2012 School of Health Professions Magazine

HEALTH

PROFESSIONS 2012

Global

expertise UAB to Educate Health-Care Leaders in Saudi Arabia

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M e ssa g e

f ro m

t h e

D e an

Harold P. J on e s , P h . D .

Sometimes there is almost too much good news to report. This current issue of our magazine is a great example. Even trying to pick the cover story was a real challenge for us. We ended 2011 on a high note, and 2012 is off to a fast and exhilarating start.

In this issue of our magazine, you will read about an exciting new educational collaboration between our health administration program and a major hospital in Saudi Arabia. This partnership will help educate the current and future leaders of a newly planned 1,500-bed hospital in southeastern Saudi Arabia and will offer the school numerous opportunities for collaboration across all of our disciplines.

You will also read about exciting new developments in our rehabilitation sciences programs. We have launched our new Ph.D. program in rehabilitation sciences and added two strong faculty members to support this program.

One of them, Dr. David Brown, comes to us from Northwestern University and will serve as the program director for the new doctoral program. The second is Dr. James Rimmer, who will serve as the first holder of the Lakeshore Foundation Chair in Health Promotion and Rehabilitation Sciences. Dr. Rimmer, who joins us from the University of Illinois at Chicago, is the recognized international leader in the area of physical activity and disability.

In the area of nutrition, you can read about exciting new outreach efforts that are being created by our faculty to meet the needs of our communities.

Of special note is a new partnership between the Department of Nutrition Sciences EatRight by UAB program and Piggly Wiggly grocery stores that provides a new way of helping those in our area make more healthy food choices.

After years of planning, we finally have started construction of the new twostory addition to the SHP Building. Be sure to read the latest on the progress of that project. Our work doesn’t end there. Check out the many more short features in this edition, and I expect that each one of you will find a story that will pique your interest.

The school looks forward to a productive and prosperous New Year and wishes that for each of you as well. Your support is a major reason for all the On the cover:

good news we have to report and is vital as we move forward in accomplish-

Faculty from the UAB School of

ing our vision of being the recognized national leader in health professions

Health Professions are returning

education and shaping the future of health care through tailoring innovative

to the site of one of the school’s first international efforts by helping train hospital administrators for a hospital in Saudi Arabia.

solutions to real world problems. Thanks for all that you do.

HEALTH

PROFESSIONS V olu m e

UAB Health Professions Magazine Executive Editor

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N umber

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•

2012

c o n t e n t s

Matt Windsor

Managing Editor Grant Martin

Executive Art Director Ron Gamble

2-3 Critical Issues Health-related headlines from around the school

Art Director Laura Hannah

Production Manager

4-7 Cover Story

Joy Johnston

[ Global Expertise ]

Writers

SHP faculty step up to help educate hospital administrators

Melanie K. Davis Cary Estes Tyler Greer Grant Martin

for major expansion of a Saudi Arabian facility.

Photographer Steve Wood

Editorial Board Katie D. Adams • Director of Development Matthew Bittle • Office Associate Department of Clinical and Diagnostic Sciences Darrell E. Burke, Ph.D. • Associate Professor Department of Health Services Administration Krista Casazza, Ph.D., R.D. • Assistant Professor Department of Nutrition Sciences Diane Clark, PT, DScPT, MBA •Assistant Professor Department of Physical Therapy Melanie K. Davis, APR • Assistant Director of Communications Chris Eidson, MS, OTR/L • Assistant Professor Department of Occupational Therapy Chad Epps, M.D. • Associate Professor Department of Clinical and Diagnostic Sciences Harold P. Jones, Ph.D. • Dean Beth Kitchin, Ph.D., R.D. • Assistant Professor Department of Nutrition Sciences Kerry McAlpine • Office Associate II Department of Occupational Therapy Stacey McElrath • Assistant Director of External Relations Kathy Nugent, Ph.D. • Prog. Dir. and Assistant Professor Department of Clinical and Diagnostic Sciences M. Paige Powell, Ph.D. • Assistant Professor Department of Health Services Administration April Rollins-Kyle, M.A. • Director of Marketing Amanda Sherman, Office Services Specialist III Department of Physical Therapy

8-13 Feature Stories [ Expansion Plans ] The School of Health Professions Building is getting a makeover, as construction begins on an additional two floors, bringing much-needed space to the school.

[ Research Roundup ] From fighting diabetes to multi-sensory environments, we take a quick look at many of the diverse research projects currently underway in the School of Health Professions.

[ Student News ] SHP students step into the business world, pitch in for tornado relief, and more.

14-15 Spectrum News from SHP programs, departments, and faculty

16-19 Alumni News Snapshots from alumni events of the past year, plus profiles of four exceptional SHP graduates.

20-24 Contributions

HEALTH

PROFESSIONS UAB Health Professions is published each year by the School of Health Professions at UAB. It is produced by the UAB Publications and Periodicals Group, Office of Public Relations and Marketing.

Critical Issues h e al t h - r e la t e d

h e adlin e s

Rimmer Joins SHP as Inaugural Lakeshore Foundation Endowed Chair The UAB School of Health Professions has long been known for excellence in the fields of physical and occupational therapy, but with the recent announcements of two new hires, the school is poised to take rehabilitation science to a whole new level. In recent months, the school has introduced internationally known researcher James Rimmer, James Rimmer Ph.D., as the Lakeshore Foundation Endowed Chair in Health Promotion and Rehabilitation Sciences at UAB; and David A. Brown, Ph.D., as the director of a new Ph.D. program in rehabilitation science.

In his role, Rimmer, who has been developing and directing programs for people with disabilities for 30 years, will lead the Lakeshore Foundation/UAB Research Collaborative. The collaboration was forged in October 2009 to create a unique, world-class research program in rehabilitative science that links Lakeshore Foundation’s extraordinary programs for people with

Genetic Counseling Spotlighted as ‘Job of the Future’ Genetic counseling is being called one of the hot jobs in the next few years and beyond. CareerBuilder ranked it second on its list of “Top 10 Jobs of the Future.”

Lynn Holt

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physically disabling conditions with UAB’s research expertise. It is funded by a $2-million investment from Lakeshore Foundation.

“We are thrilled to have a professional as accomplished and esteemed as James Rimmer take the reins,” says Harold Jones, Ph.D., dean of the School of Health Professions. “We are entering an exciting time in rehabilitation sciences, and his expert direction will help us pursue discoveries that could significantly alter the lives of people with disabilities.”

Jeff Underwood, president of Lakeshore Foundation, agrees: “The combined, collaborative energies of Lakeshore Foundation and UAB under the direction of the nation’s leading voice on physical activity and disability give us a profound combination of talents and resources to develop an international research effort second to none.”

Rimmer, who directs two federally funded centers that will transfer to UAB—the National Center on Physical Activity and Disability, and the Rehabilitation Engineering Research Center on Interactive Exercise Technologies and Exercise Physiology for People with Disabilities—embraces the challenge.

Today’s doctors are able to run tests that will predict genetic conditions, so genetic counselors will be needed to help educate families about their options.

“Knowing the health history of both sides of your family provides significant clinical value,” says Lynn Holt, MS, C.G.C, director of UAB’s genetic counseling program. “We are better able to look for genetic origins to family risk factors that could influence the way patients or physicians manage their health.”

Many people don’t know much about their family history beyond first-degree relatives. Holt says three generations of family history would be ideal, but any information can be helpful. “That gives us the opportunity to sort out things that

might be sporadic and those that might be a pattern in the family,” she says.

People interested in genetic counseling should prepare a document that details anything from cancer diagnoses to heart health to diabetes to whether or not miscarriages were common. A guide is available at www.hhs.gov/familyhistory.

“A family history of poor pregnancy outcomes is especially difficult for us to collect from our patients,” Holt says.

“Often families don’t talk about stillborn babies, miscarriages, or babies who have died young. But these could be indicators of some kind of inherited condition. If a healthy woman planning her pregnancy knows about these issues, different screenings or testing may be available.”

“The opportunities to develop a research program in exercise, health promotion, and disability between Lakeshore and UAB are enormous, and this is the first such endeavor in this area of research in the nation and likely the world,” says Rimmer.

“During the next 10 years, Birmingham will transform itself into the epicenter of research, professional growth, and development in this important and understudied area of science. I am honored to be a part of it.”

Rimmer is on the NIH National Center for Medical Rehabilitation Research advisory board. He also serves on several national advisory boards in rehabilitation engineering and is currently a member of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Health Disparities Advisory Committee to the Director of CDC. “This is a partnership that builds on the strengths of our two organizations,” says Underwood. “UAB and Lakeshore working together can truly impact the world with regard to better outcomes for people with physical disability, so that people in our community and in the world will say, ‘Because of this research, my life is better.’”

