Name: Patricia Mortenson
Program: PhD
Supervisor: Jill Zwicker, PhD
Tell us a little bit about your lab and research interests!
My name is Patricia Mortenson and I am a PhD Candidate, supervised by Dr. Jill Zwicker at the BC Children’s Hospital and Research Institute. I am also an occupational therapist and have worked for many years at BC Children’s Hospital. I returned to graduate school driven by a clinical need to advance rehabilitation practice for children with Spinal Muscular Atrophy (SMA). SMA is a deteriorating condition usually diagnosed in early childhood, but excitingly, it is the first condition to have a publicly funded gene therapy. My grounded theory research explores how to build a framework for rehabilitation within this changing landscape, in a way that doesn’t ‘over-therapize’ children and is respectful of key stakeholders (children and young adults living with SMA, their parents, and therapists).
What project are you currently working on?
My doctoral project is a culmination of my clinical experience and previous work on patient-oriented research with the Canadian Neuromuscular Disease Network. The most exciting part of the process is learning about and supporting patient engagement within research. While considered ‘rare’, more than 60,000 Canadians live with a neuromuscular disease. Despite the potential impacts of rehabilitation, few therapists specialize in this area of practice. With many other medical advances on the horizon, I hope my work can build a collaborative way of advancing rehabilitation with this population.
I am lucky to have an amazing committee: Dr. Zwicker provides wonderful research support and latitude, Dr. Selby, the neurologist I work with, is a Canadian SMA expert, and Dr. Backman provides methodological and patient engagement wisdom. I also thank Muscular Dystrophy Canada for grant funding and the BC Children’s Hospital Research Institute Brain, Behaviour and Development Program for a Trainee Boost Grant.
What do you like to do outside of academia?
Family is very important to me. I am a parent of three children in various stages of “adulting”. I also enjoy bike commuting, being outdoors, knitting, volunteering with Girl Guides, and singing in a treble-voice choir (Maddalena’s Descant – check it out!).
Congratulations, Patricia, on being our featured Student of the Month for October!
Interested in seeing what else our Rehabilitation Sciences students and trainees are working on? Stay tuned!