Rosemary Gallagher is associate professor and Director of Physical Therapy Admissions at New York Tech's Doctor of Physical Therapy Program. Gallagher graduated from Colorado State University in 1983 with a B.S. in Physical Education and has earned two degrees from Stony Brook University—a B.S. in Physical Therapy in 1989 and a Clinical Doctorate in Physical Therapy in 2008. She graduated with her Ph.D. from the Interdisciplinary Studies program at Rutgers University, with a concentration in Rehabilitation and Movement Sciences in October 2017. She has over 30 years of clinical experience with a variety of patient populations including geriatric, neurologic, and orthopedic patients, in a variety of clinical settings including outpatient, acute care, acute and sub-acute rehabilitation, long term, and home care.
Gallagher is actively involved in research with an interest in improving the lives of people with Parkinson's disease. She is a Parkinson's Foundation Physical Therapy Faculty Scholar dedicated to improving physical therapy care in Parkinson's disease through instruction to future physical therapists. She is also involved in the Rock Steady boxing program for people with Parkinson's disease on the New York Tech Long Island campus and leads the Long Island Chapter of Pass-to-Pass, a benevolent organization that offers backpacking and hiking trips for people with PD.
Her Ph.D. work investigated stationary cycling as a rehabilitation strategy in individuals with PD using a virtual environment. She is currently expanding on her Ph.D. work by using immersive and semi-immersive virtual environments to increase exercise intensity during stationary cycling in people with PD, a study funded by the NIH. She is also interested in cognition in people with PD as it relates to balance. Gallagher is also involved in using optical motion capture technology and is a Co-PI on a study designed to investigate behavioral biometrics during cell phone use in healthy adults and people with PD, a study funded by the NSF. Dr. Gallagher has presented her work at the national and international levels.
Recent Projects and Research
Under Review
- Cariello, N., Eslinger, R., Gallagher R., Kurtzer I. (Co-PI), Gasti, P., Balgani, K. Posture and Body Movement Effects on Behavioral Biometrics for Continuous Smartphone Authentication.
- Burt, N., Arabian, K., Parrot, J.S., Gallagher, R. Demonstrating associations between domains of balance and cognition in Parkinson's disease using practical clinical measures.
Ongoing Projects
- Oreste, A. Zaman, N., Chen, C., Whyte, C., Savva, A., Lam, J., Oreste, R., Arty, R., Bloom, O., Gallagher, R. The Role of an Ankle Foot Orthosis plus Heel Lift in the Treatment of Genu Recurvatum in individuals with Post-Stroke Hemiparesis: a case series.
- Gallagher, R., Donohue, J., Deutsch, J.E. Virtual Cycling Environment (VCYCLE) Increases Exercise Intensity in Persons with Parkinson's Disease.
- Gallagher, R., Donohue, J., Deutsch, J.E. Virtual Cycling Environment (VCYCLE) Increases Exercise Intensity of Older Adults and Persons with Parkinson's Disease.
- Donoghue, J., Karamatzanis, S., Manassero, N., Mohamed, M., Shah, S., Wynne, J., Gallagher, R. Whole Body Muscle Mass Composition in relation to balance and strength outcomes in Parkinson's Disease: A cross sectional study.
- Tautonico, M., Farro, D., Flanzraich, S., Christopher Voltmer, C. Gallagher, R. A Novel Balance Program to Improve Balance in People with Parkinson's Disease: A Randomized Control Trial.
- Flanzraich, S., Finn, C., Tautonico, M., Gonzalez, A., Poulakis, P., Meyers, C., Davis, C. Fardella, G., Gallagher, R. Can Physical Therapy Assessments Identify Vestibular Dysfunction in Person's with Parkinson's Disease when compared to age and gender matched healthy adults? A pilot study.
- Donoghue, J., Allera, A., Gallagher, R. in collaboration with St. John's University. Combinatory microRNA serum signature as classifiers of Parkinson's disease.
Selected Publications
- Ketigian, L., Piniella, N., McGivney, K., Lui, S., Dukat, A., Jung, M. K., Gallagher, R., & Leder, A. (2022). Transition and sustainability of an online care model for people with Parkinson's disease in response to the Covid-19 pandemic. Frontiers in Public Health, 9, 2411.
- Gallagher, R., Perez, S., DeLuca D., Kurtzer, K. Anticipatory weight shift between arms when reaching from a crouched posture. J Neurophysiol 126: 1361–1374, 2021.
- Gallagher, R., (PI) Farella-Accurso, M., Johnson, D., Kang, R., Rodriguez, A., Parrot, J.S., Cohen, E. Does age and disease stage impact cognition and balance in older adults and persons with Parkinson's disease? Topics in Geriatric Rehabilitation. 2019; 35(3): 224–230.
- Gallagher R., Damodaran H., Werner W., Powell W., Deutsch J.E. (2016) Auditory and visual cueing modulate cycling speed of older adults and persons with Parkinson's disease in a Virtual Cycling (V Cycle) system. J of Neuroengineering and Rehabilitation. 13:77.
- Gallagher R., Southard V., Stith N. Evaluation of the Missouri Alliance for Home Care Fall Risk Assessment Tool and Home Based "Balanced Approach" Fall Reduction Initiative. Home Health Care Management and Practice. 2013; 25 (5): 224–228.
- Southard V., Gallagher R., Stith, N. The 6MWT: Do different Methods of Instruction and Measurement Affect Performance of Healthy Aging and Older Adults? JGPT. 2013; 36 (2): 68–77.
Honors and Awards
- NYIT School of Health Professions Excellence in Research, August 2023
- NYIT School of Health Professions Distinguished Teaching, August 2023
- Parkinson's Foundation Physical Therapy Faculty Scholar, June 2018
- Dean's Award for Excellence in Research, NYIT School of Health Professions, 2016
- Dean's Award for Distinguished Teaching, NYIT School of Health Professions, 2013
Courses Taught at New York Tech
- PHTH 601 Introduction to Physical Therapy
- OCTH 602 Human Gross Anatomy
- PHTH 603 Human Gross Anatomy
- PHTH 610 Biomechanics: Lab Instructor
- PHTH 770 Geriatrics
- OCTH 601 Human Gross Anatomy
- PHTH 650 Physical Therapy Practice II: Lab Instructor
- PHTH 635 Activities of Daily Living: Lab Instructor
- PHTH 601 Introduction to Physical Therapy
- PHTH 674 Clinical Education I
- PHTH 750 Clinical Education II
- PHTH 785 Clinical Education III
- PHTH 895 Clinical Education IV
- PHTH 615 Modalities Lab Instructor