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Emma Richardson, a postdoctoral fellow in the Exercise Neuroscience Research Lab, wins first place in the 2020 UAB Postdoctoral Research Day Science Blitz category. Her focus was “What is it like to age with MS?” which came from work she developed as one of the first recipients of the Healthy Aging through LifesTyle in Multiple Sclerosis (HALT MS) pilot grant awards.

Stephanie Silveira, a postdoctoral fellow in the University of Alabama at Birmingham’s Exercise Neuroscience Research Lab, receives a National Institutes of Health Ruth L. Kirschstein Postdoctoral Individual National Research Service Award. The award, known as an NIH F32, is given to postdoc candidates “who have the potential to become productive, independent investigators in scientific health-related research fields.”

Matthew Ithurburn, PT, DPT, PhD, assistant professor in the UAB School of Health Professions’ Department of Physical Therapy, has been selected by the American Physical Therapy Association (APTA) Section on Research as a 2019 recipient of the Emerging Leader Award. Ithurburn, who is also treasurer of the Biomechanics Special Interests Group (2018-2020), was nominated by the Section’s leadership to recognize his accomplishments and contributions to the PT profession and the APTA, early in his career.

On Thursday, August 1, 2019, Sean Skelton, PT, DPT, a Physical Therapy Resident in UAB Medicine, became the first to finish the UAB Neurologic Physical Therapy Residency program. Skelton received a graduate certificate during a small ceremony at UAB Spain Rehabilitation Center.

Faculty and alumni from the UAB Department of Physical Therapy, along with students from the UAB Doctor of Physical Therapy (DPT) program, were joined by students from UAB’s Department of Occupational Therapy and School of Engineering, to adapt electric toy cars for Alabama children with disabilities as part of the nationwide GoBabyGo program.

Andrew Butler, PT, Ph.D.,FAPTA, dean of the UAB School of Health Professions, was honored as a Catherine Worthingham Fellow of the American Physical Therapy Association (APTA) at the PT NEXT conference on June 13, 2019. The FAPTA award is the association’s highest honor.

For the 4th year in a row, students in the UAB School of Health Professions’ Doctor of Physical Therapy program hosts Oxford-style debates to better learn the issues they may face in the PT field.

Researchers at the UAB School of Health Professions have been awarded a five-year, $4.625 million grant from the National Institute on Disability, Independent Living and Rehabilitation Research to translate a novel exercise program, referred to as Movement-2-Music, into several community-based fitness centers in Birmingham. 

Jennifer Christy, Ph.D. is the new program director of the UAB Doctor of Physical Therapy (DPT) program. She says, “The UAB DPT program has a rich history of excellence and has great potential to become the top PT program in the nation.”

Robert Motl, Ph.D., a professor in the School of Health Professions, developed the exercise program used in the study.Story by Bob Shepard, UAB News

Researchers studying methods of exercise delivery and the effects on people living with multiple sclerosis have been awarded $5.7 million in funding by the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI).

James Rimmer, Ph.D.The Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI) Board of Governors has approved a $5.8 million grant over the next four years to the University of Alabama at Birmingham School of Health Professions’ James Rimmer, Ph.D., to fund a study to determine whether people with multiple sclerosis get as much benefit from an exercise-based rehabilitation program delivered via internet and telephone as they do when the therapy is provided in a clinic.

David Morris – Joseph F. Volker AwardDavid Morris, PT, Ph.D. – Joseph F. Volker Award 

The latest edition of Breakfast with Blazers features an alumnus from the UAB School of Health Professions’ Department of Physical Therapy.

From left: Mark Swanson, Katherine Weise, Jennifer Christy, Claudio Busettini in the VORLab.A new research laboratory at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, the first of this kind in Alabama and one of only a few in America, could lead to a better understanding of the effects of concussions.

*This story originally appeared on the UAB National Alumni Society website

UAB alumni share success as TherapySouth and Godspeed collaborate on a unique business model.  Both Birmingham-area businesses benefit from the concept they are working together on.