Dr. Carole Tucker, PT, PhD

Associate Professor

Director of the Doctor of Philosophy Program (PhD)

Board Certified in Pediatrics (PCS)

Registered Clinical Exercise Physiologist (RCEP)

3307 North Broad Street

Jones Hall, Room 617

Philadelphia, PA 19140

Fax: 215-707-7500

215-707-4877

carole.tucker@temple.edu

Biography

Dr. Tucker obtained her undergraduate degree in Physical Therapy and her Masters of Science degree in Electrical Engineering from Boston University. She then completed her PhD at the State University of New York (SUNY) Buffalo in Exercise Science/Biomechanics. She has been certified by the American Board of Physical Therapy Specialties as a Pediatric Clinical Specialist (PCS) since 1996. Dr Tucker is also an American College of Sports Medicine Registered Clinical Exercise Physiologist (RCEP). Her clinical practice has primarily been focused in pediatrics within both acute care and school-based settings. She was a member of the Scientific Staff of Shriner’s Hospitals for Children, Philadelphia from 2004 2008 during which time she served as Director of the Motion Analysis Laboratory. Her current research focuses on biomechanics and motor control of gait, development of patient-report outcome measures of health status in pediatric populations using computer adaptive testing, application of pattern recognition, structural equation modeling, and advanced statistical analytical approaches to biomechanics data sets, and technology based interventions (treadmill training, gaming systems) to improve function and mobility in children with physical disabilities. She has received funding from the Whitaker Biomedical Engineering Foundation, Shriner’s Hospital for Children, and is currently Co-Investigator on the NIH funded grant: Pediatric PROMIS: Advancing the Measurement and Conceptualization of Child Health. Dr Tucker is on the editorial boards of Pediatric Physical Therapy and the Journal of Neuroengineering and Rehabilitation.

Course Involvement

DPT PT8523 Movement Science II

DPT PT8534 Clinical Management of Neuromuscular Disorders I

DPT PT8554 Clinical Management of Neuromuscular Disorders II Temple University

PhD PT9621 Human Movement Science 2: Mechanics & Models

Publications/Presentations

Galgon, AK, Shewokis, PA, Silfies S, Lauer R, Tucker CA. & Solomn D. Movement and neuromotor processing level of postural control during the acquisition of a serial reaching task. Gait & Posture, 2010.

Lauer RT, Pierce SR, Tucker CA, Barbe MF, Prosser LA. Age and Electromyographic Frequency Alterations during Walking in Children with Cerebral Palsy. Gait & Posture, 2009.

Tucker CA, Gorton GE et al. Development of a ParentReport Computer Adaptive Test to Assess Physical Functioning in Children with Cerebral Palsy I. Lower Extremity and Mobility Skills. Dev Med Child Neurol. 2009 Sep;51(9):717-24.

Tucker CA, Montpetit, K , et al. Development of a ParentReport Computer Adaptive Test to Assess Physical Functioning in Children with Cerebral Palsy II. Upper Extremity Skills. Dev Med Child Neurol. 2009 Sep;51(9):725-31

Wren TAL, Tucker CA, Kay RM. Gait analysis: the link to clinical outcomes. Lower Extremity Review, Vol. 1, No. 1, pp. 37-41, July 2009.

Haley SM, Fragala-Pinkham MA, Dumas HM, Ni P, Gorton GE, Watson K, Montpetit K, Bilodeau N, Hambleton RK, Tucker CA. Evaluation of an Item Bank for a Computerized Adaptive Test of Activity in Children with Cerebral Palsy. Phys Ther. June 2009

Haley S, Ni P, Dumas H, Fragala-Pinkham M, Hambleton RK, Montpetit K, Bilodeau N, Gorton GE, Watson K, Tucker CA. Measuring Global Physical Health in Children with Cerebral Palsy: Illustration of a Multidimensional Bi-factor Model and Computerized Adaptive Testing. Qual Life Res. 2009 Apr;18(3):359-70.

Engsberg J, Tucker CA, Ounpuu S, Wren T, Sisto S, Kaufman K. Editorial: Gait and Clinical movement analysis research priorities: 2007 update from the research committee of the gait and clinical movement analysis society. Gait& Posture 29 (2009) 169-171

Dumas HM, Watson KE, Fragala-Pinkham MA, Haley SM, Bilodeau N, Montpetit KM, Gorton GE, Mulcahey MJ & Tucker CA. Cognitive Interviewing to Elicit parent Feedback of Test items for Assessing Physical Function in Children with Cerebral Palsy. Pediatric Physical Therapy. 20(4):356-362, 2008.

Tucker CA, Haley SM, Dumas HM, Fragala-Pinkham MA, Watson K, Gorton GE, Montpetit K, Bilodeau N. Physical function for children and youth with cerebral palsy: Item bank development for computer adaptive testing. Journal of Pediatric Rehabilitation Medicine. Vol1, Number 3, 237-244, 2008.

Tucker CA, Bagley AM et al. Kinematic Modeling of the Shoulder Complex in Tetraplegia. Spinal Cord Injury: Special Topics (2008)

Allen DD, Gorton GE, Oeffinger DJ, Tylkowski C, Tucker CA, Haley SM. Analysis of the Pediatrics Outcomes Data Collection Instrument (PODCI) in ambulatory children with cerebral palsy using confirmatory factor analysis and Item Response Theory Methods. Journal of Pediatric Orthopedics,2008;28:192-198.

Lauer RT, Stackhouse CA, Shewokis PA, Smith BT, Tucker CA, & McCarthy J. A time-frequency based electromyographic analysis technique for use in cerebral palsy. Gait Posture. 2007 Sep;26(3):420-7.

Lauer RT, Smith BT, Shewokis PA, McCarthy JJ, Tucker CA. Time-frequency changes in electromyographic signals after hamstring lengthening surgery in children with cerebral palsy. J Biomech. 2007;40(12):2738-43.

Stackhouse C, Shewokis PA, Pierce SR, Smith B, McCarthy J, Tucker CA. Gait initiation in children with cerebral palsy. Gait Posture. 2007 Jul;26(2):301-8.

Rosen S, Tucker CA, Lee SC. Gait energy efficiency in children with cerebral palsy. Conf Proc IEEE Eng Med Biol Soc. 2006;1:1220-3.

Fetters L & Tucker CA (2001) Theoretical Foundation of Development. Touchpoint in Pediatrics. APTA 2001.

Fetters L, Tucker CA, Tsao CC & Saltzman E (2001). Perception/Action coupling of limb, head and rattle movements of infants exposed to cocaine. Infant Behavior and development, Special Issue on Perception/Action.

McPhartland M, Wall C, Tucker CA, Krebs D & Oddsson L (2001) Recovery of perturbations during paced walking. Gait Posture. 2001 Feb;19 (1):24-34.

Grants & Contracts

American Academy of Cerebral Palsy and Developmental Medicine 2008 Clinical Research Planning Grant. Role: PI. (2008-2010).

U01 Cooperative Grant (RFA Response) Pediatric PROMIS: Advancing the Measurement and Conceptualization of Child Health.. Role: Co-Investigator; PI: Chris Forrest CHOP/UPenn (2009-2013)

Research

My research is focused in 2 primary areas. The first is the development of outcome measures using advanced statistical methods and modern measurement approaches such as factor analyses, structural equation modeling, item response theory methods, and computer adaptive testing. In particular I am interested in the relationship between capability and performance of physical activities, a s well as improved measures of physical activity in children. My second focus is on development of novel approaches to improving physical function and activity using home and community based interventions.