Springfield College to Host Greene Memorial Lecture in Physical Therapy

SPRINGFIELD — The Springfield College Department of Physical Therapy will host the 23rd annual Greene Memorial Lecture featuring James Irrgang on Thursday, April 11, starting at 5 p.m. in the Cleveland E. and Phyllis B. Dodge Room in the Flynn Campus Union. The event is free and open to the public.

Irrgang is a professor and chair of the Department of Physical Therapy at the University of Pittsburgh. He has a secondary appointment in the Department of Orthopedic Surgery as vice chair for clinical research. Currently, he serves as the scientific director of the American Physical Therapy Assoc. Physical Therapy Outcomes Registry. 

Irrgang’s research interests include development and validation of patient-reported outcome measures as well as clinical research related to the knee and shoulder. Current active studies include a multi-center randomized clinical trial to determine the effects of timing of surgery (early versus delayed) and post-operative rehabilitation (early versus delayed) for the treatment of multiple ligament knee injuries on time to return to pre-injury activity; a prospective observational study to determine the outcome and factors influencing the effects of exercise therapy for individuals with a full-thickness supraspinatus tear; and a randomized clinical trial to examine four methods of exercise for treatment of degenerative meniscus tears.

His areas of clinical expertise are related to evaluation and treatment of the knee and shoulder. Irrgang is one of the Catherine Worthingham Fellows of the American Physical Therapy Assoc. He served as president of the Academy of Orthopaedic Physical Therapy from 2007 to 2013 and was presented with its Paris Distinguished Service Award in 2015.