NEWS AND AWARDS:
May thru September 2009
PT Professor's research makes national headlines!
Larry Cahalin and his colleagues from Massachusetts General Hospital performed a retrospective, cross-sectional study of pulmonary function and exercise tests in patients with systolic and diastolic heart failure. They examined the effects of statins on pulmonary function and exercise tolerance and found that patients with diastolic heart failure who were on a statin had significantly poorer pulmonary function and exercise tolerance while patients with systolic heart failure who were on a statin had similar or better pulmonary function and exercise tolerance.
They believe the findings are related to the anti-inflammatory effect of statins that appears to help patients with systolic heart failure (because of the inflammatory component in systolic heart failure) and hurt patients with diastolic heart failure (since there is little to no inflammatory component in diastolic heart failure). The patients with diastolic heart failure on a statin demonstrated more of a pulmonary mechanical limit to exercise due likely to respiratory muscle weakness from the statins.
More information on this can be found by doing a google search on Lawrence Cahalin and statins - numerous national and international reporters have covered this study and Medscape is preparing a major release for November 13 or 14th.
FACULTY AND STUDENT AWARDS:
Congratulations to Alexandra Alicea the 2009 recipient of the Burke Rehabilitation Hospital Scholarship. This award is granted to outstanding Physical Therapy students who are enrolled in an accreditated PT program, who are graduating in 2010 and will will obtain licensure from the New York State Education Department to work as a Registered Physical Therapist
Drs. Lowe and Hayward along with 23 5th year physical therapy students traveled to Mexico City and Cuernavaca to engage in service learning combined with cultural emersion and Spanish language instruction. The Bouve Physical Therapy Team received an award from Mayela Aleman de Adame, wife of the governor of the State of Morelos and president of the state system for Integral Development of Families (DIF) for their work with elders and orphaned children.
Dr. Day received the Excellence in Teaching Award at commencement ceremonies on 5/1/09. The award is given to select professors who develop extremely effective teaching strategies that encourage students to participate in the teaching-learning process, including (but not limited to) innovative uses of technology to enhance student learning, both in and out of the classroom. The criterion for the award exemplifies the extraordinary pedagogy of Leslie Day.
An undergraduate physical therapy research group who worked with Dr. Holden, Associate Professor in Physical Therapy, was awarded a Provost's Undergraduate Research Grant. The students- John Brabant, Micheal Gallagher, Renee Noel, and Racheal Tabak conducted a study entitled, “The Reliability of the Cyberglove™ as a Measurement Device in Selected Grasp and Gesture Movements in Healthy Subjects” at the Northeastern University Research Exposition in spring and won first place in the Health Sciences and Technology category. Congratulations Dr Holden and students!
Dr. Sharby and colleague Susan Roush published an article in the J of Allied Health in the Spring 2009 and have been awarded the J Warren Perry Distinguished Author award.
Dr. Harris was named as a Fulbright Specialist to continue work begun in South Africa HIV/AIDS Project.
A team of Physical Therapy and Electrical/Engineering students led by Physical
Therapy Dr. Susan Ventura and Electrical/Computer Engineering Professor Charles DiMarzio, and consumer community representative, Keith Jones, were among the five winners of an Assistive Technology Design Competition sponsored by the National Science Foundation at the 2009 Annual Conference of the Rehabilitation Engineering and Assistive Technology Society of North America held in New Orleans, on June 24, 2009. Eight students were involved in the project, including sixth year Doctor of Physical Therapy students,
Jodi Abramowitz, Katelyn Bergeron, Sarah Martyn, and Kathleen Masters; and recent graduates from Electrical/Computer Engineering,
Garet Gamache, Joseph Pitzo, Brian Talbot, and Eric Zettergren. The team designed an innovative new controller for Mr. Jones’s power driven wheelchair.
This
video is about PT students who won the NSF Design Competition this past summer.
INTERNATIONAL SERVICE LEARNING IN EQUADOR:
Drs. Hayward and Charrette traveled with 14 5th year DPT students to Quito, Ecuador over spring break to provide physical therapy services at an orphanage as part of an International Service Learning assignment. Under the direction of Dr. Hayward, the students prepared for travel by participating in Spanish language instruction, conducting research on the country of Ecuador, and developing evidenced based medical approaches for pediatric physical therapy. This is the second consecutive year that students have traveled abroad with Dr. Hayward and Prof Charrette.
CONFERENCES ORGANIZED:
Dr. Ventura hosted the Annual Consumer Conference of the Massachusetts Rehabilitation Commission (MRC) at Northeastern University in June. This year’s conference theme, An Interdependent Community: Living, Learning, and Working Together, provides an accurate description of the partnership that has emerged between Northeastern University and the MRC over the past two years. The conference attracted nearly 300 participants who selected from 18 educational workshops on topics that ranged from Emergency Preparedness for People with Disabilities to Eligibility Criteria for Social Security Disability Income. Dr. Neeta Fogg from Northeastern’s Center for Labor Market Studies delivered the keynote address entitled, “Labor Market Activities of the Population with Disabilities in Massachusetts.” Conference evaluations completed by faculty, students and MRC consumers and staff was extremely positive, demonstrating the value of community engagement to all parties involved.
OTHER MEDIA COVERAGE:
Other media coverage:
Dr. Markowski was interviewed for an article in Fitness Magazine discussing how to select a PT that is appropriate for you covering preventative care, rehabilitation and performance improvement.
