AHS Magazine 2009-10

AHS MAGAZINE2009–2010

A P U B L I C AT I O N F O R A L U M N I A N D F R I E N D S O F O U R C O L L E G E

PLUS: AHS RESEARCHERS CREATE NEW KNOWLEDGE I HONOR ROLL OF DONORS

One student takes PT practicebeyond the basics

SO FAR.SO GOOD.

A MESSAGE FROM OUR DEAN

Welcome to the second annual issue of the new AHS Magazine, the publication to keep you informed about what’s happening in the UIC College of Applied Health Sciences. Please take a look at “Notebook” for a number of news briefs from all of our departments as well as from the college and campus. The “People” and “Honor Roll” sections are back to celebrate our generous donors. And flip to the back to read about our extraordinary student support center, the Academic Support and Advising Program.

The feature stories in this issue are about the people who make us the outstanding college we are. “Good Fellows” (p. 10) takes a look at the college’s Urban Allied Health Academy in action, and asks the most dedicated participants to tell us what they’ve learned through their experience.

Be sure to read “So Far. So Good.” (p. 14), the story of the remarkable Uchenna Ossai, a Schweitzer Fellowship award-ee and student in our Doctor of Physical Therapy program. Uchenna is definitely someone to keep an eye on now and long after she finishes her degree later this year.

“Knowledge Hunters” (p. 16) focuses on three AHS pro-fessors (and one student!) who are discovering new knowledge through ground-breaking research and applying discoveries to help even more individuals.

What you explicitly won’t find in this issue is talk about the state of Illinois’ ongoing financial crisis and its impact on the University of Illinois system. There are two reasons this has been left out. First, the College of Applied Health Sciences is standing strong. We have managed our finances intelligently and responsibly, and that effort is now paying dividends (pardon the play on words).

Second, and more important, this magazine is dedicated to telling the stories that define our college. While the details of the financial downturn in Illinois do affect all of us in the state’s university system, they do not define us. They do not affect our priorities so dramatically that we defer our responsibilities as extraordinary allied health students, educators and research-ers. The mainstream media reports the dispiriting aspects of Illinois’ financial condition, and we’ll let them. For our part, we choose to provide here the brighter details—as true and important as any you’ll read in the papers. These reports tell the real story of the UIC College of Applied Health Sciences.

Charlotte (Toby) Tate, PhDDean, UIC College of Applied Health Sciences

AHS MAGAZINE

2009–2010

WRITER AND EDITOR

Elizabeth Harmon MillerDirector of Marketing andCommunications

DESIGN

Stacy Sweat Designs

CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHERS

Anne Petersen Kathryn Marchetti

©2010 University of Illinois

at Chicago. All rights reserved.

Published by the Office of the

Dean (MC 518), UIC College of Applied

Health Sciences, 808 South Wood

Street, 169 CMET, Chicago, Illinois

60612-7305.

Telephone (312) 996-6695

Fax (312) 413-0086

E-mail [email protected]

Web site www.ahs.uic.edu

Views expressed in this

publication do not necessarily

reflect the opinions of the editor,

the college or the university.

THIS IS THE REAL AHS

You will notice abbreviations throughout this

issue. They correlate to academic units in

the College of Applied Health Sciences.

BHIS Department of Biomedical and

Health Information Sciences

BVIS Program in Biomedical

Visualization

DHD Department of Disability and

Human Development

HI Program in Health Informatics

HIM Program in Health Information

Management

KN Department of Kinesiology

and Nutrition

OT Department of Occupational

Therapy

PT Department of Physical Therapy

AHS MAGAZINE

2009-2010

TA B L E O F C O N T E N T S

NOTEBOOK

Kinesiology professor loves having the blues 2Alumni gathering shines a light on loyalty 4AHS professors win three of five grants available campuswide 6

PEOPLE

Giving with purpose 20Donor seeks out AHS’ disability studies programs for unexpected gift

Accelerated learning 21Business partners and PT alumni sponsor lecture series at their alma mater

Willing and able 21Giving back is a noble priority for OT alumnus and his wife

HONOR ROLL OF DONORS

The college warmly thanks its contributors of last year 22

LAST SHOT

Numerical and photographic snapshot of AHS’ student support program 24

FEATURES

Good FellowsEager students join a rigorous fellowship program to learnabout the peoplethey’ll soon serve