Brown, a leading expert on physical therapy and rehabilitation, is the inaugural director of the Ph.D. in Rehabilitation Science program. The program, housed jointly in the departments of

Occupational Therapy and Physical Therapy, will prepare graduates for the field of rehabilitation as academicians and scientists.

“Rehabilitation science is a rather new discipline, and we want to be at its forefront,” says Jan Rowe, Dr.O.T., interim chair of the Department of Occupational Therapy.

“Considering his national reputation and proven track David Brown record in scientific inquiry, Dr. Brown’s vision will help position UAB as a leader in this field.”

Brown’s research focuses on locomotor and balance dysfunction in people with neurological impairments. He is the founder of KineaDesign, LLC, a firm specializing in human-interactive mechatronics.

“Dr. Brown’s research complements the department’s initiatives for improving outcomes for people with neurological deficits and will provide excellent research opportunities for the students,” says Sharon Shaw, P.T., DrP.H., chair of Physical Therapy.

Transparency in Health Care: Why It Matters Would you pay more for a hotel room at a one-star hotel than you would at a five-star hotel? Doubtful. But in health care, patients often receive services from lower-quality providers that are more expensive then the same services provided at higher-quality providers. And there are also serious and widespread quality problems throughout American medicine. Transparency in health care will force providers to compete on the basis of quality and price, allowing

Greg Carlson

consumers to make informed decisions.

In November 1999, the Institute of Medicine (IOM) published a landmark report titled “To Err is Human” documenting that health care in the United States is not as safe as it should be—noting that 44,000 to 98,000 people die in hospitals each year as a result of preventable medical errors. Since then, progress has been made to improve the safety and the quality of health care, but evidence suggests much more needs to be done.

The American College of Physicians (ACP) supports price and performance transparency if the methodology ensures the data is up to date, reliable, and valid.

ACP believes health-care transparency

should be readily available and presented in a manner that is visible, accessible, and easy to understand.

In addition to the support from the ACP and the president of the Joint Commission, there are many public and private entities that support transparency.

The net effect of health-care transparency will be higher-quality care at a lower cost. However, in order for patients to receive higher-quality care at lower costs, many will have to travel to a different provider. The notion that health care is local will no longer apply, at least not to patients with the initiative and the resources to seek out the best health-care provider for a particular condition.

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Global

expertise

UAB to Educate Health-Care Leaders in Saudi Arabia B y C a ry E s t e s

Formally educated hospital managers—commonplace in the United States in the 1960s and ‘70s—still do not exist in many parts of the world. So when the King Fahad Specialist Hospital-Dammam—the largest specialty hospital in Saudi Arabia—decided to build a new 1,500-bed hospital to replace its current 400-bed facility, it was obvious that administrative expertise would be needed. That’s why King Fahad Specialist Hospital-Dammam has turned to one of the top-ranked health administration programs in the United States to provide that training.

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The School of Health Professions will assist King Fahad Specialist Hospital-Danmam in training hospital administrators to run a new 1,500-bed facility.

UAB President Carol Garrison met with Khalid Sabr, executive director of medical and clinical affairs for the Saudi Arabian hospital, at UAB last November.

Beginning in January, the Department of Health Services Administration in the UAB School of Health Professions embarked on a two-year program of education, funded by a $2.2-million grant from the Saudi Ministry of Health, that will enable the new hospital to open with a cohort of wellprepared leaders. It is a significant undertaking, as UAB educators attempt to train enough administrators for a hospital that will nearly quadruple in size.

Students in the program are skilled clinicians who need health-care management education in order to achieve not only their personal career objectives but also the mission of the hospital and the Eastern Province.

Saudi Arabia’s Ministry of Finance recently announced that 24 percent of the nation’s 2012 budget will be allocated to education and training. The budget allocation for health care also received a large increase over the previous year, demonstrating a national commitment to continued improvement in the healthcare industry in Saudi Arabia.

“We are building generations of leaders for our future success,” said Dr. Khalid Shaibani, CEO of King Fahad Specialist Hospital-Dammam.

“This is an incredible and exciting opportunity for us,” SHP Dean Harold Jones, Ph.D., says. “Our partners need additional professional training for their leadership team as they rapidly grow

their hospital. Also, there is a strong likelihood that they will need us to continue with a second class of students to be the new, additional managers they will need to run an enterprise of the magnitude of the new hospital.”

The project came about when Robert Hernandez, Dr.P.H., professor and director of UAB’s doctoral programs in AdministrationHealth Services, was approached by a colleague who said he was working with the Saudis in an effort to find a university that could provide this type of educational training. “We have done a lot of international work over the years, and we thought this would be a great opportunity to expand our program in an international setting,” Hernandez says.

Fa mi l i a r L a n d s c a p e Indeed, the SHP and its many faculty have had past partnership experience in such countries as China, Yemen, Kazakhstan, Armenia, and Albania. But the school’s first major outreach took place 20 years ago in, appropriately enough, Saudi Arabia. “We brought clinical laboratory education to a number of areas in Saudi Arabia,” Jones says. “So it’s wonderful for us to, in effect, go back to the future and work in these areas again.”

UAB will send three faculty members to Saudi Arabia each semester for the next two years to deliver intensive on-site education in the SHP’s executive-master’s format. After that, the rest of the training for that semester will take place via distance learning and applied projects. In the cohort format, Hernandez says each class will have approximately 36 students.

Jones says the timing of this partnership could not be better for the SHP. “We are pairing our experience in executive education

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“

This sends the signal that

been run by full-time administrative officials with a newly estabwe’re really open to working rather than by the physicians themselves for lished international with the international community nearly a half-century. “North America is focus in our master’s the leader in the world program, which is designed

in helping improve the quality of in graduate education specifically for its ability to in health administradeliver health-care management

health administration and health-care tion,” Hernandez says. education tailored to the needs of “People in other counhealth-care systems in countries management across the world. tries tend to learn on other than ours,” Jones says. “This the job rather than through is our first real foray into the market any kind of formal educational proof offering a full degree program in grams. So there is a great demand for this, and the this format.” majority of the people are looking to the United States.”

Khalid Sabr, executive director of mediWhen looking to the United States, a logical choice is cal and clinical affairs at King Fahad Specialist UAB, whose programs in health administration rank in the top five Hospital-Dammam, says UAB’s instruction will be crucial in the nationally. “We already have a nationally ranked program in health hospital’s development. “Our institution is evolving,” Sabr says. management, and that ranking is supported by having greater visibil“One of the major challenges is human resources and middle manity and greater outreach,” says Gerald Glandon, Ph.D., professor and agement. In order to create a team for the new hospital and acachair of the UAB Department of Health Services Administration. demic center, you have to have the leadership in human resources.

“Our mission is to shape the future of health care, and not just in In order for them to help us establish this center, we have to give the United States. them the tools to do it.”

“We have an opportunity to actually help Saudi Arabia design its Hernandez says it was natural for the Saudis to look to an delivery system to be efficient and maybe learn from our mistakes.

American institution for help, because most U.S. hospitals have So I think there’s great potential here for really doing something monumental.”

”

A F i r m F o u n d at i o n One of the goals of the partnership is sufficiently training the Saudi leadership so they can take over ongoing training and administration. “Initially we’re going to be providing the UAB degree, but over time we’re going to help develop their people so they can become faculty members and continue with developing the program,” Hernandez says. “We will still be involved in supportive work, but they will take over the heavy lifting in the future.”

As with any heavy lifting, you have to slowly build up your strength. Glandon points out that the entire

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concept of professional hospital administrators is a new one to the Saudis. “They don’t have a culture that has health management as a profession,” Glandon says. “People who are good in their clinical disciplines often become leaders and department chairs, but some of them don’t have sufficient training for those roles. There are people who get thrust into leadership positions who really struggle because they haven’t had that training. So what they want is for these clinical leaders to develop good leadership and management skills. That’s the role that we can fill.”

It is a role that SHP will be filling for at least the next two years in Saudi Arabia, and hopefully beyond in other countries as well.

“This sends the signal that we’re really open to working with the international community in helping improve the quality of health administration and health-care management across the world,” Jones says. “This partnership is evidence of that, and we certainly will be looking for other partnerships in the future.

“It’s a great fit for us. We’re excited about the possibilities that can occur among all the schools within UAB in order to become real partners in helping shape the future of health care throughout this country and internationally.”

