at the University of Pittsburgh.
 
The Journal of Health Care for the Poor and Underserved accepted Almeida’s paper titled “An analysis of traumatic ankle fracture patients: Does income status influence access to acute orthopedic surgical care?” in collaboration with Zelle and his research fellows and residents.
 
Almeida’s book chapter, “Rehabilitation: Long Term outcome and Quality of Life” in “Polytrauma management. A multidisciplinary approach,” also was written in collaboration with Zelle and his research fellows and residents.

Almeida also was selected as an abstract review for the 2021 World Physiotherapy Congress and has had six abstracts accepted for upcoming conferences, including the American College of Rheumatology Annual Meeting 2020, the Combined Sections Meeting (APTA) 2021, and the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons Annual Meeting 2021. His collaborators include DPT students from UT Health San Antonio, researchers from the Barshop Institute at UT Health San Antonio, the Department of Physical Therapy at the University of Maryland, researchers from the Departments of Physical Therapy, Occupational Therapy and Rehabilitation Medicine at the University of Pittsburgh, and Zelle and his research fellows and residents.