Dizziness/Vestibular

Dr. Whitney received her PhD in motor development/motor learning from the University of Pittsburgh and her professional physical therapy education from Temple University.  She is a professor in the Departments of Physical Therapy and Otolaryngology at the University of Pittsburgh.   Dr. Whitney is supported by the Department of Defence to develop technology for persons with vestibular disorders and mild brain injury. She has authored or coauthored over 195 articles on Medline, received the APTA John Maley Award, and was awarded the Hallpike-Nylen award, which recognizes outstanding clinical research achievement in vestibular medicine by the Barany Society.

Maryam Alshammari, MSc, PT received her master’s degree from University of Pittsburgh in 2015 in neuromuscular rehabilitation. She is a senior vestibular physical therapist. She has founded the first vestibular rehabilitation clinic in KSA at the Cochlear Implant Center in Hafer Albatin Central Hospital. She is currently engaged in research related to people with vestibular disorders and vestibular rehabilitation in Saudi Arabia.

Rebecca is a post-doctoral vestibular physiotherapist at Imperial College London UK. She recently completed her PhD which focused on management of BPPV in acute traumatic brain injury patients. She works clinically and in on-going trauma based research projects. Rebecca is the research and education committee member for the Association of Chartered Physiotherapists in Vestibular Rehabilitation (ACPIVR) and the UK representative of the INPA Vestibular special interest group.

Dr Vicky Stewart is an Advanced Vestibular Physiotherapist with a PhD and over 12 years of experience in the field. She has several peer-reviewed published papers and works within a Primary Contact Vestibular Clinic for Ear Nose Throat (ENT) and Neurology specialties and Secondary Contact clinics managing vestibular disorders post hospital presentation.  Vicky is also co-director of Advanced Vestibular Clinics, and is founder of Dizzy Resolve Integrative Coaching – an online coaching program designed for people with persistent dizziness who have already tried conventional therapy.

In 2016 Lien Van Laer graduated at the University of Ghent (Belgium) as a master in rehabilitation sciences and physiotherapy. From 2016 until 2020 she was active as a physiotherapist in a rehabilitation center (Sint-Lievenspoort Ghent, Belgium) treating patients with vestibular disorders. In November 2020, she started a PhD at the University of Antwerp under supervision of prof. dr. Luc Vereeck, prof. dr. Ann Hallemans and prof. dr. Vincent Van Rompaey: “Unravelling risk factors for developing chronic dizziness after an acute unilateral vestibular deafferentation”. In this longitudinal follow-up study specific risk factors for chronic dizziness are investigated during the acute and subacute phase: the level of physical activity, presence of anxiety or avoidance behavior, visual dependence and level of central vestibular compensation.

Alongkot is a dedicated physical therapist, specializing in vestibular rehabilitation. With a Ph.D in Rehabilitation Science from the University of Minnesota, she applies her extensive knowledge and expertise to improve the lives of patients with vestibular disorders. As one of the pioneering vestibular therapists in Thailand, Alongkot has been a cornerstone of the vestibular clinic at Ramathibodi hospital in Bangkok for the past decade. She not only provides expert care to patients but also shares her knowledge by teaching vestibular rehabilitation to ENT doctors and physical therapists, and regularly organizing short courses in the field. Her commitment to enhancing the well-being of those with dizziness and balance problems is evident in both her clinical practice and educational initiatives.

Janene Holmberg, PT, DPT, NCS – received her Bachelor of Science in physical therapy from University of Utah in 1987, and her clinical doctorate in 2009. She has over 30 years of direct clinical patient care in the specialty field of vestibular and neurologic dizziness/balance problems. She lectures nationally and internationally with many leaders in this field. She received the Clinical Excellence in Neurology Award from the Neurology Section of the APTA in 2014. She is published in areas of BPPV and Persistent Postural-Perceptual Dizziness (PPPD). She is currently working as an Internal Process Control Coordinator (IPC) for Intermountain Healthcare where she fosters best evidence care standardization, collaboration on quality improvement initiatives, clinical outcome research and professional development in addition to keeping a small clinical practice at the Intermountain Health’s Dizziness and Balance Rehab in Salt Lake City, Utah.

Takumi Kato, PT, DPT, OCS, MS received his Bachelor of Health Sciences in Physical Therapy from the Hokkaido University (Japan) in 2012, his post-professional MS in musculoskeletal physical therapy from the University of Pittsburgh in 2014, and his tDPT from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 2018. After he completed the vestibular rehabilitation course by the Emory university/APTA, he worked for the balance and vestibular program at the MossRehab/Einstein Medical Center in Philadelphia, PA from 2015-2018 and has 9 years of experience treating individuals with balance and vestibular disorders. Currently, Dr. Kato is a lead physical therapist and visiting researcher at the Mejiro University Ear Institute Clinic. His clinical and research interests include management of uncompensated vestibular hypofunction, cervicogenic dizziness, and sports-related concussion, and his current research has received Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research and seeks to develop optimized vestibular rehabilitation for chronic vestibular disorders including PPPD.