Mobility disability, physical activity and exercise, participation, aging with a disability, wheelchair use and training
The overarching goal of Dr. Morgan’s clinical and research career thus far has been to improve the participation of people with mobility disabilities in their everyday life activities after discharge from rehabilitation. She has generated essential empirical data to guide rehabilitation strategies using mixed methodology and community-based methods, engaging stakeholders in all aspects of the process. Her investigations have ranged from community-based studies of manual wheelchair propulsion training to basic, mechanistic studies of the biomechanics of the upper extremities during manual wheelchair propulsion. She has been actively involved in the development and testing of surveys that assess the participation of people with disabilities in everyday life activities, as well as their secondary health conditions. She led the establishment and development of a community-based program, housed in an Independent Living Center, that provides health and wellness programs for people with disabilities and implemented a tracking and evaluation system to assess the outcomes of these programs. Additionally, she has studied the feasibility and effectiveness of community-based physical activity interventions for persons with a mobility disability. Her most recent efforts have focused on implementing a three-year cohort survey of persons aging with long-term physical disabilities (including persons with spinal cord injury) to better understand how and why participation in everyday activities changes over time. She has also recently completed the development of a mobile health text message–based fatigue management intervention for persons with spinal cord injury, multiple sclerosis and stroke.
2020: University of California, San Francisco Implementation Science Certificate
2015-2016: Postdoctoral Fellowship; University Alabama – Birmingham and Lakeshore Foundation Research Collaborative, Birmingham, AL
2015: PhD in movement science, Washington University School of Medicine, Program in Physical Therapy
1998: MS in occupational therapy, Washington University School of Medicine, Program in Occupational Therapy
1996: BA in psychology, Texas Christian University
Kerri Morgan, PhD, OTR/L, ATP, Assistant Professor in the Program in Occupational Therapy and Neurology at Washington University School of Medicine, earned a Master of Science in Occupational Therapy and a PhD in Movement Science from Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis. She completed a postdoctoral fellowship at the University of Alabama-Birmingham. Most recently, she earned a certificate in Implementation Science through the University of California, San Francisco. She is actively involved in conducting research and mentoring health professional students. Prior to working at Washington University, Dr. Morgan served as an intern at the White House in the Presidential Personnel Office and at Devonshire Hospital in the Occupational Therapy Department in London, England. She is a certified Assistive Technology Professional (ATP). She has served on many organizational and state boards (e.g., Paraquad Independent Living Center, St. Louis City Office for the Disabled and the American Occupational Therapy Foundation). Dr. Morgan is also an avid wheelchair athlete and distinguished Paralympian. In 2009, she was the first woman to be selected to represent the U.S. National Wheelchair Rugby team. She has competed in three Paralympic Games on the U.S. Track and Field team that included Beijing in 2008, London in 2012 and Rio in 2016. She has won four Paralympic medals and 10 World Championship medals in distances ranging from 100m to 800m.
Morgan, K. A., Heeb, R., Flynn, A., Sukow, K., Tormey, E., Tucker, S., ... & Hollingsworth, H. (2022). An observational study of personal and environmental factors associated with attendance at a community-based adaptive fitness center for adults with physical disabilities. Disability and Health Journal, 101342.
Morgan, K. A., Heeb, R., & Walker, K., Tucker, S., & Hollingsworth, H. (2022). Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on psychosocial health of persons with spinal cord injury: Investigation of experiences and needed resources. Topics in Spinal Cord Injury Rehabilitation, 28(2), 185-195.
Morgan, K. A., Taylor, K. L, Walker, C. W., Tucker, S., Dashner, J. L., & Hollingsworth, H. (2022). Mobility disability and exercise: Health outcomes of an accessible community-based center. Frontiers in Rehabilitation Sciences. doi:10.3389/fresc.2022.836655
Morgan, K. A., Putnam, M., Espin-Tello, S. M., Keglovits, M., Campbell, M., Yan, Y., ... & Stark, S. (2022). Aging with long-term physical disability: Cohort analysis of survey sample in the US. F1000Research, 11(68), 68.
Morgan, K. A., Paton, S., Patten, A., Tucker, S., & Walker, K. (2021). Community-based exercise goals of persons with spinal cord injury: Interpreted using the International Classification of Functioning, Disability, and Health. The Journal of Spinal Cord Medicine, doi: 10.1080/10790268.2021.1970896.
Adam, S. L., & Morgan, K. A. (2018). Meaningful components of a community-based exercise program for individuals with disabilities: A qualitative study. Disability and Health Journal, 11(2), 301-305. doi: 10.1016/j.dhjo.2017.09.001.
