Sharon M. Henry, P.T., Ph.D., A.T.C.

Professor of Rehabilitation and Movement Science

Office: 306E Rowell
Phone: (802) 656-8146
Email: Sharon.Henry@uvm.edu

Dr. Sharon Henry joined the UVM faculty in the fall of 1996 after completing her post-doctoral fellowship at the Neurological Sciences Institute in Portland, OR. She has been a physical therapist for 30 years and teaches in the entry-level Doctorate of Physical Therapy program in courses where students learn about the physical therapy management of musculoskeletal dysfunction. She is co-director of the Human Motion Laboratory. Her primary research interests are motor control of human posture and movement, particularly as they relate to musculoskeletal impairments and injuries. Graduate students who are interested in working with Dr. Henry can apply to the doctoral program in the UVM Neuroscience Graduate Program. She is currently a member of the Neuroscience, Behavior and Health (NBH) Spire Steering Committee and was also a member of the NBH Working Group.

Education

NIH Post-doctoral Fellowship, Human Motor Control, Neurological Sciences Institute, Portland, OR, 1994-1996
Ph.D., Anatomy and Neurobiology, University of Vermont, 1994
Certificate in Manual Therapy, Institute of Graduate Health Sciences, 1988
Certificate in Athletic Training, National Athletic Trainers Association, 1983
B.S., Physical Therapy, University of Vermont, 1982

Courses Taught

PT 213 - Movement Science
PT 241 - Patient Management: Foundational Skills
PT 242 - Physical Therapy Evaluation and Management of Musculoskeletal Conditions (8 credits)

Research Interests

• Use of real-time ultrasound to non-invasively quantify trunk muscle function
• Neuromotor coordination in people with and without low back pain
• Cortical contributions to posture control in people with and without low back pain
• Randomized control trial examining the effects of 2 different physical therapy exercise protocols on impairment, function and participation in people with low back pain
• Use of on-line journaling to improve exercise adherence post physical therapy discharge

Henry Lab Staff

Dr. Henry has mentored many undergraduate and graduate students who have made important contributions to the lab. She also works collaboratively with physical therapists in the community to create a provider-based network for carrying out her clinical trials. The research staff members who work closely with her include:

Juvena R. Hitt, B.S. is a senior research technician in the Human Motion Analysis Laboratory and has been with the lab since 1998. She received a B.S. degree in physics from Loyola College in Maryland in 1995. She has numerous years of research experience in the areas of biomechanics and biomedical engineering in both academic and industrial settings. She is funded by a grant from the National Institutes of Health (Dr. Sharon M. Henry - HD040909-06-07) which focuses on examining the motor control strategies that are used by people with low back pain and on quantifying outcomes following different exercise based interventions in this patient population.





Dr. Karen Lomond, Ph.D. is a post-doctoral associate who joined the Human Motion Analysis Laboratory in March 2010 after completing her graduate work at McGill University. She has worked extensively in the field of biomechanics examining movement and coordination patterns in populations ranging from elite athletes to injured workers. Karen has joined the Human Motion Analysis Laboratory in order to complement these skills with experience in neurophysiology and rehabilitation. Her long-term research goal is to investigate the mechanisms underlying motor coordination and variability in clinical populations. In the short-term this work focuses primarily on neuromuscular control of posture in persons with chronic low back pain.





Rebecca Ouellette, M.P.T., M.S. is a research physical therapist in the Human Motion Analysis Laboratory. Rebecca received a B.S. degree in Animal and Food Sciences in 1990 and an M.S. in Food Science in 2000 and was employed in Research and Development at Ben & Jerry's from 1992 until 2003. In 2006, she graduated from the University of Vermont with a master's degree in physical therapy. Prior physical therapy experience includes treating patients with orthopedic injuries in an out-patient facility. Currently, Rebecca is involved in a low back pain study that focuses on two clinical approaches to classifying patients who have low back pain. The goal is to match appropriate treatment with a patient's specific symptoms and impairments in order to improve clinical outcomes for this population.




Jennifer Chenette is a fourth year Exercise and Movement Science major who is working with Dr. Henry on examining the clinical and neuromuscular measures associated with the Movement System Impairment (MSI) classification system, a system used to classify patients with low back pain. Jenn was awarded the 2012 Undergraduate Research Summer Internship Award, during which she conducted a secondary analysis of the MSI classification approach. She continues to work in the lab and is currently quantifying neuromuscular responses of subjects during various standardized MSI tests.

