Michelle M. Lusardi, PT, DPT, Ph.D., Faculty Emerita

Michelle Lusardi headshotProfessional Interests

  • Balance and falls, physical frailty in later life
  • Functional Assessment of older adults
  • Neurological Rehabilitation, Prosthetics and Orthotics
  • Family systems and family development

Degrees and Certifications

  • DPT, MGH Institute of Health Professions 2010
  • Ph.D., Family Studies/Gerontology, University of Connecticut 1993
  • MS, Allied Health/Education, University of Connecticut 1987
  • BS, Physical Therapy, SUNY Downstate Medical Center 1976

Teaching Responsibilities

  • Consultation for semester 2 (neurological physical therapy), semester 3 (prosthetics) and semester 4 (spinal cord injury) of the DPT program
  • Consultation for the graduate certificate in Geriatric Health & Wellness

Research Interests and Grants

Past Editor in Chief, Journal of Geriatric Physical Therapy; Wolters Kluwer/LWW; official publication of the Section on Geriatrics, American Physical Therapy Association

Principle Investigator:  Functional Performance in Community Living Older Adults:  12 month follow up.  University Creativity and Research Grant, Sacred Heart University, June 2002-June 2003. ($3,100).

Principle Investigator:  Functional Performance in Community Living Older Adults:  A Normative Study.  Connecticut Physical Therapy Association Research Grant, January 2002-June 2002. ($1,750).

Project Director, Geriatric Rehabilitation:  Education and Advanced Training  (GREAT) Initiative.  DHHS/BHPr, Allied Health Program.  July 2001-June 2004. (#D37 HP00808) ($350,000)  

Advisory Committee and Conference Planning Group member. RA Wong, Project Director.  Evidence Based Health Care in Geriatric Rehabilitation, Marymount University, Arlington VA.  March 2001.  DHHS/Agency for Health Care Policy & Research.

Hersher Foundation Faculty Grant: Incorporating Content on Ethics into an Undergraduate Course:  Frailty and Chronic Illness in Later Life, June 2000  ($1500)

Faculty Fellow, Collegium:  a Colloquy of Faith and Intellectual Life, Fairfield University, June 1999.

Project Director, Technical & Educational Resources for Community Outreach in the Elders 2000 Project, Connecticare Fund 1998-1999 ($4,925)

Project Director, Elders 2000:  An interdisciplinary Team Approach to Educational Opportunities in Geriatric Rehabilitation.  Allied Health Project Grant (#1 D37 AH00616), DHHS, September 1997 - August 2000 ($336,000)

Co-Investigator and site coordinator, “PREHAB” substudy (sensitivity and predictive validity of the Continuous Scale-Physical Functional Performance Test in frail older adults)  National Institute on Aging, Gill T, & Tinetti M (Principle Investigators), Yale University School of Medicine, 1998-2000.

Co-Investigator and site coordinator:  Utility of a novel performance-based measure of physical function in studies of promising intervention programs.  Novartis Foundation for Gerontological Research.  Gill T, & Tinetti M (Principle Investigators) Yale University School of Medicine 4/99-3/00

Consultant, Intervention Development Team, “DRIVER” Intervention Development Grant, National Institute on Aging, Tinetti M & Marottoli R (Investigators), Gottschalk M (Intervention Coordinator). Yale Medical School. 1998-2000.  

Research Fellow, National Institute on Aging/Brookdale Foundation Summer Institute on Research in Aging, Airlie House, VA, July 15-22, 1995

Awards and Fellowships

  • Dean’s Leadership Award, College of Health Professions, Sacred Heart University, April 2012
  • Dean’s Leadership Award, College of Education & Health Professions, May 2010
  • Dorothy E. Carlin-Eleanor J. Carlin Award for Excellence in Academic Teaching, American Physical Therapy Association 2006
  • Distinguished Educator Award, Section on Geriatrics, American Physical Therapy Association, 2003
  • Joan Mills Award for Exceptional Contributions, Section on Geriatrics, American Physical Therapy Association 2001