Alexandra Borstad, a clinician with more than 30 years’ experience as a physical therapist, researcher and teacher, recently joined Oregon State University – Cascades as a clinical professor and director of the Doctor of Physical Therapy program.
In her role, Borstad is responsible for the continued development and management of the DPT program, which employs about 35 full- and part-time faculty, including 10 core faculty with research responsibilities, and enrolls 126 students. In addition to academic and operations leadership, and faculty oversight and mentoring, she will also oversee admissions and recruitment planning, curriculum development, the DPT research program and future facility needs as the program grows.
Borstad will also teach classes in prosthetics and orthotics.
Before joining OSU-Cascades, Borstad worked in the DPT program at the College of St. Scholastica in Duluth, Minnesota for nearly a decade. There, she taught and oversaw research programming. Prior to that, Borstad worked in The Ohio State University’s DPT program as a researcher and tenure track faculty member.
Borstad’s research interest is in sensory-motor control and rehabilitation for people with central nervous system dysfunction.
She earned a master’s degree and Ph.D. from Ohio State and completed her post-doctoral training in physical medicine and rehabilitation at Ohio State. Prior to earning her advanced degrees, she worked for 15 years as a physical therapist, and was a certified specialist in neurologic physical therapy.
OSU-Cascades was the first public university in Oregon to launch a Doctor of Physical Therapy degree. The program addresses the need for physical therapists in Oregon and across the nation, especially in rural areas.
Borstad’s predecessor, Christine Pollard, founded the DPT program in 2021, and now serves as the senior associate dean for OSU-Cascades, overseeing the campus’s academic affairs.
About OSU-Cascades: Oregon State University’s campus in Bend brings higher education to Central Oregon, the fastest growing region in the state. Surrounded by mountains, forest and high desert, OSU-Cascades is a highly innovative campus of a top-tier land grant research university, offering small classes that accelerate faculty-student mentoring and experiential learning. Degree programs meet industry and economic needs in areas such as innovation and entrepreneurship, natural ecosystems, health and wellness, and arts and sciences, and prepare students for tomorrow’s challenges. OSU-Cascades is expanding to serve 3,000 to 5,000 students, building a 128-acre campus with net-zero goals.