Kyle McGregor, B.A. is a second year graduate student in the physical therapy program and is currently working with Dr. Henry on a research project examining the validity of a physical therapist's clinical judgment to recognize and correct movement impairments, with an emphasis on lumbo-pelvic coordination. The aim of this research is to determine the variability in baseline lumbo-pelvic coordination patterns to be used later for comparison studies. For this project, he is predominately focusing on in the kinematic analysis that objectively quantiies changes in the subject's movement.

Kelsey McLaren is a second year graduate student in the physical therapy program and is currently working with Dr. Henry to characterize different exercise treatments that are used by physical therapists to treat low back pain. In particular, she is focusing on trunk stabilization and the Movement System Impairment exercise approaches to low back pain.

Physical Therapy Clinician Network

Dr. Henry has created a community-based provider network of physical therapists who implement the physical therapy treatment for her NIH-funded randomized clinical trials for low back pain. The physical therapists are from Dee Physical Therapy, Evolution Physical Therapy and Yoga, Fletcher Allen Health Care and Copley Hospital.

Photo at right, front row left to right: Lucia Ryan, Diane Stevens, Janet Carscadden, Rose Bernier; Back row: Matt Odachowski, Jane Eliason, Traci Glanz, Sharon Henry, Justine Dee, Jeff Albertson, Sonya Worth.

Selected Publications

Larivière C, Gagnon D, De Oliveira E, Henry SM, Mecheri, H., Dumas J-P. Ultrasound Measures of the Lumbar Multifidus: Effect of Task and Transducer Position on Reliability. PM R. 2013 Mar 15. doi:pii: S1934-1482(13)00119-6. 10.1016/j.pmrj.2013.03.010. [Epub ahead of print]PMID:23507347

Henry SM, Van Dillen LR, Tromley AL, Dee JM, Bunn JY. Reliability of novice raters in using the movement system impairment approach to classify people with low back pain, Manual Therapy 2013;18(1): 35-40.

Zielinski KA, Henry SM, Ouellette-Morton RH, DeSarno  MJ. Activation of lumbar multifidus muscle predicts patients with low back pain who improve with trunk stabilization exercises. Arch Phys Med Rehabil. 2012 Dec 7.PMID:23228626

Larivière C, Gagnon D, De Oliveira E, Henry SM, Mecheri, H., Dumas J-P. (2013) Reliability of ultrasound measures of the transversus abdominis: effect of task and transducer position. PM R. 2013;5(2):104-13..PMID: 2331303

Jones SL, Henry SM, Raasch CC, Hitt JR. Individuals with chronic low back pain in an active episode demonstrate temporal but not spatial altered torque responses and directionally-specific enhanced muscle activity following unexpected balance perturbations. Experimental Brain Research. 2012: 221 (4); 413-426. (DOI: 10.1007/s00221-012-3183-8)

Henry SM, Fritz JM, Trombley AL, Bunn JY. Reliability of the Treatment Based Classification System for Subgrouping People with Low Back Pain. J Orthop Sports Phys Ther.2012;42(9):797-805. (Abstract)

Jacobs JV, Yaguchi C, Kaida C, Irei M, Naka M, Henry SM, Fujiwara K. Effects of experimentally induced low back pain on the sit-to-stand movement and electroencephalographic contingent negative variation. Exp Brain Res. 2011 Sep 28. (Abstract)

Jones SL, Henry SM, Raasch CC, Hitt JR, Bunn JY. Individuals with non-specific low back pain use a stiffening strategy to maintain upright posture. J Electromyogr Kinesiol. 2012 Feb;22(1):13-20. Epub 2011 Nov 18. (Abstract)

Jacobs JV, Henry SM, Jones SL, Hitt JR, Bunn JY. A history of low back pain associates with altered electromyographic activation patterns in response to perturbations of standing balance. J Neurophysiol. 2011 Jul 27. [Epub ahead of print] PMID: 21795622] (Abstract)

Stokes IAF, Gardner-Morse M, Henry SM. Abdominal muscle activation increases lumbar spinal stability: analysis of contributions of different muscle groups. Clin Biomech (Bristol, Avon). 26 (2011) 797-803 (October). (Abstract)

