Allison Gustavson, PT, DPT, PhD 

CHAI recognizes and celebrates its Members, Community Partners, and Ambassadors monthly. This month, we feature Allison Gustavson, PT, DPT, PhD. 

Dr. Allison Gustavson is a physical therapist and researcher at the Minneapolis VA Health Care Systems, with a faculty appointment as an Assistant Professor in the University of Minnesota School of Medicine. She is an investigator in and actively involved in studies with and across the VA Center for Care Delivery and Outcomes (CCDOR) and the VA Rehabilitation & Engineering Center for Optimizing Veteran Engagement & Reintegration (RECOVER). Dr. Gustavson continues to practice clinically in the Skilled Nursing Facility setting. Her career objectives are to (1) facilitate changes in care delivery that support functional independence with advancing age and (2) ensure such care delivery changes empower communities through the incorporation of the perspectives of patients and their caregivers. To achieve these goals, her health systems research focuses on translating research relevant to functional recovery, maintaining independent living, and healthy aging into standard clinical practice through integrating rehabilitation and implementation sciences. Dr. Gustavson’s research determines how the uptake of evidence into clinical practice occurs and aims to identify the best strategies to optimize the translation of evidence related to functional independence for individuals with or at risk of disability.

As the lead of CHAI’s Dissemination SIG, Dr. Gustavson has initiated a collaborative group project to co-author a publication in 2025. We look forward to its official release—see a preview here:  Gustavson AM, Urbanski DP, Siobhan M, Moone R. Advancing the impact of research through a dissemination-focused special interest group. BMJ Open. In Press 2025.

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