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Expansion Plans S H P R a i s e s t he R o o f o n a n Ambi t i o u s B u i l d i n g P r o jec t

By

C ary

E stes

For the past 10 years, the UAB School of Health Professions has measured its robust growth through steady increases in both the student population and in research funding. Throughout the coming months, however, SHP’s growth will be even more obvious for all to see—and it will be measured in square feet.

The long-awaited expansion of the Health Professions Building officially started in January when construction crews began adding two stories and 35,000 square feet of new space to the facility. The project is expected to take approximately 18 months to complete, meaning it will be ready in time for the start of the 2013-14 school year.

The expansion will allow the school to consolidate all portions of the Department of Health Services Administration into one building, and will provide classrooms for the executive master’s and executive doctoral programs. Currently, because of the lack of space at the SHP Building, those classes

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often take place at other locations on campus and have even been held in hotel meeting rooms.

“Everybody in the department will finally be able to have a home together,” says Dean Harold Jones, Ph.D. “That’s a major part of the need for this expansion.”

The centerpiece of the $13-million project will be the Executive Learning Center, which will consist of a primary classroom of approximately 100 seats surrounded by several smaller meeting rooms. The facility will be able to provide continuing education either on-site or off-site through the center’s technological capabilities. “It’s going to be a very high-tech environment with the ability to broadcast using the most current electronic technology that is needed to be really first class,” Jones says.

More than half the cost of the project is being provided through a $7-million bond that was passed by the University of Alabama System Board of Trustees. A fund-raising project is set to begin this year with a goal of replacing the $6 million the school is spending on the building expansion. Jon Vice, the retired president and CEO of Children’s Hospital & Health System, and Mike Williams, president and CEO of Community Hospital Corp., are co-chairs of the campaign.

Included in the fund-raising efforts are a wide variety of naming opportunities to commemorate an individual, family, group, organization, foundation or corporation. Naming opportunities range from a $15,000 donation for the building’s common area to $1 million for the Executive Learning Center.

This architectural rendering (above) shows the exterior of the building, with two new floors and an entirely new façade. The addition will also house modern classroom and meeting space (right).

“This is definitely the most significant fund-raising project in the School of Health Professions history,” says Katie Davidson Adams, SHP director of development, who is leading the campaign. “It’s going to involve everybody—alumni, corporations, foundations, even our students. But most of all, we’re really going to be reaching out to our alumni. They’re the ones who have been through the programs and understand what the needs are to further someone else’s education.”

SHP graduate Lynn Elgin, who has a Master of Science in Health Administration degree from UAB and is now coowner of Birmingham-based Clarus Consulting Group, says she believes alumni will recognize the need for more space and will be supportive. She points out that since 2001 the SHP student population has doubled to nearly 2,000 and the school’s research funding has quadrupled. “The only thing that is limiting the school is the space. We’re absolutely bursting at the seams,” Elgin says. “The addition of these two new floors is going to provide all sorts of synergy, because the programs that need to be together will be together. And there will be an incredible opportunity to grow in these next 10 years, much like we have these past 10.”

In addition to the increase in space, there also will be work done on the front and back of the building, including the construction of a formal rear entrance.

Jones says most people enter from the back along Seventh Avenue South because of a lack of parking in front of the building. “So we’re going to dress that area up,” he says.

For more information on donating to the fund-raising campaign, contact Katie Adams at (205) 996-5469 or katiedav@uab.edu.

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researchroundup SHP Scientists Continue Breaking New Ground across a Wide Variety of Disciplines Research funding at the School of Health Professions is rapidly approaching the $8-million level. More important than that milestone, however, are the milestones achieved every day by SHP scientists in labs across UAB’s campus. From understanding disease to developing technologies for rehabilitation, the SHP is at the forefront of creating a healthier future.

Ta k i n g C o n t r o l SHP Builds Multi-Sensor y Environment for Children with Disabilities The Department of Occupational Therapy is conducting research using a state-of-the-art multi-sensory environment (MSE) at the United Cerebral Palsy Center of Greater Birmingham (UCP). The MSE is the first of its kind in Birmingham and is allowing SHP researchers to evaluate the impact and effectiveness of this environment on children who have a variety of ability levels.

Smi t h r ecei v e s g r a n t f r o m The Obe s i t y S o cie t y Animals and people burn calories in an effort to keep warm, and room temperature may be affecting the testing and development of weight-loss drugs, SHP researcher Daniel Smith, Ph.D., says.

Smith, an instructor in the Department of Nutrition Sciences, received a 2011 Early-Career Research Grant from The Obesity Society for his proposal to examine the effect of room temperature on obesityrelated drug effects in mice.

“More than 90 percent of weight loss drugs that show promising results in lab tests fail to reach approval for treatment in 10

humans,” said Smith. “There appears to be a translation gap from the bench to the market. I think the temperature used in animal research facilities may be part of the reason.”

Smith noted that most animals are tested in rooms where the temperature is near 22 degrees Celsius (72F), which is comfortable for most adult humans. However, that temperature is cold for mice, which have to eat more to elevate their metabolic rate to meet the constant, cold stress.

“If you raise the temperature to 30 degrees Celsius, that puts the mice in their thermo-neutral zone or a comfortable temperature for them, mimicking more closely what humans experience in modern daily life,” said Smith.

The MSEs are designed to promote neurological activity and to encourage relaxation by blocking out noise and controlling the space, temperature, and lighting.

“The room is all controlled by the child, not a therapist,” said Gary Edwards, CEO of UCP of Greater Birmingham. “It’s amazing to see a child with disabilities, who has never smiled in his life, beam from ear to ear and giggle once he experiences the MSE. We’ve even seen children begin to talk, watched negative behavior disappear, and heard about reductions in medication.”

Smith will test a handful of weight-loss drugs in a group of mice housed at 22 degrees Celsius and another group at 30 degrees Celsius. Food intake, body weight, and body composition will be measured to determine drug-related weight-loss effects between the two temperatures. He said this study could be an important turning point for obesity researchers using animal models.

“This could change the models of preclinical drug testing,” said Smith.

Smith was acknowledged at The Obesity Society’s 29th Annual Scientific Meeting in Orlando, Florida, in October. The organization received 90 applicants, but only two received the one-year, pilot-study grant.

Research Briefs F i g h t i n g Di a be t e s L owe r i n g Fa t In t a k e Cu t s R i s k E v e n w i t h o u t We i g h t L o s s Small differences in diet, even without weight loss, can significantly affect risk for diabetes. Barbara Gower, Ph.D., a professor in the Department of Nutrition Sciences, was lead author of a study in which 69 healthy, overweight people who did not have diabetes—but were at risk for it—were placed on diets with modest reductions in either fat or carbohydrate for eight weeks.

“At eight weeks, the group on the lower fat diet had significantly higher insulin secretion and better glucose tolerance and

E at Ri g h t Te a m s U p wi t h Pi g g ly W i g g ly t o H e l p Sh o p p e r s Sh o p H e a lt hie r Making smart, healthy decisions in the grocery store aisles just got a lot easier for some Birmingham-area shoppers. Fourteen local Piggly Wiggly stores have added the EatRight by UAB Nutrition Guidance System (NGS) to help make consumers aware of the healthy benefits of what they’re about to be consuming.

“Look for a tag with a fork placed next to items that the EatRight by UAB program has designated ‘Eat More Often’ foods,” says Jamy Ard, M.D., an associate professor of nutrition sciences and director of

tended to have higher insulin sensitivity,” says Gower. “These improvements indicate a decreased risk for diabetes.”

Gower says the unique aspect of this study is that the results were independent of weight loss. The study participants were fed exactly the amount of food required to maintain their body weight. Thus, results from this study suggest that those trying to minimize risk for diabetes over the long term might consider limiting their daily consumption of fat to around 27 percent of their diet.

A typical dinner meal on the lower fat diet would include sesame chicken with rice, snow peas and carrots, frozen broccoli, fat-free cheese, oranges, and a dinner roll.

EatRight by UAB. “This is the icon that gives you the green light; it says this is something you should eat more often.”

EatRight and the locally owned Piggly Wiggly stores have a long history of cooperation, and the stores were eager to implement the NGS program.

“We’re always looking for ways to enhance the shopping experience for our consumers. We didn’t have a system to educate customers about good nutrition choices or the means to create one,” says Andy Virciglio, co-owner of area Piggly Wiggly stores. “So when Dr. Ard came to us with the UAB EatRight NGS, it filled a void.

And because it’s from UAB, it has instant credibility.”

