Martha Cammarata

Martha Cammarata completed her PhD in Biomedical Engineering from Northwestern University, focusing on biomechanics and neuromuscular control.  Her graduate research was conducted at the Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago (now the Shirley Ryan Ability Lab) in collaboration with other research and clinical personnel. She explored the neural and mechanical factors that contribute to knee joint stability in both healthy and pathologic populations.

Martha has been teaching in higher education since 2012. She began teaching at North Central College in 2017 in the Kinesiology department and joined the  DPT faculty in 2022. She has experience teaching a range of life science and health-related courses, including anatomy, physiology, pathophysiology, kinesiology, research methods, and epidemiology. Her current research interests center on teaching and learning, including development of student writing abilities and psychomotor skill acquisition in physical therapy education.

When she's not teaching, Martha enjoys spending time with her husband and two sons. As a family, they like getting outside for camping, hiking, and swimming, playing board games, and watching Marvel movies. Martha also likes to bake, shop at Target, and stay active. Past and current athletic pursuits include rowing, triathlon, master's swimming, and running.

“I am excited to join the DPT program at North Central College and work with my colleagues to develop an innovative curriculum that will both challenge and support learners on their path to become excellent physical therapists!”

Selected Scholarship

Cammarata M.L., Dhaher Y.Y. (2012). Associations between frontal plane joint stiffness and proprioceptive acuity in knee osteoarthritis. Arthritis Care Res (Hoboken). 64(5): 735-43.

Cammarata M.L., Schnitzer T.J., Dhaher Y.Y (2011). Does knee osteoarthritis differentially modulate proprioceptive acuity in the frontal and sagittal planes? Arthritis Rheum. 63(9):2681-9.

Cammarata M.L. and Dhaher Y.Y. (2011). Proprioceptive acuity in the sagittal and frontal planes of the knee: a preliminary study. Eur J Appl Physiol. 111(7):1313-20.

Cammarata M.L. and Dhaher Y.Y. (2010). Evidence of gender-specific motor templates to resist valgus loading at the knee. Muscle and Nerve. 41(5): 614-23.

Cammarata M.L. and Dhaher Y.Y. (2008). The differential effects of gender, anthropometry, and prior hormonal state on frontal plane knee joint stiffness. Clin Biomech (Bristol, Avon). 23: 937-45.

Courses Taught

Foundational Movement Science Sequence