So Far.So Good.Since 1996, Uchenna Ossai is only the third PT student in Chicagoland to win a Schweitzer award It won’t be the last time she stands out

DEPARTMENTS

Knowledge HuntersAHS researchers arefilling the textbooksfrom which other professors will teach

2 AHS MAGAZINE 2009-2010

AHS NEWS AND NOTESNOTEBOOK

In September, Charles Wal-ter, PhD, became the new head of the Department of Kinesiology and Nutrition

He was selected from a slate of excellent candidates identified via a national search Walter has been with AHS since 1985 as a professor and researcher (he studies bilateral control of human movement with an emphasis on stroke rehabilitation)

As a man who has spent his life teaching and studying human movement, AHS Magazine asked

Charles Walter: professor by day, bluesman by night.

Blues bloodedKinesiology professor enjoys practicing what he teaches

Walter about his preferred way to get moving:

“My favorite form of ‘applied kine-siology’ is playing blues harmonica at the open jam at Kingston Mines [a blues club] Amplified blues harp was born and bred in Chicago by a long list of greats, like Little Wal-ter, James Cotton, Paul Butterfield, Junior Wells, etc As an area native, I really enjoy engaging in a local tradition Also, open jams always involve committed players and a fun, supportive audience What

better way to escape today’s economy than playing the blues ”

Learn more about the pro-fessional side of Prof Charles Walter using the Find a Person link atwww ahs uic edu

KN

2009-2010 AHS MAGAZINE 3

City centeredA great friend to our college will be honored

with one of the university’s most prestigious awards later this year Gloria Curtin, long-

time community partner to the College of Applied Health Sciences and two-time alumna of the UIC College of Education, has been named recipient of a 2010 UIC City Partner Award

For 12 years, AHS has partnered with El Valor, where Curtin serves as vice president for adult programs Based in Chicago’s Pilsen neighbor-hood, El Valor provides support, residential homes and employment for adults with intellectual/developmental disabilities It has also provided in-ternships and volunteer experiences to more than 70 AHS students—bachelor’s, master’s, doctoral, even post-doctoral—from our programs in oc-cupational therapy, physical therapy, kinesiology, nutrition and disability studies

“The programs Gloria oversees make the dif-ference in whether a person with a disability can work and live independently, can move out of an institution, and can be a full participant in his or her community,” says Gail Fisher, clinical associate professor of occupational therapy, who nomi-nated Curtin for the award

Curtin will be honored by the University of Illinois Alumni Association, which confers the award, at a celebration on Nov 5, 2010

Learn more about El Valor at www elvalor org For more about UIC honors for alumni, visitwww uiaa org/uic/honors

AHSUIC

“I measure my success in seeing a person with disabilities being acknowledged for their

accomplishments.”- Gloria Curtin

The alumniadvantageThe University of Illinois Alumni Association now offers Alumni Career Center online services, as well as advising and professional development events, to all alumni with-out requiring membership in UIAA The change aligns the Career Center with UIAA’s universal membership model—counting every current student and alumnus as a member—which was adopted in 2009 Here are some highlights of the new offerings for alumni of any Univer-sity of Illinois campus

Alumni can look at all resources available at www uiaa org/careers Questions? Contact the UIAA Alumni Career Center at (312) 575-7830 or career@uillinois edu

One-houradvising

sessions available for $60

Three-month advising package

for $200

All professional development webinars free

of charge

Access to online resources,

including theHire UI Alumni

job board

($125 for alumni who graduated within the past three years)


PT

The Department of Physical Therapy has retooled and re-

launched its master’s degree program The new MS in re-habilitation sciences prepares practicing professionals for leadership roles in the field

“This program extends its boundaries to other health professionals, in contrast to the master’s programs in PT offered by other universi-ties for entry-level education of physical therapists,” says professor of physical therapy Alex Aruin, PhD He indicates the broadly based program

will prepare graduates to become leading teachers and researchers not only in PT, but in rehab sciences in general and even other allied health disciplines

The PT department still offers the Doctor of Physi-cal Therapy degree and is a partner in both of the college’s interdisciplinary doctoral programs: one in disability studies, the other in kinesiology, nutrition and rehabilitation

