August 28-30, 2020
Important Information for Conference Registrants
We have begun sending out instructions for accessing our virtual platform for the conference, as well as other important information related to your conference experience. Please check your email. If you have not received information and are registered, please email us at info@alignconference.com.
The Virtual Align Conference features an incredible lineup of keynote speakers that have never been brought together in one event. The breakout sessions will empower you to discover what’s next in the areas you’re most passionate about. Open to PTs, OTs, PTAs and other rehab professionals, Align Conference’s theme for 2020 is: What’s Next.
This year’s conference is brought to you by Evidence In Motion.
PhD, MedDr, DSc, BPhty (Hons), FACP
Paul Hodges, PhD, MedDr, DSc, BPhty(Hons), FACP is an NHMRC (National Health and Medical Research Council) Senior Principal Research Fellow and the Director of the NHMRC Centre for Clinical Research Excellence in Spinal Pain, Injury and Health (CCRE SPINE) at the University of Queensland, Brisbane Australia. Paul has three doctorates; one in Physiotherapy and two in Neuroscience. His research blends these skills to understand pain, control of movement, and the interaction between multiple functions of the trunk muscles including spine control, continence, respiration and balance. He is a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Science, Australian Academy of Health and Medical Science, and an Honoured member of the Australian Physiotherapy Association. The large multidisciplinary Research Centre that Paul leads aims to bridge the gap between basic science and clinical practice. He has received numerous international research awards (2006, 2011, 2018, 2019 ISSLS Prize [premier international prize for spine research from the International Society for the Study of the Lumbar Spine]; Suzanne Klein-Vogelbach Prize), leadership awards (Emerging leader in Health [Next 100 Awards], Future Summit Australian Leadership Award). Paul has published >470 scientific papers and book chapters, presented >270 invited lectures at major conferences in 30 countries, and received >$AU53 million in research grants. He is the author of 3 clinical texts that have sold over 30,000 copies internationally. He has presented workshops for physiotherapists and medical practitioners in more than 45 countries.
PhD, MPhty, BPhty, FACP, (Australia)
Michele Sterling is Professor in the Recover Injury Research Centre, Program Lead of the Musculoskeletal Injuries research program and Director of the NHMRC Centre of Research Excellence (CRE) in Road Traffic Injury Recovery all at The University of Queensland, Australia. She is a Musculoskeletal Physiotherapist and a Fellow of the Australian College of Physiotherapists. Michele’s research focusses on the mechanisms underlying the development of chronic pain after injury, predictive algorithms for outcomes and developing effective interventions for musculoskeletal injury and pain. She has conducted numerous cohort studies and clinical trials investigating the effectiveness of various treatments and their combinations including exercise, psychological treatments, manual therapies and multidisciplinary care. She has received over $13M in research funding from the NHMRC, ARC and industry partners. She has editorial roles with several leading journals and textbooks, and has over 200 peer-reviewed publications. Michele is an elected member of the leadership Council of the International Association for the Study of Pain (IASP).
DipPhysio, MAppSC, FACP (Australia)
Michael received his graduate qualification at the Auckland School of Physiotherapy, New Zealand, in 1980. He worked in public hospitals in the medical, surgical, paediatrics, orthopaedics, geriatrics, intensive care and burns areas around New Zealand before being employed in private practices, treating spinal and sports injuries in Nelson with Michael Monaghan and Auckland with Margaret Franklin. In 1985 he moved to Adelaide, Australia, working at the Royal Adelaide Hospital and private practices around Adelaide. He completed a Graduate Diploma in Advanced Manipulative Therapy in 1989 and converted this to a Masters degree at the University of South Australia in 1993. He was awarded a Fellow of the Australian College of Physiotherapists (Australian Physiotherapy Association) for his monograph and international best-seller text book, Clinical Neurodynamics, Elsevier, Oxford, 2005. In addition to his neurodynamics book, he has published two other books, Moving in on Pain (Elsevier) and Biomechanics of the Nervous System: Breig Revisited. He also authored, co-authored and mentored numerous research studies, editorials, commentaries and clinical papers in international peer reviewed journals articles which have garnered many international awards, including Visiting Professor of the Faculty of Medicine, Barcelo University, Buenos Aires (see academic activities on ResearchGate). He was a member of the International Advisory Board of the journal Musculoskeletal Theory and Practice (formerly Manual Therapy), United Kingdom and is an Associate Editor of the Journal of Manual and Manipulative Therapy, USA. Michael presents keynote addresses and invited conference lectures, trains staff at elite sports medicine facilities and sports clubs, universities, hospitals and private seminars around the world. His special interests are neurodynamics, measurement of mechanical function of the nervous system, pain and the nervous system and musculoskeletal function. His most valued interest is how to synthesize science and clinical practice using evidence and reasoning. Michael is an active clinician, has 35 years of experience in treating patients and is recognized as an international leader in the diagnosis and treatment of musculoskeletal disorders with a neural aspect.