Casazza to study link between abdominal fat and breast cancer Krista Casazza, Ph.D., assistant professor in the Department of Nutrition Sciences in the School of Health Professions, has won a $40,000 grant from the American Cancer Society to examine potential links between early childhood abdominal fat and the later development of breast cancer.

The study’s aim is to provide a model of the way early childhood abdominal fat and subsequent changes in hormones and inflammatory markers may predispose or contribute to the development of cancer later in life.

Casazza also was awarded the Endocrine Society 2011 Early Investigators Award, which provides recognition and funding to promote career development for basic and clinical endocrine investigators.

UA B h e l p s b u i l d national IT curriculum UAB is one of the five curriculumdevelopment centers that collaborated to develop a national health information technology curriculum that is now available to the public through the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC). Eta Berner, Ed.D., professor of health administration in the School of Health Professions, led the UAB team. The materials include narrated presentations, quiz questions, and application exercises in 20 different areas, including many aspects of health IT, but also including skills related to project management, training, professionalism, health-care terminology, and introduction to the U.S. health-care system. Totaling more than seven gigabytes of information across more than 200 units, the ONC says these innovative teaching materials will offer a robust new set of tools for health IT instructors.

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StudentNews Creating a Spark |

PT Student Shares Her Love of Science

Alison Barnard has had a lifelong love of math and science. Now she is trying to instill that same love in middle-school girls, with the hope of opening young eyes to the abundant opportunities in science and engineering.

Last spring, Barnard, then a second-year doctoral student in physical therapy, teamed up with UAB medical student and childhood friend Farah Khan to create the first Girls in Science and Engineering Day at UAB. With the help of Melanie Shores, Ph.D., an assistant professor in the School of Education, they were able to attract more than 70 girls from 18 different middle schools to the free all-day event.

The students learned about neuroscience, biology, medicine, metal casting, the visualization cube, and water rockets from UAB faculty and students from the School of Engineering, School of Education, School of Medicine, Department of Physical Therapy,

and Department of Biology. The students even acted out a “play” to learn about the sensory/motor systems.

Barnard is putting on the event again this spring. She will graduate in December 2012 and hopes the legacy of her “Girls in Science and Engineering Day” will continue.

Biobusiness | UAB Biotechnology Students to Develop Apps for iCubate The next time you order red snapper from a restaurant, it could actually be the lower-quality fish tilapia. That grouper you bought may really be catfish. And that white tuna or albacore could be escolar, which has been known to cause digestion problems. It makes you wonder—what kind of fish are you really eating? UAB biotechnology student Jeff Hicks may have the answer.

According to the Food and Drug Administration port inspections, a third of seafood sold in the United States is mislabeled as one type when it’s actually something else, even of lower quality. The FDA purchased five DNA testing machines last year to test for fish fraud, but Hicks says he’s working on an application, or “app,” to detect the species of fish and any disease-causing organisms at a quicker rate than the FDA’s machines.

“Right now it takes days, even weeks, to test fish,” says Hicks. “My app would take only four hours.”

Hicks is designing the app—technically known as an “assay,” which performs diagnostic tests for diseases and microorganisms—for the iCubate system, a product developed

by Jian Han, M.D., a faculty investigator for HudsonAlpha Institute Jian Han (left) works with for Biotechnology in Huntsville, biotechnology students Pamela Briggs and Jeff Hicks.

Alabama. The iCubate technology, 12

multiplex PCR, is fully automated and enclosed with less risk of contamination, and it will allow the detection of multiple targets in one sample—a considerable improvement over DNA testing.

That kind of innovation to protect health or the environment is what Han hopes to see more of through the iCubate system. Just like anyone can develop an app for the iPhone, Han is using that same business model for iCubate. Students will design, strategize, and ultimately test their diagnostic kits.

Kathy Nugent, Ph.D., the director of the biotechnology program in the Department of Clinical and Diagnostic Sciences, says the partnership is unique. “This is something you don’t see in this industry,” she says. “This gives the students access to tap in their entrepreneurial spirit and be able to test immediately.”

Each student is developing their own app, but only a few will be chosen to move forward. “Once we select the five best products/ apps, we will work with the UAB Research Foundation, Dr. Han, and the iCubate team to move them forward for potential commercialization opportunities,” says Tino Unlap, Ph.D., an associate professor for the program.

Nugent says the partnership with iCubate speaks to the credibility of the program. “We’re giving our students the foundation to apply that knowledge immediately,” she says. “Biotechnology is key to answering not only health and environmental but economical issues as well. The amount of jobs that could be created from the fish app is huge. And it was an idea created here by one of our students.”

Helping Hands | By

T yler

SHP Students and Faculty Assist in Disaster Relief

G reer

Less than two days after one of the deadliest tornado outbreaks in the state’s history, Jerry King, director of critical education for the UAB Respiratory Program, was having lunch with colleague Kerry Whitaker, assistant professor and didactic coordinator of the Surgical Physician Assistant Program, when the call came. Kevin Taylor, a friend of King’s and the respiratory director at Cullman Regional Medical Center, said the staff at nearby The Sanctuary at the Woodlands hospital had opened a shelter two days earlier for displaced storm victims in need of care.

The staff had been working nonstop for almost 48 hours, and they needed relief.

King and Whitaker immediately contacted students and colleagues. Whitaker had a schedule made for the volunteers within two hours. By that evening, King and several others were on site. “It was a great relief to see them here,” says Charlotte Ivey, administrator at Woodlands. “We were spent. And they were very helpful to us. They stepped right in, they weren’t afraid of doing any work, and they were very good to our community.”

More than 15 faculty, staff, and students volunteered their time at Woodlands for four days. At its peak, the facility had more than 25 storm victims who sought continuous shelter. Many others who were without power in their homes came to the facility during the day for breathing treatments and equipment checks or to recharge batteries.

The volunteers checked vital signs, helped resolve problems with breathing machines and oxygen tanks, checked tank levels, and helped charge wheelchairs.

“We were also able to assess several patients who came for medical care and sent

More than 15 faculty, staff, and students volunteered their time at The Sanctuary at the Woodlands hospital in Cullman last April after a series of devastating tornadoes ravaged the area.

some of them to the hospital, but most of what we did was basic care,” King says.

Junior respiratory students Ashley Glaze and Janie Huddleston were among the students who volunteered to travel to Cullman Sunday, May 1. Glaze, a Gardendale native whose family has a home on Smith Lake, says the car ride from Birmingham was an anxious one. Both students were eager to help the storm victims, but they weren’t sure if they knew enough to be of real value.

While Glaze and Huddleston might have been surprised at how much they did know, King was not, saying that the experience was a valuable opportunity for the students to apply their knowledge and training. “I heard it said no matter how much training you get, it never prepares you for what you see,” King says. “It’s definitely not a typical way to train; we don’t have a disaster clinic set up so we can go work in it. It’s an eyeopening event to see what’s required in a disaster.”

Glaze credits the faculty in respiratory therapy; she says she saw that her professors

are preparing them well.

“We utilized absolutely everything from every class we have taken so far, from the basic procedures in our lab to Mr. King teaching us how to calculate how much oxygen is left in a tank,” Glaze says. “From taking vital signs to the basic essentials all the way down to anatomy and physiology, we knew what we were doing.”

Among the surgical physician assistant faculty to volunteer were Program Director Patricia Jennings, Dr.P.H., Clinical Coordinator Paul Harrelson, and Whitaker.

Whitaker’s wife, Kathy, an X-ray tech, also joined the group as did Womens & Infants Center Nurse Christy Meadows.

Thirteen surgical physician assistant students also assisted for four days, including Hoover native Helen Alexander. She says the experience reinforced the responsibility she has to help her community.

“I think it is every student’s dream to use what we know to help another person, especially in such a desperate situation,” Alexander says.

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{Spectrum} News from SHP programs, departments, and faculty

School of Health Professions Jr. Advisory Board Top row (left to right): Russell Doswell (Nuclear Medicine Technology), Jeanette Glenn Lloyd (Health Administration), Terrance Wallace (Physical Therapy), Skye Gratton (Surgical Physician Assistant), Kristian Gratton (Surgical Physician Assistant) Bottom row (left to right): Jenny Wilson (Physical Therapy), Stacy Bishop (Occupational Therapy), Dewayne Hamilton (Occupational Therapy) Not pictured: Ross Armstrong (Health Administration), Caroline Brawley Johnson (Nutrition Sciences), Lucretia Johnson (Health Informatics), Shayna Lovell (Cytology), Brandon Wallace (Health Care Management)

Occupational Therapy UAB professors win grants on minority aging research Kathleen T. Foley, Ph.D., OTR/L, an assistant professor in the Department of Occupational Therapy, was one of two UAB faculty members to receive grants from the Deep South Resource Center for Minority Aging Research (RCMAR) Pilot Grant Awards. Foley received funding for her project “Comparison of Toileting Disability Among Older Black and White Women.” Maria Pisu, Ph.D., an assistant professor in the UAB Department of Preventive Medicine, also won an RCMAR grant.

