Faculty Research

Professor
Dr. Liu has focused his research on the following areas: “Effects Of Inappropriate Use Of Assistive Ambulatory Devices (AADS) On Gait, Balance, And Posture“, physical therapy and alternative medical interventions (like tai chi and qi gong) to improve gait, balance, and posture in older populations and AAD users, bioengineering intervention/design to modify assistive ambulatory devices and identification of musculoskeletal variations in cadavers in anatomy gross lab. Throughout his career, he has published extensively and has engaged and supervised a large number of PT students in research projects.

Assistant Professor
Dr. Nichols has a particular interest in manual therapy having completed his manual therapy certification through the Evidence in Motion Manual Therapy Program. He is also a Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist through the National Strength and Conditioning Association. He is also certified in the Functional Movement Screen and Selective Functional Movement Assessment screens and also completed training as a Corrective Exercise Specialist (CES) through the National Academy of Sports Medicine. Dr. Nichols is a member of the American Physical Therapy Association and the American Academy of Orthopedic Manual Physical Therapist.

Interim Chair/Associate Professor
Dr. Quiben’s current areas of interest are in aging health and wellness, outcome measures, and frailty. Collaborating with internal and external faculty on aging research. Her current scholarly inquiry includes Functional performance in healthy and frail older adults; falls; effects of specific geriatric syndromes and neurologic pathologies on movement; geriatric health and wellness; interprofessional collaboration and simulation.

Assistant Professor
Dr. Schwarz has had previous research interests in effective methods for clinical education and mentoring of students. Particular interests are instructional methods to prepare students for addressing the challenges present in the geriatric population and for ensuring the provision of high-quality physical therapy services for older adults. In the context of “Safe Communities”. Dr. Schwarz’s current research focuses on education: teaching and learning, interprofessional education, and clinical education. She is completing projects related to cultural competence development and helping to collect data on total contact casting for diabetic foot ulcers.