MD
Dr. Matthew Smuck is the Chief of PM&R and Associate Professor in the Department of Orthopaedic Surgery at Stanford University. He is also the Medical Director of Rehabilitation Services for Stanford Healthcare where he specializes in the comprehensive conservative management of spine disorders. He is a physician leader and current Vice President of the Spine Intervention Society (SIS), and has served on the Board of Directors of the North American Spine Society (NASS) and the Foundation for PM&R. Dr. Smuck is also an award-winning researcher who pioneered the new field of physical performance monitoring. He directs the Wearable Health Lab at Stanford, investigating medical applications of mobile technology to improve musculoskeletal and neurologic disease detection, treatment and prevention. His work is recognized by numerous research society awards and publication awards, including the ISSLS Medtronic Award in 2012, the American Academy of PM&R’s 2014 President’s Citation Award, the PM&R Journal’s 2015 Best Original Research Award, the 2016 ISSLS Prize, and The Spine Journal’s Annual Outstanding Paper Award in 2013, 2016, 2017 & 2018.
MD
Dr. Anna Lembke received her undergraduate degree in Humanities from Yale University and her medical degree from Stanford University. She is currently Associate Professor and Medical Director of Addiction Medicine, Stanford University School of Medicine. She is also Program Director of the Stanford Addiction Medicine Fellowship, and Chief of the Stanford Addiction Medicine Dual Diagnosis Clinic. She is a diplomate of the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology, and a diplomate of the American Board of Addiction Medicine. Dr. Lembke was one of the first in the medical community to sound the alarm regarding opioid overprescribing and the opioid epidemic. In 2016, she published her best-selling book on the prescription drug epidemic, Drug Dealer, MD – How Doctors Were Duped, Patients Got Hooked, and Why It’s So Hard to Stop (Johns Hopkins University Press, 2016), which combines case studies with public policy, cultural anthropology, and neuroscience, to explore the complex relationship between doctors and patients around prescribing controlled drugs. Drug Dealer, MD has had an impact on policy makers and legislators across the nation. Dr. Lembke has testified before Congress and consulted with governors and senators from Kentucky to Missouri to Nevada. She was a featured guest on Fresh Air with Terry Gross, MSNBC with Chris Hayes, and numerous other media broadcasts. Her book was highlighted in the New York Times as one of the top five books to read to understand the opioid epidemic (Zuger, 2018). Using her public platform and her faculty position at Stanford University School of Medicine, Dr. Lembke continues to educate healthcare professionals, policymakers, and the public about causes of and solutions for the problems of dependence and addiction.
PT, PhD (Australia)
Michel Coppieters has long been intrigued by neuropathic pain. He had the opportunity to commence researching this topic during his doctoral studies at the University of Leuven in Belgium, and later as a post-doc and academic at The University of Queensland in Brisbane, Australia. Following three years as Professor of Musculoskeletal Physiotherapy and Program Director of the Master of Science in Musculoskeletal Physiotherapy Sciences in Amsterdam, The Netherlands, he returned to Australia in 2017 and is now Menzies Foundation Professor of Musculoskeletal Health Research at Griffith University. At Griffith University, he established and directs the ‘Musculoskeletal Health and Persistent Pain’ Research Lab, a state-of-the-art facility to study people in pain. Although Michel’s research focused traditionally on musculoskeletal conditions, he now also leads research projects on painful diabetic neuropathy, spinal cord injury pain and cancer pain. His research aims (1) to better understand the pathobiology of conditions, (2) develop and evaluate novel and established diagnostic tests and clinical interventions, and (3) to reveal the underlying mechanisms that make people feel better. Michel presents frequently at national and international conferences, and has published widely on the topic of neuropathic pain and neurodynamics. He delivers popular 2-day workshops on the physiotherapeutic and neurodynamic management of neuropathies.