Jacobs JV, Yaguchi C, Kaida C, Irei M, Naka M, Henry SM, Fujiwara K. Effects of experimentally induced low back pain on the sit-to-stand movement and electroencephalographic contingent negative variation. Exp Brain Res. 2011 Sep 28. (Abstract)

Langevin HM, Fox JR, Koptiuch C, Badger GJ, Greenan-Naumann A, Bouffard NA, Konofagou EE, Wei-Ning L, Triano JJ, Henry SM. Reduced thoracolumbar fascia shear strain in human chronic low back pain. BMC Musculoskeletal Disorders 2011 Sep 19;12:203. (Abstract)

Stokes IAF, Gardner-Morse M, Henry SM. Intra-abdominal pressure and abdominal wall muscular function: Spinal unloading mechanism. Clinical Biomechanics, 2010 Jul 22. [Epub ahead of print] PMID: 20655636; NIHMS225315. PMCID: PMC2949466

Jacobs JV, Henry SM, Nagle KJ. Low back pain associates with altered activity of the cerebral cortex prior to arm movements that require postural adjustment. Clinical Neurophysiology. 2010 Mar;121(3):431-40. Epub 2010 Jan 11. PMID: 20071225 (Abstract)

Langevin HM, Stevens-Tuttle D, Fox JR, Badger GJ, Bouffard NA, Krag MH, Wu J, Henry SM. Ultrasound evidence of altered lumbar connective tissue structure in human subjects with chronic low back pain. BMC Musculoskeletal Disorders. 3;10(1):151, Dec 2009. PMID: 19958536. (Abstract, Full Text)

Jacobs JV, Henry SM, Nagle KJ. People with chronic low back pain exhibit decreased variability in the timing of their anticipatory postural adjustments. Behav Neurosci. 123(2):455-8, April 2009. (Abstract, Full Text)

Jones SL, Henry SM, Raasch CC, Hitt JR, Bunn JY. Responses to multi-directional surface translations involve redistribution of proximal vs. distal strategies to maintain upright posture. Exp Brain Res. 187(3):407-17, 2008 (May). (Abstract)

Henry SM, Teyhen DS. Ultrasound imaging as a feedback tool in the rehabilitation of trunk muscle dysfunction. JOSPT 37(10):627-634, 2007 (October) (Abstract)

Gill NR, Whittaker J, Henry SM, Julie Hides J, Hodges PW. Rehabilitative ultrasound imaging of the abdominal muscles. JOSPT 37(8):450-466, 2007 (August). (Abstract)

Henry SM, Bunn JY. Use of real time ultrasound feedback enhances learning the abdominal hollowing exercise in patients with low back pain. New Zealand J Physiotherapy. 35(1):4-11, 2007 (March) (Abstract)

Henry SM, Hitt JR, Jones SL, Bunn JY. Decreased limits of stability in persons with recurrent low back pain. Clinical Biomechanics 21(9):881-92, 2006 (November) (Abstract)

Stokes, IAF, Fox James, Henry SM, Single RM. Trunk muscular activation patterns and responses to transient force perturbations in persons with self-reported low back pain. Eur J Spine. 15(5): 658-67, 2006 (May). (Abstract)

Henry SM, Westervelt KC. The use of real time ultrasound feedback in teaching abdominal hollowing exercises to healthy subjects. JOSPT 35(6):338-345, 2005 (June).

Honors and Awards

• Eugene Michels New Investigator Award. Awarded by the APTA in recognition of my independent research and contributions to the field, 2000
• UVM International Educational Grant for 'Lumbar Stabilization Symposium' in collaboration with University of Queensland, Dept. of Physiotherapy ($1,211), 1998
• National Institute of Aging Individual National Service Award ($28,600), 1996 - 1997
• North American Spine Society Research Traveling Fellowship ($9,400), 1996
• American Physical Therapy Postdoctoral Research Fellowship Award ($40,000), 1995 - 1996
• Doctoral Research Award, Foundation for Physical Therapy ($12,000), 1992 - 1994

Grants and Scholarship Activities

• Larivére, C., Coutu, M.-F., Gagnon, D , Henry S.M., Preuss, R., Sullivan M.J.L., Dumas J.-P. Canadian Occupational Health and Safety Research Institute Robert-Sauvé (IRSST: #2010-0022) "Développement préliminaire d'une règle de prédiction clinique pour dépister les patients ayant une lombalgie non-aigue répondant favorablement è un programme d'exercices de stabilisation lombaire" (In English : Preliminary development of a clinical prediction rule for identifying patients with non-acute low back pain who respond best to a lumbar stabilization exercise program) (Dr. Henry's Role: Investigator; $487, 579 Canadian; July 2012 - June 2015).
  
