Guest Speakers

Jennifer Burton, DPT

Jennifer Burton, DPT, is a physical therapy clinician at the George E. Whalen Veterans Affairs Medical Center located in Salt Lake City, UT. Upon receiving her Doctorate from the University of Utah, Jennifer had a strong passion for vestibular/balance therapy. During her early years working as a therapist in both the outpatient and inpatient setting, she realized the significant need for such a specialty at the SLC VA, especially in light of the signature injury, mTBI, of returning OIF/OEF veterans. She quickly transitioned into primarily evaluating and treating veterans with both simple and complex balance and dizziness complaints, as well as developing a vestibular rotation (no pun intended) to broaden each student’s learning experience while completing their outpatient internship. Most of her continuing education has been geared toward treating the unbalanced or dizzy patient. She enjoys the challenge that this patient population brings. Currently, Jennifer continues to work at the VAMC and finds great satisfaction serving the veterans who sacrificed so much while proudly serving our country. She also cherishes time spent with her husband, Jeff, and three amazing children, Adelin (6), Jason (3), and Baby James (12 mo).

Teri Chou, PhD

Teri Chou, PhD, in Bioengineering at the University of Utah in 2007. As post-doctoral fellow, she tested infection prevention strategies for the osseointegrated implant for prosthetic attachment under Dr. Roy Bloebaum at the Veterans Affairs Salt Lake City Health Care System. In 2008, she joined Orthocare Innovations in Seattle, WA, as a research scientist to lead prosthetic limb development and activity monitoring research. Today, Dr. Chou is speaking about objective community monitoring to assist in functional level classifications.

David Cifu, MD

David Cifu, MD, is Chairman and the Herman J. Flax, MD Professor (tenured) of the Department of PM&R at the Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) School of Medicine in Richmond, Virginia, the Chief of PM&R Services of the VCU Health System, the Executive Director of the VCU-Center for Rehabilitation Sciences and Engineering, and National Director of PM&R Program Office and a member of the Cabinet-appointed member of the Senior Executive Staff for the Department of Veterans Affairs. He has been funded on 33 research grants at over $110 million. In his more than 20 years as an academic physiatrist, he has delivered more than 460 regional, national and international lectures, published more than 190 articles and 65 abstracts, and co-authored 27 books and book chapters. He is also the Past President of the American Academy of PM&R.

Bradley Freestone, OD

Bradley Freestone, OD, has done low vision at the SLC VA for over 5 years, as well as performing binocular evaluations on veterans with TBI. He graduated from Pacific University College of Optometry in 2006 emphasizing in low vision and binocular issues. He is also a preceptor and adjunct faculty for 5 colleges of optometry, assisting optometry externs rotate through their assignment at the VA. He also does Low Vision at the Life Skills Clinic in Research Park through the Division of Occupational Therapy at University of Utah’s College of Health.

Michael Giovanniello, MD

Michael Giovanniello, MD, is a board certified Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation physician. He has also earned board certification in Sports Medicine, Pain Management, and Electrodiagnostic Medicine. He is currently practicing at The SMART Clinic in Sandy, Utah. The SMART Clinic is a comprehensive outpatient musculoskeletal and interventional spine practice. DR. Giovanniello and his colleagues at The SMART Clinic have pioneered minimal invasive spine techniques for the management of spine pain. Dr. Giovanniello enjoys teaching and has been an instructor for interventional spine courses and developed an Interventional Spine Fellowship. Outside of medicine Dr. Giovanniello enjoys skiing the Wasatch, mountain bike riding the trails of Park City, and trail running.

Hallie Robbins, DO, ABPMR

Hallie Robbins, DO, ABPMR, is in private practice at Integral Rehabilitation, Salt Lake City, UT. She specializes in noninvasive musculoskeletal medicine and behavioral medicine for people with a range of structural and functional presentations stemming from sports, spine, developmental, and traumatic conditions. Her psychobiology major thesis at Swarthmore College was titled “Etiology, Physiology and Psychological Aspects of Pain and Muscle Spasm.” After college she became certified in Rubenfeld Synergy Method, a system combining Feldenkrais and Alexander movement approaches with Gestalt and humanistic psychotherapy. She obtained her Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine degree from New York College of Osteopathic Medicine/New York Institute of Technology. After internship at Botsford General Hospital, she did her Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation residency at MetroHealth Medical Center-Case Western School of Medicine. During her post-residency NIH-funded research fellowship focusing on pain and osteopathic manipulative medicine (OMM) at UMDNJ New Jersey Medical School in affiliation with Kessler Institute for Rehabilitation, she won a grant for her original research developing non-intrusive methods of assessing vagal tone changes during craniosacral manipulation, using Fast Fourier Transform analysis of heart rate variability. In 2007 she helped organize the First International Fascia Research Congress and has continuing involvement with the fascia clinical research community. She serves on several committees and is teaching faculty at the American Academy of Osteopathy and maintains membership in several PM&R and OMM organizations. As Immediate Past President of the Utah Osteopathic Medical Association and Delegate to the American Osteopathic Association, she is working with MD and DO colleagues to develop osteopathic education and clinical opportunities in Utah and the Intermountain West region.

