Sarah E. Edery-Altas

Sarah Edery-Altas is a physical therapist, researcher, and clinical educator specializing in performing arts medicine, with over eleven years of integrated clinical, research, and educational experience. She is completing her Doctor of Philosophy in Health Sciences at Seton Hall University (anticipated Spring 2026). Her dissertation employs biomechanical clustering methods to examine and validate a motor control taxonomy of dance jump landing forces, contributing to the advancement of movement classification frameworks in performing arts populations.

She holds Board Certification as an Orthopedic Clinical Specialist through the American Physical Therapy Association. At NYU Langone’s Harkness Center for Dance Injuries, she serves as a Clinical Specialist and a department manager with Principal Investigator designation. She is currently developing a co-directorship in Performing Arts Research in collaboration with Dr. Aaron Johnson, with a focus on interdisciplinary research integration and translational scholarship.

Her academic activities include research, teaching, clinical education development, and national service through the APTA Performing Arts Special Interest Group. Collectively, these efforts reflect a sustained commitment to evidence-based practice, scholarly inquiry, and the education of future clinicians and researchers in performing arts physical therapy.

Memberships

American Physical Therapy Association (APTA) March 2011-present

• Orthopedic Section, Research Special Interest Group, Performing Arts Special Interest Group, Pain Special Interest Group, Residency and Fellowship Special Interest Group, Foot and Ankle Special Interest Group
• International Association for Dance Medicine and Science (IADMS) June 2017- 2020

Professional Certification

• Maintenance of Specialty Certification (MOSC), Orthopedic Clinical Specialist; completed two case studies.
• Specialist Certification Examination Item Writer, American Board of Physical Therapy Specialties, Portland, ME (Aug. 2022).

Editorial & Research Mentorship

• Manuscript reviewer, Medical Problems of Performing Artists (2018–Present).
• Research Mentor, FiPS Figure Skating Injury Prevention Research; mentored competitive high school skaters through manuscript submission to the Journal of Emerging Investigators.

Continuing Education, Clinical Training & Compliance

• International Association of Dance Medicine and Science Conferences (2017, 2019, 2022, 2023, 2024).
• Performing Arts Medicine Association Conferences (July 2022, 2024).
• Mark Comerford Low Back and Hip Kinetic Control (April 2023).
• University of Alberta Pain Management Certificate (2 of 3 courses completed; 2020–Present).
• Good Clinical Practice Training (2017–Present).
• CITI Program: Research, Ethics, and Compliance Training (2017–Present).
• APTA: Musculoskeletal Sonography of the Lower Limb in Sport and Performing Arts (Jan. 2019).
• NYU Langone: Musculoskeletal Imaging, Radiology Department (May 2018).
• NYU Langone: Medical Management of Anterior Hip Pain, Harkness Center for Dance Injuries (Spring 2018).
• NYU Langone: Hand Surgery Update (Dec. 2017).
• Balanced Body Pilates Mat I and II (Aug. 2017; Jan. 2018).
• Evidence in Motion Manipalooza Conference (April 2017).
• Graston Technique Level I Certification (July 2016).
• IAMT Dry Needling Level I Certification (Feb. 2016).
• NAIOMT: Completed 6 of 7 courses toward Certified Manual Physical Therapist (2015–Present).
• Tai Chi Fundamentals Professional Training, Level I Certification (June 2013).
• Westside Dance Medicine Practicum Module II: Foot, Ankle, and Knee (June 2013).
• Columbia University Medical Center: Shoulder and Elbow Continuing Education.

Board Certified Orthopedic Clinical Specialist June 2018

Specialist Certification Examination Item Writer, American Board of Physical Therapy Specialties, Portland, ME Aug. 2022

Clinical Education Fellowship Oct. 2013

Columbia University Program in PT, May and Samuel Rudin Family Foundation Scholar Feb. 2013

Columbia University Program in PT, Physical Therapy Merit Scholarship 2011-2014

Columbia University Program in PT, Undergraduate Merit Scholarship, Columbia University 2008-2011

American Academy of Achievements International Summit, Student Summit Delegate May 2000

National Foundation for Advancement of the Arts Jan. 1999 

Young Arts, Nominated as Presidential Scholar of the Arts Nominee (ballet)

Performing Arts Medicine Association (PAMA)

• Dissecting the Arabesque for Efficient, Coordinated, and Aesthetic Movement (2024).
• Foot Intrinsic Exercises for Pointe Technique (2024).
• Breaking Down the Fundamental Movements of Bharatanatyam (Indian Classical Dance) (2024).
• Clinical perspectives on dance medicine practice in the COVID-19 era (Virtual, June 2021).
• Jump conditioning for the dancer during and post-COVID-19 pandemic: Reconditioning safely at home (Virtual, June 2021).
• Nonsurgical management of a pre-professional contemporary dancer with shoulder instability and hypermobile Ehlers-Danlos syndrome (Virtual, June 2021).

International Association for Dance Medicine and Science / Research (IADMS)

• Ranking ground reaction forces in a variety of dance jumps: An observational biomechanical study (Conference Presentation, Oct. 2024).
• Establishing maximal jump landing force in dancers: A biomechanical observation study (e-Poster, Oct. 2024).
• A Proposal for Return to Dance Clinical Practice Guidelines (Conference Presentation, Oct. 2023).
• Injury rate calculations: Comparison between units of exposure measure (Conference Presentation, Montreal, Canada, Oct. 2019).
• Differences in force production between barefoot and pointe shoe jump landings (Poster Presentation, Montreal, Canada, Oct. 2019).
• A jump progression protocol for dancers returning to dance after injury (Conference Presentation, Houston, TX, Oct. 2017).

Other Invited & Professional Presentations

• Healthy Dance Canada: A Proposal for Return to Dance Clinical Practice Guidelines (Nov. 2022).
• American Physical Therapy Association Combined Sections Meetings (2020, 2019, 2014, 2012).