Developer & Founder, Full Circle Breast Cancer Recovery Program
PT, DPT

View Diana's Curriculum Vitae
Read a Q&A with Diana

Diana Tjaden received her baccalaureate degree in exercise science and athletic training from the University of Georgia in 1996. She worked as the head athletic trainer for the Lynbrook School District on Long Island from 1996-2000. Finding herself drawn to orthopedics and sports rehabilitation, she enrolled at Stony Brook University, earning a clinical doctorate in physical therapy in 2003.

She started her physical therapy career in a manual therapy setting that...

Physical Therapist
PT, MSPT, LMT
Developer, WISH Physical & Massage Therapies

Kathy Slaka, PT, MSPT, LMT, received her Bachelor's degree in Health Sciences and her Master of Science in Physical Therapy in 1998 from Long Island University in Brooklyn, New York. She began her career as an Orthopedic PT, specializing in manual therapy and the comprehensive spectrum of neurologic and womens health issues in the outpatient clinical setting.

By her 7th year of practice, Kathy felt an element was missing in her clinical care. Believing the treatment of an individual should involve more than just symptoms and diagnosis, she began researching Eastern medicine...

Physical Therapist
PT, MSPT

Sandra Zamparo, MS, PT, earned her Bachelor of Science degree in Physical Therapy from Hunter College in 1987. She continued her education and earned her Master's in Health Science in 1999 from Stony Brook University.

Sandra held a Clinical Assistant Professor position in the physical therapy program at Stony Brook, and more recently served as an adjunct faculty member. Her focus was on clinical education, adult neurologic and orthopedic patient care, in addition to lecturing on soft-tissue and therapeutic exercise programs. Sandra also served as an assistant lecturer at Touro College teaching Evaluation and Treatment of Extremity Dysfuction...

Physical Therapist Assistant
PTA, A.A.S. (B.A.)

Fran Rothe is a New York State-licensed physical therapist assistant who received her degree from Nassau Community College in 2011. Prior to that she graduated from Queens College with a bachelor’s degree in Political Science, and worked in various fields. She decided to return to school to pursue a PTA career because she wanted to make a difference in people’s lives.

In addition to Full Circle, Fran works in an outpatient clinic associated with the Hospital for Special Surgery, where she treats an array of neurological, orthopedic, and post-surgical patients. Always looking to learn and grow, Fran has taken a number of manual-based PTA continuing education courses....

Coverage Physical Therapist
PT, DPT

Laura Cavallo, PT, DPT, was first introduced into the Full Circle family in August 2010 as a covering physical therapist while Diana was on maternity leave, and is now a part-time physical therapist on the program’s staff. 

Previously she worked for six years at Mercy Hospital in Rockville Centre, New York, where her responsibilities included treating adults with a variety of orthopedic and neurological diagnoses, treating infants in the neonatal intensive care unit, and performing evaluative screens on pediatric patients to make sure they achieved the appropriate milestones. During that time she also worked as a per diem physical therapist for a number of outpatient...

Coverage Physical Therapist
PT, MSPT

Kristine Marchiselli received her Master’s Degree in Physical Therapy in 2001 from the State University of New York at Downstate Medical Center. She began her career at New York Presbyterian Hospital at Columbia University Medical Center (NYP at CUMC), where she worked from 2002-2009. In 2003, Kristine achieved recognition as a Certified Lymphedema Therapist through Klose-Norton Training and Consulting. 

In her time at NYP, Kristine coordinated and headed the breast cancer rehabilitation program. In that role, she was responsible for patient care, education, and worked closely with some of the top physicians to...