  
• National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine (NIH/NCCAM) (RO1) "Connective tissue and nervous system mechanisms of CAM therapies for low back pain" (PI: Helene Langevin; Dr. Henry's role is investigator at 5%FTE); Feb. 1, 2011 - Dec. 31, 2015. $1,888,300 - directs/indirects.
  
  
• "Mechanisms of Specific Trunk Exercises in Low Back Pain" (2R01 HD040909-06A2 funded by the NIH/Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health & Human Development/NCMRR) focuses on two schemas to classify patients who have low back pain with the goal of better matching the patient to the appropriate treatment. In addition to comparing patient outcomes from pre- to post-treatment, we are also examining changes in trunk muscle control from pre- to post-treatment to help us better understand the mechanisms by which treatments may be helpful in reducing pain and increasing function. September 2009 - March 2012. $1,484,709 - directs/indirects.
  
  
• "Effects and Mechanisms of Specific Exercises on Low Back Pain" (5 RO1 HD 040909 funded by NIH/Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health & Human Development/NCMRR) had 3 major aims: 1) to examine the effects of specific trunk exercises compared to more general strengthening and endurance exercises on low back pain and function; 2) to characterize motor control impairments in LBP patients compared to healthy control subjects and to investigate if specific deep trunk muscle exercises and/or a general exercise protocol change these impairments; 3) to quantify the hypothesized mechanistic reasons why training of deep local trunk muscles might be beneficial for reducing LBP. March 2003 - June 2008. $1,874,438 - directs/indirects.
  
  
• "Low Back Pain: A Motor Control Impairment?" (KO1 HD 01134 funded by NIH/Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health & Human Development/NCMRR) characterized trunk muscle recruitment patterns in healthy subjects and in subjects with low back pain classified according to physical tests and measures. Systematic perturbations of the support surface were imposed while subjects were standing and muscle, kinematic, and force responses were recorded in order to gain a better understanding of how posture and trunk orientation was maintained. June 1998 - May 2003. $433,334 - directs/indirects.

Grants Awarded to Students & Trainees

• URECA/Faculty Mentoring grant ($3000) Jennifer Chenette, SM Henry. “Lumbo-pelvic control in subjects without low back pain” (September 2013 – May 2014).
• Undergraduate Research Awards: Summer Internship 2012 ($5,000) Jennifer Chennette, SM Henry. "Movement System Impairment of Subjects with Low Back Pain." (May - Aug. 2012).
• URECA/Faculty Mentoring grant ($2,880) Claire Freson, SM Henry. "Online journaling for adherence to a home exercise program following physical therapy for patients with chronic low back pain" (May 2011 - April 2012).
• URECA/Faculty Mentoring grant ($1,570) Matthew Cole, SM Henry. "Postural control during a sit-to-stand task in people with and without low back pain." (Nov. 2007 - May 2008).
• URECA/Faculty Mentoring grant ($3,000). A. Chagnon, SM Henry. "Texture analysis of post breast cancer ultrasound images." (Dec. 2005 - Oct. 2006).
• URECA/Faculty Mentoring grant ($3,500). K. McCarthy, SM Henry. "Use of real-time ultrasound to quantify multifidus and transversus abdominus muscles in subjects with and without low back pain." (Nov. 2004 - Oct. 2005)
• Stimulation of Undergraduate Research/Faculty Mentoring grant ($3,000). E. Loskutoff, SM Henry. "Postural responses in diagonal versus natural stance." (Jan. 2001)

Professional Affiliations

American Physical Therapy Association, Sections of Research, Orthopedics and Neurology,
Oregon and Vermont Chapter, American Physical Therapy Association
International Society for Posture and Gait Research, Treasurer and Board Member
National Athletic Trainers Association, 1983 - 1996
Society for Neuroscience