Dr. Anthony Delitto is Professor and Dean of the School of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences at the University of Pittsburgh.  In May 2016, he was named Director of the Comparative Effectiveness Research Center for the University of Pittsburgh and UPMC.

Dr. Delitto earned his BS in Physical Therapy from SUNY-Buffalo and his MHS/PT and PhD in Psychology from Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri.

Dr. Delitto is primarily interested in conducting evidence-based studies in rehabilitation settings, particularly in populations who have musculoskeletal dysfunction (e.g., low back pain).  Most recent completed studies include:

• “A Randomized Clinical Trial of Treatment for Lumbar Spinal Stenosis” (NIH/NIAMS 1R01AR/NS45622) in which patients diagnosed with lumbar spinal stenosis and consented to surgery were randomly assigned to surgical versus non-surgical intervention and followed initially (6 weeks) and at 2 years after intervention.
• “Exploratory Study of Different Doses of Endurance Exercise in People with Parkinson’s Disease: The SPARX Study” (NINDS 1 R01 NS074343), a Phase II study designed to determine the futility or non-futility of conducting a Phase III randomized controlled trial to determine the effects on function of exercise regimens in patients with Parkinson’s disease (the SPARX study). The Phase II study demonstrated that in newly diagnosed patients with Parkinson’s disease, high intensity endurance exercise (4 days per week; 6 months; 80% of predicted max HR) attenuated the motor decline compared to control and moderate intensity exercise group. A Phase III trial is planned.

Dr. Delitto was a member of the recently convened Chronic Low Back Pain Task Force at NIH and has been a member of the National Advisory Board for Medical Rehabilitation Research since 2015. He is a Catherine Worthingham Fellow of the American Physical Therapy Association (APTA) and has received numerous awards and recognitions from APTA, including the Mary McMillan (2008) and the John HP Maley Lecture Awards, the Lucy Blair Service Award, the Marion Williams Award for Research, and the Helen J. Hislop Award for Outstanding Contributions to Professional Literature. He is a seven-time winner of the Orthopaedic Section, APTA’s Steven J. Rose Award for Excellence in Clinical Research.

View a list of Dr. Delitto’s publications here.