Morgan, K. A., Tucker, S. M., Klaesner, J. W., & Engsberg, J. R. (2017). A motor learning approach to training wheelchair propulsion biomechanics for new manual wheelchair users: A pilot study. Journal of Spinal Cord Medicine, 40(3), 304-315. doi: 10.1080/10790268.2015.1120408.
Morgan, K. A., Engsberg, J. R., & Klaesner, J. (2015). The testing of an instrumented wheelchair propulsion testing and training device. Journal of Physical Medicine, Rehabilitation & Disabilities, 1, 003, 1-9.
Walker, K. A., Morgan, K. A., Morris, C. L., DeGroot, K. K., Hollingsworth, H. H., & Gray, D. B (2010). Development of a community mobility skills course for people who use mobility devices. American Journal of Occupational Therapy, 64(4), 547-554. doi: 10.5014/ajot.2010.08117.
Crawford, A., Hollingsworth, H., Morgan, K., & Gray, D. B. (2008). People with mobility impairments: Physical activity and quality of participation. Disability and Health, 1(1), 7-13.
Gray, D. B., Hollingsworth, H. H., Stark, S., & Morgan, K. A. (2008). A subjective measure of environmental facilitators and barriers to participation for people with mobility limitations. Disability and Rehabilitation, 30(6), 434-57. doi: 10.1080/09638280701625377.
Stark, S., Hollingsworth, H. H., Morgan, K. A., & Gray, D. B. (2007). Development of a measure of receptivity of the physical environment. Disability and Rehabilitation, 29(2), 123-137. doi: 10.1080/09638280600731631.
Gray, D. B., Hollingsworth, H. H., Stark, S. L., & Morgan, K. A. (2006). Participation Survey/Mobility: Psychometric properties of a measure of participation for people with mobility impairments and limitations. Archives of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, 87(2), 189-197. doi: 10.1016/j.apmr.2005.09.014.
Morgan, K. A., Taylor, K. L., & Tucker, S. (2022). Rehabilitation in spinal cord injury: Exercise and testing for cardiorespiratory endurance and musculoskeletal fitness. In Diagnosis and Treatment of Spinal Cord Injury (pp. 513-524). Academic Press.
Heeb, R., Weber, C., Dashner, J., & Morgan, K. (2021). Community participation and engagement for persons aging with physical disability. In M. Putnam & C. Bigby (Eds.), Handbook on aging with disability. Routledge.
Perkinson, M., Hilton, C., Morgan, K., & Perlmutter, M. (2011). Therapeutic partnerships: Caregiving in the home setting. In C. Christiansen & K. Matuska (Eds.), Ways of living: Intervention strategies to enable participation (4th ed.). AOTA Press.
Perkinson, M., LaVesser, P., Morgan, K., & Perlmutter, M. (2004). Therapeutic partnerships: Caregiving in the home setting. In C. Christiansen & K. Matuska (Eds.), Ways of living: Adaptive strategies for special needs (3rd ed.). AOTA Press.
2023: Meritorious Service Award, American Occupational Therapy Foundation
2021: Plenary Speaker, American Congress of Rehabilitation Medicine Annual Conference. Talk title: Driving the Future of Research–Linking Physical Activity to Health Outcomes for Persons using a Wheelchair
2020: Keynote Speaker, NIH Pathways to Prevention Workshop. Talk title: Can Physical Activity Improve the Health of Wheelchair Users?
2020: Mentee, Training in Grantsmanship for Rehabilitation Research
2020: Loan Repayment Recipient, National Institutes of Health
2019: Central Nervous System Recovery and Restoration Award, given by Encompass Health and Washington University ($20,000 to support research activities)
2018: Loan Repayment Recipient, National Institutes of Health
2017: Breakaway Leaders Award, from Metro Theater Company to honor citizens for their community contributions
2017: Research Institute Training Program (Programs to Increase Diversity among Individuals Engaged in Health-Related Research), sponsored by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI)
2016: Rio Paralympic silver and bronze medalist
2013: Honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters, Fontbonne University
2012–Present: American record holder for the 200m, 400m and 800m (wheelchair
racing T52)
2012: London Paralympic two-time bronze medalist
2012: The Jason Sommer Dedicated Semester Award, Fontbonne University
2009: First female named to the U.S. Paralympic Wheelchair Rugby Team
2006: St. Louis Business Journal Healthcare Hero Finalist
Morgan, Kerri, PhD, OTR/L, ATP
Associate Professor of Occupational Therapy and Neurology
Director, Division of Research
Phone: (314) 286-1659
Fax: (314) 286-1601
[email protected]
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