USC symposium to focus on infants and children
The second annual Sykes Symposium on Pediatric Physical Therapy, Health and Development on March 16-17 will offer an opportunity to learn how innovative research with developmentally challenged infants and children is being translated into clinical practice.
During the two-day symposium at the Ronald Tutor Campus Center, lectures by prominent scientists will be followed by case presentations by expert clinicians.
Hosted by the USC Division of Biokinesiology and Physical Therapy, a lecture on infants and children with developmental challenges will feature presentations by Beverly D. Ulrich, School of Kinesiology, University of Michigan; Laura Case, Division of Physical Therapy, Duke University; and Marian Williams, Department of Pediatrics, Keck School of Medicine of USC.
Ulrich conducts translational science. Her theoretical work builds a solid base for conducting clinically relevant work and clinical intervention trials. Her research has been conducted primarily with children with Down syndrome and myelomeningocele.
Case’s clinical and research interests are focused on the interaction between neurological and neuromuscular function and developmental biomechanics, as well as the chronic effect of these interactions over time. She has helped develop comprehensive multidisciplinary management guidelines for several disorders, including Pompe disease and Duchenne muscular dystrophy.
Williams participates in collaborative, interdisciplinary clinical work focused on autism assessment and diagnosis, autism in ethnic minority communities and mental health intervention outcomes. She developed and runs interdisciplinary clinics for the diagnosis of autism in young children at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles and directs a mental health program that provides interventions for infants, toddlers, preschoolers and families affected by child abuse and neglect, chronic illness and disruptive behaviors.
The symposium is named for Tracy M. Sykes ’98 and her husband, Gene T. Sykes, whose gift of $1 million in 2009 established the Sykes Family Chair in Pediatric Physical Therapy, Health and Development, the first endowed faculty chair in the Division of Biokinesiology and Physical Therapy.
Sykes Symposium organizer Linda Fetters is director of the division’s Developmental Motor Performance Laboratory and inaugural holder of the Sykes chair.
For more information on the symposium and to register, visit
regonline.com/USCsykesymposium2012
Linda Fetters, director of the division’s Developmental Motor Performance Laboratory