Julie Rekant, DPT, PhD

• Carnegie Mellon University, BS (Honors), Mechanical & Biomedical Engineering, 2014
• University of Pittsburgh, DPT, Physical Therapy, 2018
• University of Pittsburgh, PhD, Bioengineering, 2023
• Baltimore VA Medical Center, Postdoctoral Advanced Fellow in Geriatrics, Present

Dr. Rekant earned her PhD in Bioengineering and clinical Doctor of Physical Therapy degrees from the University of Pittsburgh as the third graduate from their DPT-PhD in Bioengineering Dual-Degree program. Dr. Rekant completed two years as a Clinical and Translational Science TL1 post-doctoral fellow at University of Pittsburgh before transitioning to the Baltimore VA as an Advanced Fellow in Geriatrics and Visiting Postdoctoral Scholar with University of Maryland, Baltimore School of Medicine's Department of Physical Therapy and Rehabilitation Sciences.

Dr. Rekant has been conducting translational research for 10 years at the National Institutes of Health, University of Pittsburgh, and most recently with the Baltimore VA and University of Maryland. Clinically, Dr. Rekant has worked in acute care, inpatient rehab, and outpatient settings – her current clinical role is in the Balance and Mobility interdisciplinary care clinic at the Baltimore VA. Dr. Rekant’s research focuses on leveraging her engineering training to integrate wearable sensors into clinical assessments to promote more sensitive identification of changes in mobility. She has a special interest in the role of physical activity on mobility disability development and in early detection of aging adults vulnerable to accelerated functional decline.

Biomechanics, mobility, physical function, aging, physical therapy, bioengineering, balance, falls, obesity, physical activity, wearable sensors, accelerometry, Actigraphy, gait mechanics

• Rekant J, Rothenberger S, Chambers A. (2024) Obesity-specific considerations for assessing gait with inertial measurement unit-based vs optokinetic motion capture. Sensors (Basel). DOI: 10.3390/s24041232.
• Rekant J, Chambers A, Suri A, Hergenroeder A, Sejdic E, Brach J. (2023) Associations of weekly minutes of moderate to vigorous physical activity with indicators of movement quality in overweight and obese older adults. Aging Clinical and Experimental Research. DOI: 10.1007/s40520-023-02584-8.
• Rekant J, Rothenberger S, Chambers A (2022) Inertial measurement unit-based motion capture to replace camera-based systems for assessing gait in healthy young adults: Proceed with caution, Measurement: Sensors, vol. 23 Article ID 100396, DOI: 10.1016/j.measen.2022.100396