SCoBIRC FACULTY

Patrick Kitzman, Ph.D., MSPT

Associate Professor,
Division of Physical Therapy and the Rehabilitation Sciences Doctoral Program.

Patrick Kitzman, Ph.D., PT has been an assistant professor in the Division of Physical Therapy at the University of Kentucky since early 2000. He received a MS degree from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee and a Ph.D. in Neuroscience from Ohio State University in 1994. In 1999, Dr. Kitzman received a BS and MS in Physical Therapy from the University of Kentucky. Dr. Kitzman is in the Division of Physical Therapy and the Rehabilitation Sciences Doctoral Program. He is also the Director of the Kentucky Appalachian Rural Rehabilitation Network.

Research Interests

Dr. Kitzman has clinical experience in in-patient and out-patient rehabilitation and home health.
Dr. Kitzman’s basic sciences work focuses on pharmacological intervention in spinal cord injury induced spasticity. Current treatments for spasticity are not effective for all individuals suffering from spinal cord injury induced spasticity and hyperreflexia.  Thus, current studies are aimed at evaluating novel pharmacologic agents for the treatment of spasticity of spinal origin and translating this work into clinical trials.
Recently Dr. Kitzman has begun to focus his research and service on issues related to long-term health care for persons with neurological conditions (SCI , TBI, and stroke), especially those living in rural communities. As such, he currently serves as the Director of the Kentucky Appalachian Rural Rehabilitation Network (www.karrn.org).

Recent Publication

Kitzman PH and Hunter EG. Developing a Community Based Rehabilitation Network for People with Spinal Cord Injury: A Case Study in Appalachian Kentucky. J. Rural and Comm. Devel. (in press).

Rabchevsky AG, Patel SP, Duale H, Lyttle TS, O’Dell CR, and Kitzman PH. Gabapentin for Spinal Cord Injury-Induced Reflexes. Spinal Cord 1 June 2010; doi: 10.1038/sc.2010.67.

Kitzman PH. Effectiveness of riluzole in suppressing spasticity in the spinal cord injury rat. Neurosci. Lett 455:150-153 (2009).

Kitzman PH, Uhl TL, Dwyer MK. Gabapentin Suppresses Spasticity in the Spinal Cord Injured Rat. Neuroscience 149: 813-821 (2007).

Kitzman P. VGLUT1 and GLYT2 labeling of Sacrocaudal Motoneurons in the Spinal Cord Injured Spastic Rat. Exp. Neurology. 204: 195-204 (2007).