Karen Perell-Gerson

Prior to coming to GGC, Dr. Perell-Gerson taught at California State University, Fullerton Kinesiology and Health Science Departments, UCLA Physiological Science Department and Mount St. Mary's College Physical Therapy Department. She ran the Los Angeles VA (Veterans' Affairs) Gait Laboratory.

Her teaching philosophy is to provide an applied learning environment in which students put into practice learned content. Her goal as an educator is to provide students with a comfortable environment so that they will actively participate in their learning and expand on the material she provides them for their career development through activities, group projects, and presentations. She strongly encourages students to actively participate in the research process. She has supervised several students who have published their work in professional publications. Perell-Gerson is a registered kinesiotherapist. She implemented fall prevention screening clinics in five VA Centers. She uses biomechanics to evaluate and treat abnormal movement patterns in people with chronic disease/pathology (e.g. diabetes, osteoarthritis, frail elderly).

She was the recipient of two Career Development Awards from the VA Rehabilitation Research & Development Office to study the use of the bicycle as a modality for gait deficits in individuals with diabetes. More recently, she has focused her research on motivators and barriers to exercise to reduce the risk of diabetes in minority populations. Her work has been published in the Journal of Rehabilitation Research & Development, Gait & Posture, Journal of Applied Biomechanics, Clinical Biomechanics, Journal of Gerontology, Clinical Kinesiology, and Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation. Perell-Gerson is very excited to join Georgia Gwinnett College. She has a great interest in exercise science and strongly believes that it will provide an excellent foundation for the students who are interested in medical fields, physical therapy, athletic training and coaching.

• Doctorate – kinesiology – UCLA

• Motivators and barriers to exercise
• Diabetes prevention
• Fall risk in elderly
• Biomechanics
• Gait deficits in those with chronic disease/pathology
• Osteoarthritis

• DHHS-HACU Professions Capacity Building Program Fellow
• VA Desert Pacific Healthcare Network Performance Award
• Ralph Goldman Research Award
• Posture & Gait Society Meeting Student Fellowship