Our Team

As a general physiatrist with a unique musculoskeletal background, Dr. Annunziato enjoys managing pain and disability non-operatively through the use of targeted exercise, ultrasound-guided injections, and Osteopathic Manipulative Therapy (OMT). Many patients seek out Dr. Annunziato specifically for OMT, particularly women with pregnancy-related pain, those suffering with chronic headaches, failed back surgery patients, and parents who have newborns with latch issues.

Dr. Annunziato approaches patient care by listening to the concerns of the patient first, and then working with them to figure out the next steps towards better health and function. No two patients receive the same treatment plan, as no two patients are exactly alike. He believes the best plan is the plan that a patient understands and agrees with, and his goal is to empower his patients' preferences and stay with them as they work towards better health and function.

Dr. Annunziato is board certified in both physical medicine and rehabilitation (PM&R) and Neuromusculoskeletal Medicine and Osteopathic Manipulative Medicine (NMM-OMM) and is the first physician to complete ACGME accredited programs in both PM&R and NMM-OMM in New Jersey.

Dr. Samuel Jacob is a non-operative Sports Medicine and Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation provider. In this role, he provides a variety of options for patients that are unsure of their diagnosis, or prefer to not have surgical interventions. He treats a variety of musculoskeletal conditions including: back pain, joint or muscle injury, overuse injuries, carpal tunnel, ankle/foot pain, arthritis, weakness, spasticity, neuropathy, and concussion. Dr. Jacob sees all patients, regardless of their activity level, and also has experience providing medical coverage for athletes at the Professional, NCAA (Divisions I, II & III), and high school levels, as well as at several marathons and other events.

Dr. Jacob believes in creating treatment plans that align with each individual patient's wishes and schedule while simultaneously addressing how his patient’s symptoms might be affecting their daily lives. He strongly believes in helping the body re-learn healthy patterns through the use of specific therapeutic home exercises or physical/occupational/speech therapies. Dr. Jacob can also perform a variety of ultrasound-guided procedures to target the source of pain that would otherwise be limiting the patient’s function and quality of life.

Dr. Chen is board certified in physical medicine and rehabilitation and specializes in non-operative sports medicine. He treats several musculoskeletal conditions, including low back pain, arthritis, carpal tunnel syndrome, weakness, and spasticity, as well as sports-related injuries, including joint/muscle injuries, overuse injuries, and concussion. He is able to treat patients with non-operative strategies such as physical, occupational, and speech therapies; prosthetics and orthotics; ultrasound-guided injections; and fluoroscopy-guided injections.

Dr. Chen believes in shared decision-making with his patients and in educating his patients about their condition so that they can become active participants in their care and make informed decisions. His goal a physiatrist and a sports medicine physician is to provide care that will allow his patients to maximize their function while reducing pain, which will then improve their quality of life and the ability to return to doing the activities they love.  

Dr. Murphy is board certified and specializes in physical medicine & rehabilitation.  He is one of the few physiatrists with subspecialty fellowship training in cancer rehabilitation. His clinical expertise is in the evaluation, identification and treatment of impairments in function, most often due to cancer, musculoskeletal or neurological disease.

As a physiatrist, his clinical goals are restoring or maximizing function and quality of life due to impairment. Dr. Murphy practices a holistic and multidisciplinary approach for comprehensive evaluation and management.  This conservative approach tends to avoid the long-term use of medications. He focuses on treating the root cause to provide effective and efficient treatment. Dr. Murphy uses non-operative treatments such as therapy, expectation counseling, durable medical equipment, prosthetics and orthotics.

As Medical Director, Dr. Murphy strives to ensure that all who are involved in patient care – including the patients themselves, family members, the Population Health team, therapists and providers – work together to provide the right care, at the right time, in the right place. This will help patients achieve the best possible outcomes from hospital to home. 

Dr. D’Alessandro has been practicing at Valley for 13 years in pediatric physical medicine and rehabilitation and specializes in working with children with special needs and developmental delays. As a physiatrist, she works with patients to help them regain function and improve their quality of life. Some specific conditions she works with include spasticity, cerebral palsy, developmental delays, muscular dystrophy, and more.

Some techniques and procedures that Dr. D’Alessandro performs are neurotoxin intervention for spastic muscles, specific brace and durable medical equipment prescriptions, physical therapy, occupational therapy, speech therapy, and feeding therapy.

In her role as Clinical Director of the Kireker Center for Child Development, Dr. D’Alessandro looks to continue what she feels is the most important aspect of her team: “connecting the human touch with leading-edge medicine in the care we provide.”

Dr. D’Alessandro is also the only board-certified pediatric physiatrist in Bergen County, and her passion is to improve the quality of life of children with varying degrees of disability and delays.