Select Page
Sue Ann Sisto

Sue Ann Sisto, PT, MA, PhD, FACRM

Past-President, ACRM
Research Director
Stony Brook University, School of Health Technology and Management
Stony Brook, NY
Sue.sisto@stonybrook.edu

Dr. Sisto joined ACRM in 1998. She was first introduced to ACRM by Dr. Mark Johnston who encouraged her to attend the annual conference. Dr. Sisto worked at Kessler Institute and their research foundation for nearly 30 years. It was at the recommendation of Dr. Mitch Rosenthal, who was then vice president for research at the Kessler Foundation, that she again attended the ACRM Annual Conference.  While Dr. Sisto was working in a research capacity at Kessler, Dr. Rosenthal became president of ACRM and always encouraged her to be an active member. With his support and direction, she joined committees and submitted conference content, including a pre-conference symposium on rehabilitation research ethics.

Over the years, Dr. Sisto served on numerous committees, including the Program and Communications Committees. Her greatest contribution was the development of the Spinal Cord Injury Networking Group, which was elevated to special interest group status in 2009. Dr. Sisto was named a Fellow of ACRM in 2011 and notably, is the first physical therapist to receive this honor. She has served on the ACRM Board of Governors as a member-at-large, secretary, vice president, and is currently president-elect.  ACRM made a significant impact on Dr. Sisto’s career by providing interdisciplinary opportunities to meet and network with so many talented scientists, clinicians and educators, both within and beyond her primary profession.

In 2007, Dr. Sisto relocated to Stony Brook University where she is now a professor of physical therapy, research director for rehabilitation sciences, director of the Rehabilitation Research and Movement Performance (RRAMP) Lab, and the program chair for the PhD Program in Health and Rehabilitation Sciences in the School of Health Technology and Management. Her current research direction is recovery of locomotion in spinal cord injury (SCI) and the impact on health outcomes. Dr. Sisto has served on multiple grant review panels; she is associate editor for the Journal of Spinal Cord Injury Medicine and a member of the editorial board for the Journal of Head Trauma Rehabilitation.  She published a textbook on SCI rehabilitation in 2009.