With each new issue, readers of the Journal of Geriatric Physical Therapy (JGPT) encounter a finished product of published articles. Each published article has evolved through a rigorous process of editorial and masked peer reviews that provide authors with feedback to guide manuscript revisions. The person most responsible for shepherding a submission through this process is the Associate Editor (AE) assigned to the manuscript. The JGPT has 5 AEs whose manuscript management responsibilities include early review; decisions prior to peer review to reject or to invite peer review; decisions following peer review to require major or minor revisions, or to reject; communications with the Editor in Chief, authors, and reviewers; and participation in Editorial Team meetings to further advance the journal. Each AE works hard to ensure that every article published meets high standards for both scientific rigor and clinical relevance.
When I began my first term as the Editor in Chief in 2018, I was extremely fortunate to "inherit" a team of dedicated and experienced AEs. Their support as I learned the ropes was critical to my progress in ascending the editorial learning curve, and I am grateful to each of them for their patience and generosity. Over the past 6 months, 3 of these long-serving AEs have departed the JGPT to chart a new course for themselves: Kevin Chui, PT, DPT, PhD, Ann Medley PT, PhD, and Bob Wellmon, PT, DPT, PhD. It has been a great privilege and pleasure working with them. I sincerely appreciate that each of them have "mentored in" the new AE that follows in their footsteps. Dr Chui has graciously agreed to serve on the JGPT Editorial Board, and Dr Wellmon has shifted roles and serves as our Digital and Social Media Coordinator. Dr Medley has retired from her academic position and is off to greener pastures; however, she has agreed to stay on as a peer reviewer. Two experienced AEs remain "on duty," and we have brought on board 3 new AEs over the past few months. Please allow me to introduce you to the 5 current AE members of the Editorial Team:
Dr Andrews serves as a Professor of Physical Therapy Education at Elon University in North Carolina. He has a BS and MS in physical therapy from UNC-Chapel Hill. His Doctorate of Education degree is from North Carolina State University. He is a Certified Exercise Expert for Aging Adults as well as a Board-Certified Neurologic Clinical Specialist. Bill's current clinical practice is in the inpatient rehabilitation setting at UNC Health. His 42 peer-reviewed journal articles focus on stroke rehabilitation and clinical measurement. Prior to his current service as an AE for the JGPT, Bill served a dozen years as a member of the JGPT Editorial Board.
Dr Huang is a professor at the Physical Therapy Department, University of Michigan-Flint. She has diverse clinical and research experiences in geriatric rehabilitation. Her research focuses on understanding the impact of cancer and its treatment in older cancer survivors, the effects of respiratory muscle training in older adults with multiple sclerosis, and the feasibility and outcomes of telehealth-delivered exercise programs in older adults living in the rural communities. Dr Huang has served as a manuscript reviewer for more than 20 peer-reviewed journals, including the JGPT. More recently, she was the Guest Editor for Rehabilitation Oncology for a special issue in Balance and Falls. Dr Huang was the founding Secretary of the Balance and Falls Special Interest Group of the APTA Oncology Section. She was the past President of APTA Michigan Institute for Education and Research. Dr Huang is excited to start her new role as an AE and looks forward to working with prospective authors on publishing their work in the JGPT.
Dr Palumbaro has worked in the area of geriatrics for 26 years, since graduating with her Masters of Science in Physical Therapy from Columbia University. Prior to that she received her BS in Psychology from St Joseph's University, and subsequently obtained her PhD in Physical Therapy from Temple University. Dr Palumbaro is an Associate Professor of Physical Therapy and Director of the PhD in Health Professions Education at Widener University. Her research investigates physical performance, frailty, and osteoporosis. She practices clinically in home health with specialty areas in frailty, physical performance, osteoporosis, and lifestyle medicine.
Dr Renfro is a geriatric physical therapist and recently retired Professor of Research and Geriatrics from the School of Physical Therapy at Touro University Nevada. She was selected by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention as a fall prevention expert in 2009 and by the University of Southern California (USC) as a home modifications expert in 2019. Dr Renfro has worked closely with the National Council on Aging (NCOA), APTA, Geriatric Workforce Centers, and many other organizations. She has studied and published in fall risk measures and validation of evidence-based fall prevention programs for subpopulations. She has been invited to serve on many local, state, and national committees including the NCOA's Evidence-Based Community Falls Prevention Program Review Council and USC's Panel on Home Modifications. She is both a master trainer and leader for a number of evidence-based programs for older adults.
After getting trained and practicing as a Physical Therapist from India, Dr Singh got his further training at various places such as Oklahoma, Delaware, and Baltimore working with clinical populations across the life spectrum. He is currently associated with the University of Alabama at Birmingham. His research has been published in various esteemed journals such as the Archives of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Journal of Frailty and Aging, Journal of Human Kinetics, Journal of Musculoskeletal and Neuronal Interactions, Journal of Aging and Physical Activity, Frontiers in Physiology, Journal of Sports Medicine and Physical Fitness, and JGPT. Currently, his laboratory is actively involved in developing and implementing novel clinically feasible methods to address the problem of physical inactivity in populations across the human life spectrum. His laboratory philosophy is to examine questions with a "researcher's mind with a clinician heart" approach. Dr Singh is thrilled to be associated with and serve the JGPT in his role of the AE.
-Leslie K. Allison, PT, PhD, Editor-in-Chief