The University of Washington Department of Rehabilitation Medicine is pleased to welcome Carolynn Patten, PhD, PT, FAPTA, as professor and division head for Physical Therapy starting October 1.
Dr. Patten is a neuroscientist and physical therapist whose clinical and research work focuses on motor dysfunction associated with aging and adult neuropathologies, such as stroke. Her research program investigates the neural basis of human movement, with the goal of improving recovery and quality of life for individuals affected by central nervous system injuries.
Dr. Patten comes to the University of Washington from the University of California-Davis, where she served as director of the Biomechanics, Rehabilitation, and Integrative Neuroscience (BRaIN) Lab and a founding co-director of the now-burgeoning Center for Neuro Engineering and Medicine. Her translational neuroscience research integrates neurophysiological, biomechanical, behavioral, and clinical approaches to study human performance.
“We are excited for Dr. Patten to join our department and look forward to her leadership of our Physical Therapy Division,” said Dr. Janna Friedly, professor and chair of the Department of Rehabilitation Medicine. “Her research combines neuroscience, biomechanics, clinical medicine, rehabilitation, and bioengineering, which is an ideal match for our department’s interdisciplinary focus. We believe she will make strong contributions towards our goal to integrate clinical care, teaching, and research into a learning health system.”
Dr. Patten is a proud Husky, having earned her bachelor’s degree in kinesiology from the University of Washington, before completing her master’s in physical therapy at Boston University, and her PhD in exercise neuroscience at the University of Massachusetts-Amherst. She completed a postdoctoral fellowship at Stanford University and the VA Rehabilitation Research Center in Palo Alto, California where she was the first non-MD clinician to be awarded a VA Research Career Development Award. Building on that foundation, she achieved Research Career Scientist Status which she held until assuming this new role at UW. Dr. Patten is a Catherine Worthingham Fellow of the American Physical Therapy Association, the association’s highest honor.
As Dr. Patten steps into this leadership role for the division, the department also celebrates Associate Teaching Professor Laura Johnstone’s transition to director of the Doctor of Physical Therapy program. We are very pleased that Dr. Johnstone, who provided steady leadership as interim division director during that past 15 months of transition, will continue in this new role to shape the future of physical therapy education at the University of Washington.
Please join us in welcoming Dr. Patten to the department and in congratulating Dr. Johnstone on her new role.