Nancy Lennon, MS, PT

Research Physical Therapist

Nemours Children's Hospital, Delaware 1600 Rockland Road Wilmington, DE 19803

Biography

I am primarily a clinician with a focus on the neur-orthopedic care of children, youth, and young adults with cerebral palsy. My research objective is to reveal methods to improve the health related fitness of youth with cerebral palsy. I am interested in projects that establish valid outcome measures of fitness capacity and projects that lead to interventions which maximize quality of life, especially as youth with disabilities transition to adulthood. I have 25 years of clinical experience working with children, youth, and adults with disabilities and 12 years of experience conducting clinical research. I have participated in multiple research projects in the Motion Analysis Lab and Department of Orthopedics at Nemours, where I am well positioned in terms of resources and access to patient population. I have successfully collaborated with external sites in Philadelphia, Boston, Seattle, Raleigh-Durham, and Amsterdam, on clinimetric reviews of aerobic and anaerobic fitness measures for youth and adults with CP, and on projects to validate measurement tools of physical activity and a perceived exertion scale for youth with CP. In these projects and additional projects with other collaborators, authorship on a number of scientific publications has resulted.

  • Neuroscience
  • Orthopedics
  • Rehabilitation and/or Therapeutic Services

  • Saisongcroh, T., Shrader, M. W., Lennon, N., Church, C., Sees, J. P., & Miller, F. (2022). Residual Deformity and Outcome of Ambulatory Adults With Cerebral Palsy: A Long-term Longitudinal Assessment. Journal of Pediatric Orthopaedics. doi:10.1097/BPO.0000000000002057

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  • Lennon, N., Church, C., Shrader, M. W., Robinson, W., Henley, J., Salazar-Torres, J. D. J., & Miller, F. (2021). Mobility and gait in adults with cerebral palsy: Evaluating change from adolescence. Gait and Posture, 90, 374-379. doi:10.1016/j.gaitpost.2021.09.177

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  • Kanashvili, B., Miller, F., Church, C., Lennon, N., Howard, J. J., Henley, J. D., & Shrader, M. W. (2021). The change in sagittal plane gait patterns from childhood to maturity in bilateral cerebral palsy. Gait and Posture, 90, 154-160. doi:10.1016/j.gaitpost.2021.08.022

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  • Lennon, N., Church, C., Shields, T., Shrader, M. W., Henley, J., Niiler, T., & Miller, F. (2021). Factors associated with walking activity in adults with cerebral palsy. Gait and Posture, 90, 43-47. doi:10.1016/j.gaitpost.2021.08.005

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  • Shrader, M. W., Church, C., Lennon, N., Shields, T., Salazar-Torres, J. J., Howard, J. J., & Miller, F. (2021). Well-Being of Ambulatory Adults With Cerebral Palsy: Education, Employment, and Physical Function of a Cohort Who Received Specialized Pediatric Care. Frontiers in Neurology, 12. doi:10.3389/fneur.2021.732906

  • Salazar-Torres, J. J., Church, C., Shields, T., Lennon, N., Shrader, M. W., Sees, J. P., & Miller, F. (2021). Comparison of surgical outcomes for distal rectus femoris transfer and resection surgeries in children with cerebral palsy with stiff knee gait. Journal of Pediatric Orthopaedics, 41(8), 520-524. doi:10.1097/BPO.0000000000001886

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  • Abousamra, O., Connor, J., Church, C., Taylor, D., Lennon, N., Del Pilar Duque Orozco, M., & Miller, F. (2019). Long-term outcome of knee hyperextension in children with cerebral palsy. Journal of Pediatric Orthopaedics Part B, 28(4), 345-350. doi:10.1097/BPB.0000000000000564

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  • Niiler, T. A., Nicholson, K., Fischer, L., & Lennon, N. (2019). Factors influencing post-surgical variability in StepWatch data in youth with cerebral palsy. Gait and Posture, 72, 234-238. doi:10.1016/j.gaitpost.2019.06.017

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  • Perotti, L., Church, C., Dina, R., Lennon, N., Henley, J., Sees, J., & Miller, F. (2019). The long-term outcome of pelvic asymmetry during gait in children with cerebral palsy following unilateral femoral derotation osteotomy. Journal of Pediatric Orthopaedics Part B, 28(4), 320-326. doi:10.1097/BPB.0000000000000613

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  • Ahmadi, M., O'Neil, M., Fragala-Pinkham, M., Lennon, N., & Trost, S. (2018). Machine learning algorithms for activity recognition in ambulant children and adolescents with cerebral palsy 11 Medical and Health Sciences 1103 Clinical Sciences. Journal of NeuroEngineering and Rehabilitation, 15(1). doi:10.1186/s12984-018-0456-x

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  • Nicholson, K., Lennon, N., Church, C., & Miller, F. (2018). Gait Analysis Parameters and Walking Activity Pre- and Postoperatively in Children with Cerebral Palsy. Pediatric Physical Therapy, 30(3), 203-207. doi:10.1097/PEP.0000000000000512

