Steven Z. George PT, PhD, FAPTA completed his physical therapy training at West Virginia University and worked clinically at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center/Centers for Rehab Services. He completed his research training at the University of Pittsburgh and continued onto a postdoctoral fellowship at the University of Florida. Currently, Dr. George is the Laszlo Ormandy Distinguished Professor in Orthopaedic Surgery at Duke University. He is a member of the Duke Clinical Research Institute and has a secondary appointment in Population Health Sciences. Dr. George’s primary research interest involves using biopsychosocial models for the prediction and prevention of transition to chronic musculoskeletal pain disorders. He has presented extensively at international, national, and state conferences for physical therapy and pain research: including keynote and plenary sessions. Dr. George serves as Editor-in-Chief for PTJ, Physical Therapy & Rehabilitation Journal - official journal of the American Physical Therapy Association (APTA).

Dr. George has had his research funded by the National Institutes of Health, Department of Defense, Orthopaedic Academy of the APTA, and Patient Centered Outcomes Research Institute and along with his collaborators has authored over 400 peer-reviewed publications in leading physical therapy, medical, orthopaedic, rehabilitation, and pain research journals. He was a committee member for workshops on non-pharmacological pain management and disability from chronic pain hosted by the National Academies of Science, Engineering, and Medicine and has served on the Advisory Council for the National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health. Dr. George has collaborated on clinical practice guideline development with the Orthopaedic Academy of the APTA and the American Psychological Association.

Dr. George is a Catherine Worthingham Fellow of the APTA, a past John HP Maley Lecturer, and has also been recognized by the APTA with prestigious research awards: Eugene Michels for New Investigator, Jules Rothstein Golden Pen for Scientific Writing, Helen Hislop for Outstanding Contributions to Professional Literature, and Marian Williams for Research in Physical Therapy. Outside of the APTA he has been recognized with the 2009 John C. Liebeskind Early Career Scholar Award from the American Pain Society (now defunct) and the 2012 Ulf Lindblom Young Investigator Award for Clinical Sciences from the International Association for the Study of Pain.