McClure Receives Grant from the National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases

By Purnell T. Cropper | July 8, 2014

Dr. Philip McClure, professor of physical therapy at Arcadia University, was awarded a grant as a co-investigator from the National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases (NIAMS), one of the divisions of the National Institutes of Health. With the grant—a four-year award totaling just over 1.9 million dollars—McClure will be collaborating with Dr. Andrew Karduna, professor of human physiology at the University of Oregon, to study shoulder muscle activation patterns in patients with rotator cuff tendinopathy, as well as the effects of both pain and exercise on these patterns. McClure’s research will include studying patients before and after a subacromial injection and after a six-week rehabilitation program, examining deficits in activation and motor patterns using fine-wire EMG during sub-maximal exertions and investigating problems with neural drive using voluntary activation during maximal effort.