Dr. Norma MacIntyre is an associate professor in the School of Rehabilitation Science at McMaster University, with an adjunct appointment in the School of Rehabilitation Therapy at Queen’s University.
Dr. MacIntyre completed her undergraduate degree in Physical Therapy at the University of Toronto, her Masters of Science in Anatomy and Cell Biology at the University of Western Ontario, her doctorate in Medical Sciences (Cell Biology and Metabolism) at McMaster University and postdoctoral fellowships in the Departments of Medicine and Mechanical Engineering at McMaster University and Queen’s University, respectively.
She is currently completing the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR)-funded Randomized Controlled Trials Mentorship Program in the Division of Orthopaedic Surgery at McMaster University. She is a consultant on the Scientific Advisory Committee for Osteoporosis Canada and sits on the Research Committee for the Canadian Arthritis Health Professionals Association.
Dr. MacIntyre’s research program focuses on evidence-based rehabilitation practice to optimize functional mobility in people with bone and joint problems within the framework of the expanded chronic care model. Four themes of her current research projects include:
- Development and evaluation of in vivo imaging-based methods of assessing vertebral body and appendicular bone strength, joint integrity and skeletal response to exercise (using Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI), peripheral quantitative computed tomograph (pQCT), computed tomography (CT), dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA))
- Evidence-based physiotherapy interventions to manage pain and optimize functional mobility in people with chronic conditions such as osteoporosis, osteoarthritis, rheumatoid arthritis, scleroderma, stroke, and/or kidney disease within the framework of the expanded chronic care model
- Use of clinical assessment to profile risk for fracture in people with primary or secondary osteoporosis
- Measurement properties of clinical and imaging-based outcome measures used in rheumatology