![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/healthsciences\/physical\/\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/583\/2021\/09\/Thorpe.jpg\")
<\/a><\/p>\nThorpe steps down after nearly 22 years with UNC School of Medicine. She joined the faculty in 1999 as an assistant professor with a specialization in pediatric physical therapy, choosing UNC over offers from both Elon University, the University of New England, and The Ohio State University. She rose to associate professor in 2007 and later professor in 2018 while also serving as an adjunct professor in the UNC department of Exercise and Sport Science.<\/p>\n
\u201cI love the UNC faculty and this program, and the ability to teach in a small class setting,\u201d Thorpe said. \u201cThis is truly what drew me in and kept me here all these years.\u201d<\/p>\n
Thorpe\u2019s research has focused on children and adults with developmental disabilities, specifically cerebral palsy. She received numerous grants and awards, including a 5-year K23 award from the National Institute of Health which enabled her to pursue full-time research into aging with cerebral palsy and the development of aquatic rehabilitation interventions for individuals with cerebral palsy. Her publications from this study \u2013 the only one of its kind at UNC \u2013 and multiple pediatric studies, led to national and international recognition and collaboration.<\/p>\n
In addition to clinical care, Thorpe has continued publishing her research throughout her career, notably with studies on bone density and the development of bone scan techniques for adults with cerebral palsy. More recently, Thorpe has pioneered data and statistics research through a grant awarded by the APTA, Center for Health Statistics, Training and Research. \u00a0Through this grant, Thorpe has become one of the first researchers to analyze Medicare data specific to adults with cerebral palsy.\u00a0 With these results, she and her co-investigators hope to show that provision of physical therapy services should occur throughout the lifespan of individuals with cerebral palsy.<\/p>\n
\u201cCerebral palsy is not a highly studied disorder and has a very heterogeneous presentation,\u201d Thorpe said. \u201cIndividuals with cerebral palsy are now living longer than ever before, and I\u2019m very passionate about my work because I want to be a voice to advocate for these patients and their need for better treatment options as they age.\u201d<\/p>\n
Collaborating with UNC\u2019s Chair of the Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Joshua Alexander, MD, Thorpe has worked for many years to develop a multidisciplinary clinic to transition children with developmental disabilities into adult care for rehabilitation services.<\/p>\n
\u201cMany patients get great care until they\u2019re 18, and then afterward they don\u2019t have the same support,\u201d Thorpe said. \u201cMany providers won\u2019t see them because they are not trained in the issues faced by adults with cerebral palsy. It\u2019s been a career goal of mine to change this \u2013 we have more work to do to understand this disorder as it relates to older age.\u201d<\/p>\n
Thorpe\u2019s work and publications have opened up additional grant opportunities for UNC and led to her leadership on national and international research groups, including the Cerebral Palsy Research Network. She has worked to include UNC in a national registry for individuals with cerebral palsy with a goal of ensuring that future young researchers studying cerebral palsy will have access to thousands of data points, patients and statistics through medical records and national interdisciplinary collaboration.<\/p>\n
Thorpe plans to continue guest lectures at UNC after her retirement, as well as providing physical therapy services to group homes and retirement communities throughout the area. She is an avid golfer and fly fisher and has a sixteen-year-old daughter who she knows will keep her busy with equestrian events and college tours.<\/p>\n
To honor Thorpe\u2019s retirement, UNC Health Foundation has set up a tribute site where you can make a secure online gift and share your appreciation. Click here to make a gift<\/a>.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n -Written by Katie Nash, UNC Health Foundation<\/p>\n Giving link: https:\/\/give.communityfunded.com\/o\/unc-chapel-hill\/i\/unc-school-of-medicine\/s\/unc-ahs-physical-therapy-retirements#Contact-UsHZ3eG_7PyO<\/a> <\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Deborah Thorpe, PT, PhD retired from her position as professor in the Division of Physical Therapy in the Department of Allied Health Sciences in August 2021. Thorpe steps down after nearly 22 years with UNC School of Medicine. She joined the faculty in 1999 as an assistant professor with a specialization in pediatric physical therapy, … Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":81046,"featured_media":6266,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"layout":"","cellInformation":"","apiCallInformation":"","footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[40,3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6264","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-alumni","category-news","odd"],"acf":[],"featured_image":"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/healthsciences\/physical\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/583\/2021\/09\/Thorpe.jpg","featured_image_medium":"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/healthsciences\/physical\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/583\/2021\/09\/Thorpe-207x300.jpg","featured_image_medium_large":"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/healthsciences\/physical\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/583\/2021\/09\/Thorpe.jpg","featured_image_large":"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/healthsciences\/physical\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/583\/2021\/09\/Thorpe.jpg","featured_image_thumbnail":"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/healthsciences\/physical\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/583\/2021\/09\/Thorpe-150x150.jpg","featured_image_alt":"","category_details":[{"name":"Alumni","link":"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/healthsciences\/physical\/category\/alumni\/"},{"name":"News","link":"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/healthsciences\/physical\/category\/news\/"}],"tag_details":[],"_links_to":[],"_links_to_target":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/healthsciences\/physical\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6264","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/healthsciences\/physical\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/healthsciences\/physical\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/healthsciences\/physical\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/81046"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/healthsciences\/physical\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6264"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/healthsciences\/physical\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6264\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7848,"href":"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/healthsciences\/physical\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6264\/revisions\/7848"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/healthsciences\/physical\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6266"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/healthsciences\/physical\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6264"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/healthsciences\/physical\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6264"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/healthsciences\/physical\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6264"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}