Our Team

Kristie Fay Bjornson, PT, PhD

Kristie Bjornson, PT, PhD, MS, is a professor of developmental medicine, Pediatrics; and an adjunct research professor, Rehabilitation Medicine, at the University of Washington and Seattle Children’s Research Institute. She is also a pediatric physical therapist with over 40 years of clinical experience in settings such as the NICU, public schools, birth-to-three centers, and at Seattle Children’s in Seattle, Washington.

Dr. Bjornson was the research coordinator for the Spasticity Management Clinic at Seattle Children’s, serving as the project coordinator for the randomized clinical trial and meta-analysis of selective dorsal rhizotomy, botulinum toxin-A and a descriptive cross sectional study of intrathecal baclofen (ITB) therapy. Bjornson’s doctoral work focused on the assessment of physical activity, health and quality of life in ambulatory children with cerebral palsy (CP) and normative ambulatory data for the StepWatch accelerometer. She completed a NICHD NIH K23 career development award focusing on the measurement of ambulatory physical activity, participation in daily life of children with CP and the influence of orthotics.

Ongoing research includes a study of power training combining the Total Gym and treadmills, a home-based treadmill training study and a project examining the Ankle-Foot Orthoses Footwear Combination (AFO-FC) orthotic management approach for ambulatory children with CP. She has a small private practice focusing on orthotics management across the lifespan.

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