Biography & Research:
Dr. Susan Hunter is an Associate Professor in the School of Physical Therapy at the University of Western Ontario in London, Ontario, Canada. She is a registered Physical Therapist with 30 years of experience in the areas of orthopaedics and geriatrics. She obtained her PhD in Epidemiology and Biostatistics from the University of Western Ontario in 2009 doing research in the area of balance assessment to identify fall risk in community-dwelling older adults. She had a Post-Doctoral Fellowship through the Division of Geriatric Medicine, University of Western Ontario in the area of cognition, dementia and falls. She is the Chair of the Seniors’ Health Division for the Canadian Physiotherapy Association and Vice-President of the Older Adult practice group for the World Confederation of Physical Therapists. She was a recipient of the Edward V Cowdry Award from the Canadian Geriatrics Society and an Early Researcher Award from the Ontario Rehabilitation Coalition. Her research has been supported by the Ontario Neurotrauma Foundation, Alzheimer Association (USA), Alzheimer Society of Canada and Physiotherapy Foundation of Canada. Dr. Hunter’s research interests are the rehabilitation of geriatric patients, particularly the cognitively-impaired older adult, and their experience of falls, frailty and mobility decline.