Katharine E. Alter, MD, is a Pediatric and Adult Physiatrist at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) in Bethesda, Maryland, USA, where she is a Senior Clinician and serves as the Medical Director of the Functional and Applied Biomechanics Section within Rehabilitation Medicine. Prior to joining the NIH full time in 2014, Dr. Alter worked at the NIH part time while she remained in clinical practice in the Washington, DC region. In her clinical practice, Dr. Alter has served as the Medical Director of Rehabilitation Medicine at Mount Washington Pediatric Hospital, an affiliate of Johns Hopkins, from 1998 through 2014, and the University of Maryland, and as a staff physiatrist at National Rehabilitation Hospital in Washington, DC (1989-1998). She continues to serve in a clinical role at Mount Washington Pediatric Hospital as a senior physiatrist focusing on the treatment of muscle hypertonia and related disorders.
Dr. Alter’s clinical and investigative interests include the assessment and treatment of neurological and musculoskeletal impairments in children and adults, including movement disorders, cerebral palsy, stroke, muscle hypertonia, neuromuscular disorders, brachial plexus palsy, patellofemoral pain, and other conditions affecting children and adults. Her current research projects include the evaluation and treatment of muscle hypertonia, noninvasive functional brain imaging, botulinum toxin chemodenervation procedures, and the development of ultrasound imaging techniques for diagnostic purposes and procedural guidance for a variety of musculoskeletal and neurological disorders.
