Dr. Roos was a faculty member at USciences for over 12 years before joining Saint Joseph's University. She teaches in the neuromuscular courses and brings her clinical experience of working with individuals with spinal cord injury, brain injury, Parkinson’s Disease, multiple sclerosis, and stroke into the classroom. Roos continues to work in the clinical setting with individuals with neurologic dysfunction. Roos has an active research agenda and was recently awarded a Milton Lev Faculty Research Grant to investigate the impact of high intensity interval training performed as part of a circuit with cognitive retraining on brain derived neurotrophic factor, cognition, depression, and functional activity. Roos was also awarded a Dolfinger-McMahon Foundation Grant to study the impact of a low intensity exercise program with cognitive retraining on balance and activity in healthy older adults and individuals with stroke. Roos’ dissertation focused on dynamic balance in people post stroke, the differences in walking activity in individuals post stroke in comparison to healthy older adults and the influence of dynamic balance on walking activity.
Roos’ Teaching Philosophy
Roos believes that all students learn how to be excellent clinicians through a process of active learning, experiential learning, and critical thinking. Her teaching philosophy is realized through unique student experiences. Acting as a partner with students in their education, Roos inspires them to link previously taught concepts and apply the information in a case-based format with individuals with neurological dysfunction. She assists students in developing a framework of critical thinking by guiding them through their process of identifying the issue(s), possible physical therapy interventions, and probable patient responses to intervention choices. She encourages students to compare and contrast different interventions and responses to identify the most excellent and efficient way of caring for the patient. The teaching tools she has created model the appropriate behaviors and guide the students through complex thinking. Se enjoys the important role of challenging the student concept of the THE answer, and stimulating them to identify factors that influence the achievement of personal goals. The student is then able to analyze different aspects that become apparent during the evaluation and treatment of complex patients to broaden their thinking and provide excellent care.