The RCMAR is a partnership with UAB, Morehouse School of Medicine, Tuskegee University, and the University of Alabama.

Foley and Pisu were selected in the 2012 Pilot Grant Awards competition and received approval from NIA to implement their projects over the next year.

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Physical Therapy Shaw receives highest award from state PT group UAB Department of Physical Therapy Chair Sharon Shaw, P.T., Dr.P.H., received the Marilyn Gossman Professionalism in Physical Therapy Award from the Alabama Chapter of the American Physical Therapy Association. This is considered the chapter’s most prestigious honor to recognize a member demonstrating outstanding professionalism in any of the areas of physical therapy service, practice, education, and/or research.

A physical therapist in Alabama since 1971, Shaw was recognized for her longtime service to Alabama as a clinician and educator, as well as for her service. She was a former director of UAB Hospital’s Physical Therapy Department and influential in developing the nationally recognized burn treatment team.

She was the director of the UAB physical therapist assistant program. Shaw was one of the founders of AIDS Alabama and has served in a variety of leadership positions for the organization.

Marilyn Gossman, PT, Ph.D. FAPTA, after whom the award was named, is the former UAB Division of Physical Therapy director. Shaw stepped in as the interim director after the untimely death of Gossman in 1998. She became the director a year later. Shaw helped elevate the Division of Physical Therapy to department and transitioned the physical therapy program from a master’s to a doctoral degree. The department also just started its Ph.D. in Rehabilitation Science program jointly with the Department of Occupational Therapy.

Promotions

Randa Hall, MSHA, MBA, vice chair, Department of Health Services Administration

David Morris, PT, Ph.D., vice chair, Department of Physical Therapy

Nutrition ScienceS

Ard Appointed to AJCN Editorial Board Jamy Ard, M.D., an associate professor in the Department of Nutrition Sciences and associate dean for clinical affairs for the SHP, was appointed to the editorial board of The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. His two-year term began June 1, 2011.

“This appointment to the board is indicative of the high regard your fellow scientists have for your research contributions and for the valuable research critiques you’ve provided as an ad hoc reviewer for AJCN,” says Robert M. Russell, M.D., president of the American Society for Nutrition.

Ard’s current research interests include behavioral therapies focused on cardiovascular risk reduction. He is developing strategies that will improve African-American participation and outcomes in clinical trials that deal with cardiovascular disease risk.

New Faculty Welcome New Faculty

Respiratory Therapy

Granger Named AARC Fellow Wesley Granger, Ph.D., RRT, has been selected as a Fellow of the American Association for Respiratory Care (AARC). He is the director of the UAB respiratory therapy program and associate professor.

“The award was established in 1998 to recognize those individuals who have made a profound and lasting contribution to the profession of respiratory care and to the AARC,” said Patrick Dunne, MEd, RRT, FAARC, chair of the AARC Fellowship Selection Committee. “Dr. Granger’s advocacy for quality patient care coupled with his numerous voluntary contributions has had a measurable impact on respiratory care.”

Granger has 41 years of experience in respiratory therapy including clinical and academic education positions. He is a scientist in the UAB Lung Health Center and the UAB Minority Health and Research Center. His research interests include mathematical modeling of physiologic systems.

Granger received his bachelor’s degree in microbiology from the University of South Florida in Tampa, Florida, in 1974. He received his doctoral degree in physiology from the Medical College of Georgia in Augusta, Georgia, in 1983. Granger is an active member of the Alabama Society for Respiratory Care, the American Association for Respiratory Care, and the American Physiological Society.

Granger was formally inducted at the AARC’s 57th International Respiratory Congress in Tampa, Florida, in November.

2012 Events For more information on specific events, please contact SHPevents@uab.edu.

Krista Casazza, Ph.D., R.D., Assistant

February 15-16, 2012

Professor, Department of Nutrition Sciences

L. R. “Rush” Jordan Distinguished Lecture and Case Competition Wynfrey Hotel—Hoover, Alabama

Deek Cunningham, MS, OTR/L, SIPT, ATP, Assistant Professor, Department of Occupational Therapy

March 9-10, 2012 Nurse Anesthesia Continuing Education Event Ross Bridge—Birmingham, Alabama

Paula Chandler-Laney, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, Department of Nutrition Sciences

March 20, 2012

Joe Garner, Ph.D., Associate Professor, Biotechnology program

Graduate Programs in Health Administration (GPHA) Alumni Reception (in conjunction with ACHE Congress on Healthcare Leadership) Fairmont Hotel—Chicago, Illinois

Kristopher Maday, MS, PA-C, CNSC,

April 27, 2012

Assistant Professor, Surgical Physician Assistant program

Occupational Therapy Alumni Reception (in conjunction with American Occupational Therapy Association–AOTA) Indianapolis, Indiana

Taraneh Soleymani, M.D., Assistant Professor, Department of Nutrition Sciences

October 16-19, 2012 National Symposium for Healthcare Executives Sandestin, Florida

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AlumniNews In touch SHP Graduates Can Keep UAB E-mail Addresses for Life

physical Therapy Alumni Reception The UAB Physical Therapy Alumni Chapter held a local networking reception during the ALAPTA Conference in Birmingham in August 2011.

Keeping up with fellow alumni just got easier for recent graduates of the School of Health Professions. The school recently was selected to participate in a pilot program that allows former students to keep their UAB e-mail address even after they graduate. The addresses (example: jdoe@uab.edu) for graduates, starting with the class of 2010, will never expire, meaning alumni can retain that connection to UAB as long as they wish.

SHP is working on gaining UAB e-mail access for graduates prior to 2010. Additionally, any graduating student has the ability to forward their UAB e-mail address to another account (e.g., Gmail, Hotmail, etc.) by going to www.uab.edu/phonebook, then clicking on “Change Information.” If you have any questions regarding this pilot program or e-mail forwarding, please contact SHPalumni@uab.edu.

(Above) Karlie Lewis, PT Associate Chair Dave Morris, and PT Alumni Chapter President Jenny Wilson

Physical Therapy Chair Sharon Shaw, Cheryl Knowles, and James Jackson.

GPHA Alumni Reception The Graduate Programs in Health Administration (GPHA) listened to some blues music at an alumni reception at Buddy Guy’s Legends during the ACHE Conference in Chicago in March of 2011.

Brandon Haushalter, Todd Jackson, Chad Christianson, and Lance Wersland

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National Symposium for Healthcare Executives More than 120 alumni and health-care leaders attended the 31st National Symposium for Healthcare Executives in Sandestin, Florida. Attendees could earn continuing education credits during the threeday conference.

surgical PhysIcian Assistant Alumni Reception UAB surgical physician assistant alumni reconnected during a reception at the AAPA conference in Las Vegas in May 2011.

(Above) Otis Story Sr., Jon Vice, and Bob Hernandez (Left) Barrie Arnold, Jeanette Lloyd, Kat Davis, and Ben Whitworth

Occupational Therapy Alumni Reception

Kris Maday, Amanda Earnhart, and Margaret Maddox

The UAB Department of Occupational Therapy, along with the School of Health Professions Dean’s Office, hosted an alumni reception during the AOTA Conference in Philadelphia in April 2011.

(Above) Front row: Heather Livengood, Karen Kendrick, and Jennifer Gendeman. Back: Jennifer Elgin, Arryn Hablitzel, Linda Goodwin, Mary Warren, Michelle Bianchi, and Julie Nastasi

Kara Caruthers, Gwen Lendgren, Helen Lei, and Paul Harrelson

(Left) Front row: Gavin Jenkins, Charles Hunter, Andrea Wirey and Laura Schertz. Back row: Andrew Little, Chris Eidson, and Ryan Elsea

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Alumni in Action Leaving a Mark

Soldiering On Alumnus Takes on the Unusual Demands of Being a Military OT

By Grant Martin

A

fter spending the past eight years as an occupational therapist (OT) and researcher, Chris Ebner says he can’t imagine a more perfect career path. Then again, he admits his particular career is not for everybody—and it requires much more than just a passion for the work. That’s because Ebner’s OT career has been in the service of the United States Army, and as such, Ebner says he must consider himself a soldier first, occupational therapist second, with a long list of additional Amanda and Chris Ebner responsibilities beyond that.

