Professional Background

Neena Sharma, Ph.D., PT, CMPT, has a clinical background in orthopedics and manual therapy. Her primary teaching responsibilities are in the orthopedic tract including courses Orthopedic Physical Therapy I, II and III in the physical therapy curriculum. She also teaches pain-related topics in both physical therapy and rehabilitation science curricula.

Sharma provides consultation to local clinicians for orthopedic and chronic pain conditions as well as continuing education courses related to musculoskeletal topics.

Academic Background
Sharma began her academic career by earning a bachelor’s degree at the University of Jodhpur in India. She completed a master’s degree in physical therapy at KU in 2000 and received manual therapy certification from the North American Institute of Orthopaedic Manual Therapy in 2004.

In 2008, Sharma earned her doctorate from KU in rehabilitation science. Her doctoral project related to defining muscle pain at the peripheral and spinal cord sites and the effects of exercise training on neurotrophin-3 and pain-like behavior in an animal model of fibromyalgia. This work was conducted under the mentorship of Doug Wright, Ph.D. Sharma’s post-doctoral work focused on understanding central sensitization with brain imaging modalities in low back pain.