BSc (Psych), PT, Grad Dip Manip Ther, MAppSc (Australia)
Mark graduated from the University of Florida with a B.S. in Psychology and then completed his Physical Therapy studies at the University of Iowa. Having developed an interest in manual therapy Mark travelled to Australia to study Manipulative Physiotherapy. After completing his Graduate Diploma in 1985 under Geoff Maitland he completed his Masters by Research in 1989. The title of his thesis was “Facilitating Students’ Clinical Reasoning in Physiotherapy Education”. Mark worked clinically, taught and published with Geoff Maitland and continues to promote integration of contemporary physiotherapy research and theory into the “Maitland Concept”. Mark has a special interest in biopsychosocial health care and the teaching and assessment of clinical reasoning in physiotherapy. His special interests in musculoskeletal physiotherapy include the shoulder complex and spine. Mark is currently Senior Lecturer, Human Performance and Allied Health, University of South Australia. He has conducted and supervised research in the areas of clinical reasoning and musculoskeletal physiotherapy with over 90 publications including three editions of the text “Clinical Reasoning in the Health Professions” and the texts “Clinical Reasoning for Manual Therapists” and “Clinical Reasoning in Musculoskeletal Practice”. Mark has presented 30 Keynote Conference presentations and has taught professional development courses in clinical reasoning and musculoskeletal physiotherapy across 26 countries.
PT, PhD
Jo Nijs holds a PhD in rehabilitation science and physiotherapy. He is professor at the Vrije Universiteit Brussel (Brussels, Belgium), physiotherapist/manual therapist at the University Hospital Brussels, holder of a Chair on oncological physiotherapy funded by the Berekuyl Academy, the Netherlands, and part of the Visiting Professor program of the University of Gothenburg (Sweden). Jo runs the Pain in Motion international research group (www.paininmotion.be). His research and clinical interests are patients with chronic pain and pain-movement interactions, with special emphasis on the central nervous system. The primary aim of his research is improving care for patients with chronic pain. At the age of 44, he has (co-)authored >240 peer reviewed publications (including papers in high impact journals such as The Lancet and JAMA Neurology), obtained >€9 million grant income, supervised 16 PhD projects to completion and served more than 270 times as an invited speaker at national and international meetings in 25 different countries (including 31 keynotes). He trained 3k clinicians in 92 courses held in 12 different countries spread over 4 continents. His work has been cited >6.4k times (h-index: 43), with 22 citations per article (ISI Web of Knowledge). Jo is ranked 2nd in the world among chronic pain researchers (1st in Europe; expertscape.com), received the 2017 Excellence in Research Award from the JOSPT (USA), and the 2020 Francqui Collen Chair awarded by the University of Hasselt, Belgium.
PhD (Sweden)
Steven J. Linton is professor of Clinical Psychology and the director of the Center for Health and Medical Psychology (CHAMP). He is also active in teaching in the clinical and doctoral programs at Orebro University in Sweden. He is published widely on various aspects of pain, psychosocial yellow flags, fear-avoidance and more. His current research interests include early identification and treatment of back pain; mechanisms driving pain chronicity; early interventions to enhance good sleeping patterns in youth; the role of context in chronic pain; treating comorbid chronic pain and depression; pain associated with sex and communication between health providers and patients.
PT, DPT, OCS, MBA, MAPP
Dr. Larry Benz, DPT, OCS, MBA, MAPP, is the President/CEO of Confluent Health. He is nationally recognized for his expertise in private practice physical therapy and occupational medicine. Dr. Benz’s current areas of interest include conducting research and integrating empathy, compassion, and positive psychology interventions within physical therapy. He will be releasing a book in the near future, Called to Care, that highlights this research.
With over 175 invited presentations to PT programs, national conferences, and MBA programs throughout the country, Dr. Benz has been on APTA’s Advisory Panel on Practice and The Board of the American Board of Physical Therapy and was a Trustee and Chairman with The University of Louisville. He is currently a Trustee with the Foundation for Physical Therapy. He is the recipient of numerous business and physical therapy awards including the Kentucky Physical Therapy’s Outstanding Physical Therapists award and Ernst & Young’s Entrepreneur of the Year for his region. His foundation is the co-developer of Jacmel Rehabilitation in Haiti which can be found at PThelpforHaiti.org.