Anne Thackeray, PT, MPH, PhD

Anne Thackeray, PT, MPH, PhD, is a Physical Therapist and PhD trained Clinical Outcomes researcher. She is currently an instructor within the Department of Physical Therapy at the University of Utah and sees patients at the George E. Whalen Veterans Administration Medical Center. Her research has focused on managing spine pain, examining recovery patterns, and comparing common interventions for the spine. She has used real-time ultrasound imaging as a rehabilitation tool and in research comparing the efficacy of two training programs.

Paul G. Wortley, PT

Paul G. Wortley, PT, and President of Rocky Mountain Therapy Services. He is a native of Utah and attended the University of Utah, receiving a Bachelor of Science Degree in Physical Therapy in 1978. Paul worked in Skilled Nursing Facilities at the start of his career and in 1983 started his own company contracting for physical therapy services to acute care hospitals here in Utah, Idaho and Washington State. In 1995 he was encouraged by Dr. Phil Savia (Headache Neurologist) to specialize in the treatment of individuals with chronic headache conditions. He has been doing so ever since. Paul is married and lives with his wife Ruth in Holladay Utah. He has 3 children and 4 grandchildren. He enjoys golf, travel, and sings and plays bass guitar in a 60’s-70’s soft rock band.

Jennifer Thomas, OT

Jennifer Thomas, OT, was born and raised in Utah and attended the University of Utah and graduated with a BS in Health Education in 1994. She then attended the University of North Dakota and endured the bitter cold to receive a BS in Occupational Therapy, graduating in 1996. While attending UND, she worked at the Counseling Center and was involved in campus outreach and presentations for drug and alcohol education.

She happily found her way back to a warmer climate in Utah to embark on her OT career. She has worked in a myriad of settings since graduating, including inpatient rehabilitation; skilled nursing, outpatient therapies, home health, hand therapy, private practice, and driver’s rehabilitation. Jen is also an active member of the American and Utah Occupational Therapy Associations.

Currently, Jen works at the Veteran’s Administration Hospital in Salt Lake as well as covers at the University of Utah in the Rehabilitation Departments, for both inpatient and outpatient therapies. Her work at the VA includes outpatient therapies including her active role on the Polytrauma and Wheelchair Clinic teams. Jen is also the OT for the Caregiver Support Clinic and assisted in developing the clinical practice for the Caregiver Program at the VA in Salt Lake City. She actively pursues a healthy balance in her life and tries to practice what she preaches to her patients. She strives for enough sleep, moderation of her trips to the VA coffee shop, regular exercise, and trying to incorporate regular leisure with her family.

Ken Yonemura, MD

Ken Yonemura, MD, was born and raised in Southern California. He graduated from the University of Southern California with a B.S. degree in psychobiology in 1980 and completed his medical school training at Jefferson Medical College in Philadelphia, PA in 1984.

He completed his internship and neurosurgery residency training at the University of California, Irvine Medical Center (UCIMC) in 1990 and was then selected for a spinal surgical fellowship with Dr. Volker K. H. Sonntag at the Barrow Neurological Institute in Phoenix, AZ.

Following his return to UCIMC as an assistant professor in 1991, he developed a strong interest in interbody fusion techniques resulting in his involvement in the FDA evaluation of the Ray threaded fusion cages.

At the request of his UCIMC chairman, Ronald F. Young, he joined Dr. Young in private practice at the Northwest Neuroscience Institute in Seattle in 1993. During his private practice experience, he helped pioneer minimally invasive surgical techniques for both the cervical and lumbar spine, expanded his practice into peripheral nerve disorders, and traveled to Germany to train with Dr. Rudolf Beisse on thoracoscopic spine surgery.

He returned to academic medicine at the SUNY Upstate Medical University in Syracuse, New York, September 1999. He was granted a dual appointment in the Department of Orthopedics and is an integral part of the Institute for Spine Care at the University Hospital.

Based on a desire to return closer to family on the west coast, he accepted a position in the Department of Neurosurgery at the University of Utah in 2005. His current research interests include the development minimally invasive surgical techniques, anterior and posterior motion preservation techniques, facet replacement, electromagnetic surgical navigation, and anular repair technology.

In 2011, I returned to private practice and have now affiliated with the Heiden Davidson Orthopedic group. My primary surgical sites are Lakeview Hospital in Bountiful and the Cottonwood Surgery Center in Murray.