It would be so easy to just start tossing out cliché after cliché like “people are people wherever you go” or “we are different, yet the same.” However, Mark Anderson is not a cliché.

You could say Tiffany Chaney was born to serve, and you would not be wrong. Even as a teenager – the infamous eye-rolling years for so many of us – she was engaged in serving others. “I don’t really remember a time when service was not included in my way of being.”

Benjamin Burgess enlisted with the Marine Corps out of high school, then earned his B.S. in Biomedical Sciences at UAB. He then transitioned to the Navy and earned an MBA and his Doctor of Medicine from UAB Heersink. Learn why commitment and service have always been pillars in his life. 

Adrianne Smiley, EdD, OTD, OTR/L (MSOT, 2015) is the kind of person who believes if you want to see change, the best way of going about it is by being the change you seek. For her, the inequalities in health care she can identify through her experience and dedication to her profession fuels her desire to continue to find new ways to advocate for equal healthcare opportunities for all.

Ask a health professional why health care and they usually want to help people. Ask a Physical Therapist why they chose PT, it's likely a sports related injury that sparked their interest. For Andrew Stanley PT, DPT, MTC, CMPT, ACSM CEP (DPT, 2009), all the above led to his commitment to service and dedication to others.

A 40-plus year career in one field is quite the accomplishment, and doing so with only a handful of job changes is rare in this day and age. That’s what Sharon Smalling (DI, 1980) has managed to do though, and she takes a lot of pride and joy in that.

Forrest A. Daniels DSc, FACHE (DSc, 2012), has served at food centers and homeless coalitions. He has served on emergency response teams and as a Court Appointed Special Advocate (CASA). And he firmly believes that you, too, can serve.

A multitiered partnership with PT Solutions Physical Therapy establishes the PT Solutions Scholarship, provides support to several key events, and creates professional development opportunities for students in the UAB Doctor of Physical Therapy (DPT) program.

Redemption Earned, an Alabama-based nonprofit, has appointed UAB Assistant Professor of Occupational Therapy Sarah Tucker, PhD, OTR/L, to its board of directors.

The UAB Graduate Programs in Health Informatics has announced a new scholarship, dedicated to the memory of Eta S. Berner, Ed.D., University Professor Emeritus.

Vermont state representative, occupational therapist, and UAB OT alumna Mary-Katherine Stone sees her calling as uplifting and highlighting vulnerable voices.

Welcome back for the next installment of trending news and stories in the disability community. This edition features articles on the United States Deaf Women's National Team, advances in accessible travel and gaming, and much more.

Dr. Chris Ballmann grew up a prolific multi-instrument musician, so it was no surprise he attended Auburn University to pursue a scholarship in music performance and participated in the AU Symphony Orchestra. The surprise, though, came when he decided to pivot after a single semester.

The UAB Department of Physical Therapy Department Chair, David Morris, has been recognized by UAB as a Distinguished Professor. This is the highest rank a faculty member can achieve at UAB.

Bunyamin Ozaydin, Ph.D., associate professor in the Department of Health Services Administration and scientist at the Heersink School of Medicine Informatics Institute, was selected as a winner of the 2024 Graduate Dean’s Award for Excellence in Mentorship.

Kristin Chapleau, MaE, director of the Office of Student Services and Advising has been selected as the UAB CAA Outstanding Advisor Award – Advising Administrator recipient. She becomes the first person from the School of Health Professions to win this award.

Lia Puzzo, a graduating student of UAB’ School of Health Professions (SHP) Dietitian Education Program (DEP), is the winner of the 2024 Outstanding Graduate Award for the Dietitian Education Program.

Alanis Stansberry, a student in our PhD in Nutrition Sciences program, developed recipes for individuals with common chronic illnesses utilizing foods available in Live HealthSmart Alabama's Mobile Market. The project was for her service as a 2023-24 Alabama Schweitzer Fellow.

Third year Physical Therapy student, Natasha Brooks, has always had an interest in PT advocacy. In anticipation of Capitol Hill Day 2024, we asked Brooks a few questions about her Capitol Hill Day Student Scholarship.

Marnix E. Heersink, M.D., and Mary Heersink, longtime supporters of UAB, have made a gift of $1,040,000 gift to the UAB School of Health Professions. The donation, which established the Heersink Family Foundation Endowed Scholarship in Health Professions, is the largest single scholarship gift in school history.