Mercedes Elena Aguirre Valenzuela

Mercedes Aguirre received her Doctorate in Physical Therapy from Rutgers School of Health Professions in 2020. Her dedication to professional advocacy has led her to leadership roles in the APTA on a National and State level. In March of 2020, she received the APTA Minority Scholarship. In December of 2020, she was selected to serve as an APTA Board-sponsored Centennial Scholar. Within the Academy of Pediatric Physical Therapy, she is currently a member of the Historical, DEI, and Beyond the Read committees. Clinically, she currently works in the early intervention and school-based settings. Outside of the clinic setting, she has a blog called, “The PT Advocate,” which can be found on her instagram page: @theptadvocate. The mission for her blog is to educate physical therapists on how to advocate for their profession.