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  • Nicholson, K., Church, C., Takata, C., Niiler, T., Chen, B. P.-J., Lennon, N., & Miller, F. (2018). Comparison of three-dimensional multi-segmental foot models used in clinical gait laboratories. Gait and Posture, 63, 236-241. doi:10.1016/j.gaitpost.2018.05.013

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  • Bjornson, K. F., & Lennon, N. (2018). Walking and physical activity monitoring in children with cerebral palsy. In Handbook of Human Motion (Vol 2-3, bll 1005-1036). doi:10.1007/978-3-319-14418-4_59

  • Lennon, N., Church, C., & Miller, F. (2018). Patient-reported mobility function and engagement in young adults with cerebral palsy: A cross-sectional sample. Journal of Children's Orthopaedics, 12(2), 197-203. doi:10.1302/1863-2548.12.170127

  • Church, C., Ge, J., Hager, S., Haumont, T., Lennon, N., Niiler, T., & Miller, F. (2018). Flexed-knee gait in children with cerebral palsy: A long-term follow-up study. Bone and Joint Journal, 100B(4), 549-556. doi:10.1302/0301-620X.100B4.BJJ-2017-0732.R1

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  • Abousamra, O., Schwartz, J., Church, C., Lennon, N., Henley, J., Niiler, T., & Miller, F. (2018). The effect of plantar flexor lengthening on foot pressure in ambulatory children with cerebral palsy. Journal of Pediatric Orthopaedics Part B, 27(3), 200-205. doi:10.1097/BPB.0000000000000501

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  • Church, C., Lennon, N., Alton, R., Schwartz, J., Niiler, T., Henley, J., & Miller, F. (2017). Longitudinal change in foot posture in children with cerebral palsy. Journal of Children's Orthopaedics, 11(3), 229-236. doi:10.1302/1863-2548.11.160197

  • Nicholson, K., Weaver, A., George, A., Hulbert, R., Church, C., & Lennon, N. (2017). Developing a clinical protocol for habitual physical activity monitoring in youth with cerebral palsy. Pediatric Physical Therapy, 29(1), 2-7. doi:10.1097/PEP.0000000000000320

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  • Nicholson, K., Lennon, N., Hulbert, R., Church, C., & Miller, F. (2017). Pre-operative walking activity in youth with cerebral palsy. Research in Developmental Disabilities, 60, 77-82. doi:10.1016/j.ridd.2016.11.011

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  • Church, C., Lennon, N., Pineault, K., Abousamra, O., Niiler, T., Henley, J., & Miller, F. (2017). Persistence and recurrence following femoral derotational osteotomy in ambulatory children with cerebral palsy. Journal of Pediatric Orthopaedics, 37(7), 447-453. doi:10.1097/BPO.0000000000000701

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  • Niiler, T., Church, C., Lennon, N., Henley, J., George, A., Taylor, D., & Miller, F. (2016). Reliability and minimal detectable change in foot pressure measurements in typically developing children. Foot, 29, 29-35. doi:10.1016/j.foot.2016.10.001

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  • Taylor, D., Connor, J., Church, C., Lennon, N., Henley, J., Niiler, T., & Miller, F. (2016). The effectiveness of posterior knee capsulotomies and knee extension osteotomies in crouched gait in children with cerebral palsy. Journal of Pediatric Orthopaedics Part B, 25(6), 543-550. doi:10.1097/BPB.0000000000000370

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  • del Pilar Duque Orozco, M., Abousamra, O., Church, C., Lennon, N., Henley, J., Rogers, K. J., & Miller, F. (2016). Reliability and validity of Edinburgh visual gait score as an evaluation tool for children with cerebral palsy. Gait and Posture, 49, 14-18. doi:10.1016/j.gaitpost.2016.06.017

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  • Trost, S. G., Fragala-Pinkham, M., Lennon, N., & O'Neil, M. E. (2016). Decision trees for detection of activity intensity in youth with cerebral palsy. Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise, 48(5), 958-966. doi:10.1249/MSS.0000000000000842

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  • O'Neil, M. E., Fragala-Pinkham, M., Lennon, N., George, A., Forman, J., & Trost, S. G. (2016). Reliability and validity of objective measures of physical activity in youth with cerebral palsy who are ambulatory. Physical Therapy, 96(1), 37-45. doi:10.2522/ptj.20140201

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  • Fragala-Pinkham, M., O'neil, M. E., Lennon, N., Forman, J. L., & Trost, S. G. (2015). Validity of the OMNI rating of perceived exertion scale for children and adolescents with cerebral palsy. Developmental Medicine and Child Neurology, 57(8), 748-753. doi:10.1111/dmcn.12703

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  • Lennon, N., Thorpe, D., Balemans, A. C., Fragala-Pinkham, M., O'Neil, M., Bjornson, K., & Dallmeijer, A. J. (2015). The clinimetric properties of aerobic and anaerobic fitness measures in adults with cerebral palsy: A systematic review of the literature. Research in Developmental Disabilities, 45-46, 316-328. doi:10.1016/j.ridd.2015.08.002

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