Our Story
Physical therapy for children and adults.
Oncology Physical Therapy Mission Statement:
1) Cancer prevention: teach children and adults how to reduce personal cancer risk with appropriate exercise
2) Cancer survivorship: improve the health and reduce cancer/cancer treatment side effects of children and adults during and after cancer treatments
3) End of life: improve quality of life for anyone on hospice or palliative care
4) Education: provide medical education to physicians, nurses and rehab therapists about oncology rehab techniques, conduct research and publish evidence-based interventions to improve the national and international standard of care for people diagnosed with cancer.
Andréa Leiserowitz, PT, DPT, CLT, graduated from the University of Michigan-Flint with her Master’s degree in Physical Therapy in 1996 and has specialized in oncology since graduation. She received her doctorate in physical therapy from the University of Montana in 2012, her certification in lymphedema in 2005 from Klose Training and a second certification in lymphedema from the Norton School of Lymphatic Therapy in 2015 and board certification in oncologic physical therapy in 2020. Andréa trained in oncology rehab at the National Institutes of Health and MD Anderson Cancer Center and opened the inpatient Seattle Cancer Care Alliance (SCCA) stem cell transplant physical therapy program at the University of Washington Medical Center in 2000.
In 2003, Dr. Leiserowitz created the outpatient physical therapy department at the Seattle Cancer Care Alliance for pediatric and adult cancer patients (general oncology and stem cell) and managed the department of four PT’s. She continues as the exercise trainer for the Fred Hutchinson/YMCA Exercise & Thrive program in Seattle for cancer survivors. Her clinic, Oncology Physical Therapy, was opened in Eugene, Oregon in 2010 with the goal of providing oncology rehab services to children and adults.
Dr. Leiserowitz additionally serves as adjunct clinical faculty at the University of Washington’s DPT and Lane Community College’s PT Assistant programs, teaches annually at Pacific University and George Fox University DPT programs, and has several research, chapter and article publications pertaining to oncology rehabilitation. She teaches oncology rehabilitation nationally and internationally to various physician and nurse oncology conferences as well as directly to therapists at hospitals and clinics. She is a member of the OPTA, PTWA, American Physical Therapy Association (APTA), APTA Oncology Section, APTA Palliative Care, Pediatric Oncology and Lymphedema Special Interest Groups, and volunteerd on the Oncology Section’s Workgroup Task Force to create the APTA Board Specialization in Oncologic Physical Therapy.
