Leon Machado, Laura

Laura Leon Machado, DPT, is a supervisor and front-line pediatric physical therapist leading an activity-based, restorative out-patient clinic (Pediatric NeuroRecovery Clinic) at the University of Louisville Health's Frazier Rehab Institute, Louisville, KY. She has participated in pediatric centered research developing one instrument for children with acquired SCI: 1) the Pediatric Neuromuscular Recovery Scale and the sensitivity, responsiveness and application of 2) the Segmental Assessment of Trunk Control to assess active (non-compensated) trunk control for children with SCI. She has recent peer-reviewed publications as first author and co-author on these instruments (2016, 2019) as well as reports of activity-based therapies in children with acquired SCI (2019, 2020). She has presented, as well as taught instructional courses, on trunk control in pediatric SCI at the American Academy for Cerebral Palsy and Developmental Medicine, the American Spinal Injury Association Annual Meeting, the Combined Sections Meeting of the American PT Association, and the Academy of Spinal Cord Injury Professionals. She is currently research physical therapist for a study examining safety, feasibility and proof-of-principle of transcutaneous spinal stimulation in children with spinal cord injury.