“There are approximately 100 OTs in the Army,” Ebner says. “We deploy, we work in combat support hospitals, and a lot of times we work in combat stress control teams where we’re out with the troops. The roles are quite different and distinct in the military, because the training we receive allows us to become physician extenders. There are a lot more opportunities to expand our knowledge bases and practice opportunities.”

Ebner’s military career started soon after he earned his master’s degree from the School of Health Professions, when he served a one-year internship at the Walter Reed Army Medical Center. After that, Ebner was assigned to Brooke Army Medical Center in San Antonio, Texas, where he spent three years before transitioning from active duty as a captain to civil-service employment at the Center for Intrepid, an advanced outpatient rehab facility that Ebner says “is unlike anything else in the world. Physicians there specialize in amputee rehab, burn rehab, and limb salvage,” he says. “Although I worked with amputees, it’s more than just amputation. Injuries are often compounded with ocular trauma, head injury, nerve injuries, or orthopedic injuries to include amputation. So a lot of rehabilitation revolves around a multitude of diagnoses all rolled up into one patient.”

After experiencing such a variety of cases during his years at the CFI, Ebner says the opportunity for career advancement came with a whole new challenge, both professionally and personally. Last July, he moved, along with his wife and three children, to Germany to become the OT supervisor for the Warrior Transition Battalion (WTB). “The WTB was created in 2007 to determine whether injured service members are going to stay on active duty or go through the medical evaluation board and physical evaluation board process to be boarded out of the military based on injuries or illness,” Ebner explains. “I feel very lucky to have the training and background I have.

Where I am today is a direct result of the program at UAB. The OT program more than adequately prepared me for my role as an OT in the military and for the research involvement I’ve had these past eight years.”

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Personal Experience Motivates PT Alum to Push for Better Future

D

uring his relatively short career, Terrance T. Wallace, DPT, has seen firsthand the impact a physical therapist can have on an individual patient’s quality of life. In the future, he hopes to find ways to implement those kinds of improvements on a much larger scale.

Wallace received his undergraduate degree in health sciences from the SHP before coming back to receive his doctor of physical therapy in 2006. In the years since, he has worked as a physical therapist at the Birmingham VA Medical Center (BVAMC), including the past several months as a board-certified geriatric clinical specialist (GCS) physical therapist—one of only nine in the state of Alabama. Currently a member of the SHP’s Junior Board of Directors, Wallace says his experiences early in life helped him understand the benefit physical therapy can have on a patient. “I was raised by my grandmother and for years I watched her struggle to walk and cope with the debilitating medical conditions that limited her happiness and quality of life,” he says. “That experience inspired me to pursue a career that would allow me to help others suffering from pain and injuries.”

Wallace says he plans to continue his education in the hope of having a wider impact. “I would like to go to business school in the near future,” he says. “I did an internship with Broadway Physical Therapy, a private practice in New Jersey. That opportunity expanded my view on the power of business. I’m interested in enhancing health-care delivery for seniors and finding innovative ways to manage rising health-care costs.”

Notables Board Member: Four Seasons Condominiums Junior Advisory Board: UAB School of Health Professions 2010 U.S. Dept. of Veterans Affairs Leadership Achievement Award 2008 SHP Dean’s Leadership and Service Award Board Certified Geriatric Clinic Specialist (GCS) physical therapist, 1 of 9 in the state of Alabama

Award-Winning Alumna Welcomes a Tiny Addition to Impressive Resumé Notables

A

s UAB’s 2011 Outstanding Young Alumna of the Year, Traci Spray d’Auguste has a long list of career accomplishments, culminating with her current position as director of clinical services for New YorkPresbyterian Hospital. So it may have been surprising to some that while her coworkers were ringing in the new year, d’Auguste was taking some time to focus on something other than her career.

On January 1, 2012, d’Auguste and her husband Adam welcomed the birth of their son, Spencer Vann d’Auguste, starting off the new year with a personal point of pride to go along with a long list of professional ones.

Adding an item to her list of priorities is nothing new for d’Auguste, who in the past six years has directed the construction of a $235-million, nine-story heart center, in addition to working as director of a highly advanced Cardiac Cath Lab, and the hospital’s Center for Chest Diseases.

Prior to taking over her current position, d’Auguste also

worked as director of the Medical Staff Office of the Department of Medical Affairs and as administrative fellow at the University of Virginia Medical Center and the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics.

D’Auguste, who received her Master of Science in Healthcare Administration in 2001, says her training at the SHP as well as the continued relationships that started there, are invaluable to her career. “My time spent with the UAB School of Health Professions most profoundly impacted my professional life and set my career on its course,” she says. “The format of the program and relationships that are formed, both with other students and with the faculty, make for a unique learning environment. I also feel the requirement of the administrative residency is one of the great benefits of the MSHA program. I am very proud to be a graduate.”

Tracy Spray d’Auguste (left) with her husband, Adam d’Auguste, and their son, Spencer Vann d’Auguste.

Outstanding Young Alumna of the Year, University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB), 2011 Membership Leader, Emerging Leadership Council for NYP, 2005-2007 Featured Speaker, UHC Fall Forum in Scottsdale, Arizona, 2005 Selected Presenter, ACGME National Conference in Chicago, 2003 Selected Member, Institutional Leadership Development Program (ILDP), 2001 (UIHC) Award Winner, ACHE Student Chapter Award at 2002 Congress on Healthcare Management President, ACHE student chapter, 19992001 (UAB) Vice President, ACHE student chapter, 1998-1999 (U of A) Lifetime Member, Golden Key National Honor Society

Best of All Worlds Nutrition Graduate Finds the Ideal Career

W

hen Suzanne Geerts began considering prospective careers, she had a choice to make. Should she pursue medicine and research, education, journalism, or working with families? Turns out, she chose all of the above.

As a registered dietitian with the UAB Civitan Sparks Clinics, Geerts says she has found the perfect fit in a job that blends all of her interest areas. “Nutrition and dietetics allows me to use my experience in all these areas,” Geerts says. “My professional and private lives have been challenged and enriched by experiences in each of these specialties.”

Geerts received her bachelor of science degree from Stephen F. Austin University before completing a dietetic internship and earning her Master of Science in Clinical Nutrition from SHP. Since then, she has had a number of positions as a registered dietitian in a variety of clinical settings. “My specialty practice changed from adults to pediatrics after having a premature baby just as there was an expansion of clinical nutrition care in pediatric settings,” Geerts says.

Geerts credits several mentors in medicine and nutrition in supporting the move to her current position, providing nutrition care services to special needs clients in the Civitan Sparks interdisciplinary clinics, including the UAB Biochemical Genetics Clinic for clients with inherited disorders of metabolism.

In addition, she provides nutrition care Suzanne Geerts and participates in research at the UAB Civitan Rett Syndrome Clinic. The UAB Rett syndrome team also makes biannual traveling clinics in cities across North America.

On the education side, Geerts continues to work as a preceptor for the SHP and UAB Graduate School and is a faculty member for the intensive course in nutrition for infants, children, and adolescents in UAB Pediatrics and Nutrition Sciences.

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Contributions The School of Health Professions is grateful for the support provided by alumni and friends during the past year.

Private support has a tremendous impact on the school and its programs, enabling us to provide scholarship support to attract and retain talented students, purchase new technology for the classroom, enhance research capabilities, and provide programs for both student and faculty development, among other important needs.

We would like to publicly recognize and thank the following individuals, corporations, and foundations for their gracious financial support during calendar year 2011. For information on how to contribute, please contact Katie D. Adams, SHP director of development, at (205) 996-5469 or by e-mail at katiedav@uab.edu.

School of Health Professions Lettie Pate Whitehead Foundation Scholarships Lettie Pate Whitehead Foundation School of Health Professions Gifts An Anonymous Donation Mrs. Edith C. Agee Ms. Karen E. Albright Ms. Melissa K. Andrews Mrs. Donald D. Archer Mr. Howard Asher Mr. Derek L. Babin Mr. Christopher M. Bajema Ms. Massah Ruth Barchue Mrs. Tammy M. Beasley Mrs. Holly Ann Bell Ms. Brady Wilson Berglin Mr. Kenneth W. Beverly Mr. David J. Bissonette Mr. Robert E. Bodmer Mrs. Myra M. Bolton Mrs. Carol A. Bond Mrs. Jacqueline A. Brooks Ms. Stacey Brower Ms. Jennifer K. Brown

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Ms. Myra Finch Brown Mrs. Altonette Bryant Mrs. Ruth M. Burgess Mr. Jon M. Carling Ms. Mary Jane Chandler Ms. Melissa B. Chapman Mrs. Raquel G. Chappelle Mrs. Cynthia G. Christopher Ms. Charlotte Coleman Ms. Peggy E. Crim Mrs. Maureen F. Crocker Mrs. Deborah L. Crumpton Ms. Nancy T. Culbreth Mrs. Martha M. Cusimano Ms. Cathy Annette Davis Mrs. Marilyn F. Dennis Ms. Sandra R. Dillon Mr. Lazaro Dominguez Dr. Emily L. Donohue Ms. Janice D. Draper Ms. Lurlene Driver Mr. and Mrs. Larry Dutton Ms. Lori Ann Ermert Mr. John W. Farrior Sr. Ms. Patricia Mae Finucane Mrs. Angelia N. Forest Mr. Daniel Friday Ms. Cheryl G. Glasscock

Mrs. Melissa G. Gosnell Mr. Eldon E. Green Jr. Mrs. Alesia M.R. Griffen Ms. Erica J. Griffin Mr. Bruce L. Grubbs Mrs. Virginia G. Guindon Ms. Barbara Harris Mrs. Kelley DeVane Hart Mrs. Heidi C. Hataway Ms. Vivian Hatcher Mr. Ross K. Henderson Ms. Martee S. Hewitt Mrs. Sara R. Holloway Ms. Karen V. Hood Mrs. Elizabeth M. Howell Ms. Patricia D. Hudson Ms. Carmen Y. Jackson Mr. Tommy L. Jackson Ms. Dorothy Langstaff Johnston Ms. Cathy L. Jones Mr. Terry W. Justice Ms. Melissa A. Keen Mrs. Ingrid K. Kellen Mr. Terry Joe Knight Mrs. Christy K. Knighton Mr. Paul M. Lamprey Mr. Luke Landers Ms. Gwendolyn W. Lee

Mrs. Lisa Browning Lein Ms. Clare Lewis Ms. Jessica C. Loncar Mrs. Beverly J. Lovell Ms. Albertha W. Lyas Ms. Willa J. Madden Ms. Cynthia S. Malloy Mr. Gordon W. Malone Mrs. Robyn P. Mann Mr. Manuel Martinez Mrs. Shannon C. Matthews Mr. Gerald L. Metzler Ms. Margie A. Miller Ms. Debra Sue Moore Ms. Sandra Moore Ms. Margaret J. Morrow Mr. Carl Anthony Moultrie Mrs. Dorothy T. Mullican Ms. Rachel L. Myers Ms. Sara R. Narbecki Ms. Linda E. Neighbors Mrs. Margaret L. Nicholas Mr. John A. Norris Mr. Timothy S. Ochs Ms. Mandi W. Ogaard Ms. Diane E. Olhoeft Dr. Anthony C. Oliveri Dr. Axel K. Olson Ms. Stephanie K. Orr Ms. Janice D. Parker Mrs. Susan N. Parker Ms. Barbara J. Poon Ms. Pamela Gail Potter Mrs. Jean E. Price Ms. Amy E. Pritchett Mrs. Lora B. Ramsey Mrs. Gail L. Ratliff Mrs. Jane W. Rhame Mr. Eric D. Roberts Mrs. Patricia J. Robinson Mrs. Julia S. Rogers Mrs. Sara Sue Sall

Mrs. Donna R. Self Ms. Carolyn M. Shea Mrs. Daisy W. Shepherd Mrs. Jana J. Shultz, In Honor of Margaret and George Fritsma Mrs. Amarjit K. Sidhu Mrs. Frances Smith Mrs. Deborah F. Soniat Southern Company Services, Inc. Ms. Barbara A. Staton Mrs. Jacque E. Steede Mrs. Lynn C. Thrash Mr. George D. Thuesen Mrs. Lenora B. Townes Ms. Peggy C. Van Winkle Ms. Andrea S. Varner Ms. Karen L. Vaughn Mrs. Paige Alaine Wallace Mrs. Diana M. Warner Ms. Debra F. Warren Therese S. Waterhous, Ph.D. Mrs. Pamela M. Wehner Ms. Melinda A. Wheeler Mr. Mark H. Whitt Ms. Kathleen N. Wilkowske Glenn Yap, Ph.D. Mrs. Sidney F. Zaden Ms. Barbara A. Zuber

Philanthropic Grant - School of Health Professions Duke University Johns Hopkins University Susan G. Komen Foundation The Obesity Society Parkinson’s Disease Foundation The Skin Cancer Foundation SHP Building Fund Dr. Shannon Houser and Dr. Howard W. Houser

UABEF – School of Health Professions Dean’s Fund Alacare Home Health & Hospice Johnson Development, LLC ProAssurance Indemnity Company, Inc. Russell Construction of Alabama, Inc. DEPARTMENT OF CLINICAL AND DIAGNOSTIC SCIENCES Clinical Laboratory Sciences Gifts Mrs. I. Patricia Barr Mr. Mark A. Cook Mrs. Sarah B. Godwin Ms. Sandra L. Hughes Mr. John F. Moody Mr. Jerry W. Prater Mrs. Sharon L. Smalling Mr. Thomas V. Stabler Michael Thompson Endowed Scholarship Fundraising Project An Anonymous Donation Alabama Society of Nuclear Medicine Ms. Kayla B. Allen Mr. Tyler M. Allen Mr. Sylvester B. Atkinson Dr. Jon A. Baldwin Dr. Luvenia W. Bender Birmingham Dreamland, Inc. Mr. and Mrs. Norman E. Bolus Mrs. Teresa K. Taylor Brinkley Ms. Jessica L. Brothers Ms. Rachel L. Campbell Ms. Randa Cash Ms. Leigh Ann Cooper Mr. Johnathan M. Crayton Ms. Crystal P. Dutton Ms. Hana El-Kahlout Mr. Edmond Harris Mrs. Betty Farley Ms. Areej N. Fino 21

Mr. Robert L. Garrie Mr. and Mrs. Remo George Mr. Lael W. Gore Mrs. Laura B. Johnston Mr. and Mrs. Thomas J. Laken Ms. Amber C. Lindars Mr. Giovanni G. Mazza Mr. Kevin B. McClure Ms. Brittany V. McGee Mr. Damien J. Milton Ms. Evelyn S. Mosquera Mr. Nicholas M. Munkachy Dr. and Mrs. Bradley R. Newcomer Mrs. Sherry R. Nichols Dr. Kathy L. Nugent and Mr. Jonathan M. Nugent Mr. J.D. Patterson Mr. Justin S. Patterson Mr. Scott J. Perero Ms. Amy M. Peterson Ms. Midge Noel Ray Ms. Whitney L. Reynolds Mr. Dustin B. Screws Ms. Amanda Lynn Shafer Ms. Jazmine J. Sharpe Donna J. Slovensky, Ph.D. Mr. Wallace A. Smith Ms. Ann M. Steves and Mr. Calvin W. Pabst Mr. Cody A. Sweatman Ms. M. Nicole Temple Ms. Channdara Thach Mr. Gerald J. Thompson Ms. Joanna D. Tolbert Ms. Jenna L. Townsend Ms. Chasity J. Trapp Ms. Miriam E. Van Dyke Ms. Meghan C. Webb Mr. Aaron C. Weeks Ms. Jessica D. Whitaker

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Nuclear Medicine Technology Program Gifts Absolute Imaging Solutions Mrs. Loukisha Whitaker Collins Mrs. Dixie G. Hines Mr. Douglas E. Lamon Mr. Charles A. McDougal Jr. Nurse Anesthesia Program Gifts Ms. Angela C. Bagwell Mrs. Reatha Weldon Ballard Mr. David A. Beasley Mr. Keith J. Brown Mrs. Cynthia G. Christopher Mrs. Cynthia P. Durden Ms. Eleanor D. Fisher Mr. Thomas Wayne Hoffman Mr. Joseph L. Jacks Ms. Gwen Dagenhart Kear Mrs. Karen Keel Laguna Anesthesia Service Mr. David Lee Mr. Timothy S. Ochs Mrs. Cathy Hornsby Orr Mr. David Hamaker Osborne Mrs. Margaret B. Serio Mrs. April A. Worford Physician Assistant Program Gifts Mr. Shannon Robert Coplin Mrs. Wendy W. Cornelius Mrs. Linda Kinesy-Prokai Mr. Christopher K. McCarley Mr. Seth M. Shippy

Mr. Anthony Q. Johnson Mr. Larry S. Pollock Susan L. Perkins Endowed Student Award Ms. Johanna M. Gilstrap DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH SERVICES ADMINISTRATION Center for Health Services Continuing Ed Symposium Sponsorship Coastal Insurance Risk Retention Group, Inc. Felder Services B.L. Harbert International, LLC Integrated Medical Systems International, Inc. St. Vincent’s Hospital Health Informatics Program Berner Research Initiative Westat Health Services Administration Gifts Mr. Charles C. Brannen Ms. Danielle L. Fields Ms. Patti Jones Dr. Stephen J. O’Connor Lejon Poole, Ph.D. Jessie L. Tucker III, Ph.D.

Radiation Therapy Gifts Mrs. Sherry S. Rucker

HSA Case Competition Sponsorships UAB Health System

SHP Respiratory Pulmonary Allergy and Critical Care Mr. Patrick T. Boyd

Howard W. Houser Endowed Program Support Fund Shannon Houser, Ph.D.

Ms. Midge Noel Ray Mr. Cameron J. Welton Medical Records and Health Information Management Gifts Mrs. Jane W. Rhame Sara Grostick Endowed Award Fund Raising Project Bray-Kilgore Trust Ms. Laneka J. Dowe Mrs. Jane W. Rhame SHP BS in Health Care Management (formerly Health Sciences) Program Gifts Ms. Beth Baker Ms. Veronica Champion Mrs. Sandra S. Dunlap Mr. Craig Steven Leonard Mr. Ronald G. Mullis Mr. Scott Nichols Mr. Frank Pollara Ms. Mary Jane Scarbrough Donna J. Slovensky, Ph.D., In Memory of Robert Baker Mr. Stanley D. White Mr. Lee C. Woods DEPARTMENT OF NUTRITION SCIENCES Clinical Nutrition and Dietetics Division Gifts Mrs. Denise L. Gardberg Mrs. April H. Washington Mrs. Cynthia B. Williams Clinical Nutrition Research Center Gifts Coca-Cola USA

Department of Nutrition Sciences Gifts Dr. Jamy D. Ard Pi-Ling Chang, Ph.D. Isao Eto, Ph.D. EatRight Nutritional Guidance System Gifts The Community Foundation of Greater Birmingham Mr. Stewart M. Dansby Rebecca L. Bradley Endowed Scholarship The Cherokee County Connection, In Honor of Janice Knight Ms. Janice Floyd Knight Mrs. Laura J. Szekely Roland L. Weinsier Endowed Support Fund for Nutrition Research Mrs. Ann S. Goldstein, In Memory of Roland Weinsier Dr. and Mrs. Douglas C. Heimburger Dr. Karen Lazarus Ms. Arlene P. Weinsier, In Memory of Howard August, John Prince, and Eleanor B. Mitchell Mrs. Maryellen Williams DEPARTMENT OF OCCUPATIONAL THERAPY Carroline Amari Endowed Scholarship Ms. Carroline F. Amari Mrs. Pamela D. Bruner Mrs. Heather D. Garrison Ms. Judy D. Hall Mrs. Martha Chandler Haraway Mrs. Mary J. Hartsfield

Ms. Vanessa Z. Hughes Mrs. Elizabeth Barker Jones Mrs. Nancy J. Land Mrs. Josephine A. Lehman Dr. Jan A. Rowe Ms. Leah F. Scalise Donna J. Slovensky, Ph.D. Mrs. Linda P. Thompson, In Honor of Carroline Amari Mrs. Teresa T. Tucker UAB National Alumni Society Mrs. Sherri Van Pelt Occupational Therapy Memorial Scholarship Mrs. Yvonne M. Gaines Mrs. Angie Hicks Nationwide Life Insurance Company Mrs. LaShonda Peoples Dr. Jan A. Rowe Mrs. Martha J. Williams Ms. Leslie L. Young Occupational Therapy Restricted Gifts An Anonymous Donation Ms. Patti A. Normand Occupational Therapy Sponsored Scholarship Fund Raising Project (HOTSS) Ms. Myra M. Bolton Mr. Robert Constantine Mr. Anthony A. Cunningham Mr. and Mrs. Steven A. Cusimano Mrs. Mary M. Johnson Mrs. Shannon C. Matthews Ms. Debra Sue Moore Ms. Barbara S. Porter Mrs. Susan Heimlich Rose Ms. Keitha L. Scott Ms. Hiroko Y. Smith 23

Ms. Tracey M. Strickland Ms. Jeri J. Vorisek Ms. Barbara H. Wall Ms. Meldoris J. White Occupational Therapy Student Travel Fund An Anonymous Donation Ms. Jana P. Cason Ms. Leigh A. Crowder Mrs. Venessa C. Cunningham Ms. Amy Davis Mr. James D. Deloach Mr. Jimmy Dowdell Mr. Christopher A. Eidson Mrs. Melissa G. Gosnell Ms. Judy D. Hall Ms. Joanna S. Hardin Ms. Shannon Haywood Ms. Martee S. Hewitt Mrs. Kimberley T. Holley Ms. Carol L. Hughes Mr. Gavin R. Jenkins Ms. Nicole L. Kintigh Mrs. Cynthia D. McCarson Mrs. Valley O. McCurry Mrs. Mary Eastin McDowell Mr. Robert T. Pope Restore Therapy Services, Ltd. Ms. Patricia A. Smith Ms. Tracey M. Strickland Mrs. Heather M. Sudduth Mr. Terry T. Thomas Mrs. Laura M. Warnke Restore Therapy Health Professions Loan Fund Restore Therapy Services, Ltd.

DEPARTMENT OF PHYSICAL THERAPY Bergman-Pinkston Professorship in Physical Therapy Ms. Jean E. Crago Mrs. Betty G. Denton Ms. Jacqueline M. Stone Marilyn R. Gossman Memorial Fund Byerly Physical Therapy, PLLC Mrs. Christine M. Cedotal Mrs. Donna B. Cummins Mrs. Betty G. Denton Mrs. Phyllis Ellen Edwards Mrs. Kathryn E. Goodman Ms. Rhonda S. Kotzen Physical Therapy Scholarship Fund Ms. Virginia Kay Carlton SHP Physical Therapy Gifts Mr. Ray A. Anderson Mrs. Kathy O. Bucks Mrs. Karen Duncan Carlisle Dr. Diane E. Clark Mrs. Laura Lea Cobb Mrs. Janice Goodwin Cross Mr. Albert J. Dimicco

Shirley A. Shaddeau Memorial Scholarship Endowment Ms. Betty C. Canan

The gifts and pledge payments listed above were received during the period of January 1 – December 31, 2011. Please forgive any errors or omissions. For corrections, contact the School of Health Professions External Relations Office at (205) 996-5469.

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Ms. Edith C. Ezell Mrs. Gwen S. Fassbender Mrs. Pam Fitzsimmons Mr. Stephen M. Foster Mr. Curtis G. Glupker Mrs. Mary T. Godfrey Mr. Bruce L. Grubbs Mrs. Louise J. Hoff Ms. Melanie M. Hubbard Ms. Tina Isabella Ms. Carmen Y. Jackson Mrs. Carol Shands Link Ms. Sara R. Narbecki Mrs. Amy P. Pearman Dr. Patricia L. Perez Mrs. Charlotte L. Petersen Mrs. Katherine S. Pinion Mrs. Pat M. Redwine Ms. Carolyn L. Sherer Mrs. Jane E. Snyder Ms. Lynda L. Spangler Mr. Johnny M. Tidmore Ms. Mary Jane Wells Mr. Jeffrey Bond Wheeler Mrs. Nancy T. White

Why I Give “As a graduate student of the UAB Master of Science in Occupational Therapy program, I was constantly engaged in a curriculum dedicated to learning, developing, and growing intellectually as well as professionally. I was provided many opportunities to participate in activities and extracurricular courses that prepared me for my career as an occupational therapist.

I decided to establish the Helping Occupational Therapy Students Succeed Scholarship to support occupational therapy students at UAB as they complete their journey from students to professionals. The scholarship is awarded to students who have demonstrated leadership, community service, and a passion to advance the profession of occupational therapy.

It is with great pleasure that I give back to occupational therapy students who will represent UAB and their communities by enabling their clients to lead independent and meaningful lives.”

LaShonda Peoples earned her Master of Science in Occupational Therapy from the University of Alabama at Birmingham in 2005. She helped create the Helping Occupational Therapy Students Succeed (HOTSS) scholarship, which provides a $500 stipend for two secondyear occupational therapy students to cover the costs for their National Board for Certification in Occupational Therapy exam. LaShonda is an occupational therapist at Children’s of Alabama in Birmingham.

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