Check out the MS and our other physical therapy pro-grams at www ahs uic edu/pt

One cool evening last November, alumni gathered for an even cooler event: a networking reception in honor of the college’s 30th anniver-sary, celebrated throughout 2009

The featured guest of the evening was Kristina Ripatti-Pearce, a former Los Angeles police officer who shared her inspirational story of being shot in the line of duty, finding herself paralyzed from the chest down She learned from therapists and athletic trainers how to regain the active life-style she enjoyed before her injury

A very special moment of the eve-ning came when Evelyn Alston, OT ’94, received the prestigious University of Illinois Alumni Association Alumni

AHS

Return of the master’sPT reincarnates its MS program with a new focus

Alumni get together

Loyalty Award One reason Alston was recognized is that, each year on her birthday, she makes a donation to the Department of Occupational Therapy to fund an African-American OT student’s attendance at Illinois’ major professional conference for OTs

The event was hosted by the AHS Alumni Board

Kristina Ripatti-Pearce will return to campus as our 2010 commencement speaker The ceremony is Thursday, May 6, at 2 p m in the UIC Forum Alumni are invited to attend on a first-come, first-served basis Please call Elaine Nicholas at (312) 996-2077 to reserve a seat

Evelyn Alston humbly accepted the UIAA Alumni Loyalty Award, an honorbestowed each year to very few alumni UIC-wide.


DHDOT

KN

Alumnus John Kramer, who earned his doctor-ate in disability studies

in 2008, is the author of “I Am Not My Brother’s Keeper,” one of 39 essays in Thicker Than Water: Essays by Adult Siblings of People With Disabilities The collection was published in May 2009

In his essay, Kramer reflects on his relationship with his brothers, twins who have de-velopmental disabilities He also explores a rarely dis-cussed idea: While there’s lots of profes-sional interest in whether siblings of people with disabilities get too little attention from parents, “few of us consider whether or not people with disabilities want things that way,” writes Kramer “My guess is that most people with disabilities would rather not be the suns in their families’ solar systems ”

In 2006, Kramer co-founded (with Tamar Heller, PhD, head of the Department of Disability and Human Development) the national Sibling Leader-ship Network Its mission is to provide siblings of people with disabilities the information, support and tools to advocate with their brothers and sisters and to promote the issues important to their families

Learn more about the book at www siblingsupport org and more about the Sibling Leader-ship Network at sibleadership blogspot com

2010 marks 30 years since the publication of the Model of Human Oc-cupation, the first contemporary body of research-proven theory in occupational therapy to focus on human occupation in practice (here “occupation” means the activities of daily life)

MOHO was developed by Prof Gary Kielhofner, PhD, from his master’s thesis and practice When it debuted in 1980, the model presented a brand-new view of how human occupation is motivated, pat-terned and performed—with an emphasis on understanding the physical and social environments in which it takes place Since then, MOHO has been expanded with ideas, research and practice efforts of

At 30, the Model of Human Occupation is still cited as one of the most frequently used frames of reference by entry-level OT practitioners.

MOHO’s still got gusto

Alumnus and author John Kramer

Family man

Prof. Mark Grabiner educates “Good Morning America’s” Sam Champion on fall prevention.

Good morning, AHS!

ABC News visited the college in May 2009 to feature the fall-prevention research of kinesiology profes-sor Mark Grabiner The network sent “Good Morn-

ing America” weather anchor Sam Champion to do a live broadcast Champion himself simulated the experience of a research participant by getting strapped into a safety harness and being intentionally “slipped” on air The live segment led into an extended news segment on Grabi-ner’s work, which was taped in the lab two weeks earlier

Missed it? It may not be too late As of press time, a search for “Grabiner” on ABCnews com still returned the video file for viewing

professionals all over the world That’s why it was appropriate that, in

January of MOHO’s 30th anniversary year, the Department of Occupational Therapy hosted a two-day international institute on the Model of Human Occupation

The “think tank” event drew academi-cians, researchers, clinicians and students from the U S , Canada, the United King-dom, Sweden and Japan Contemplating the future of their field, participants dis-cussed the optimal means for promoting best practice The OT department now plans to host the institute annually

To learn more about the Model of Hu-man Occupation and related upcoming events, visit www moho uic edu


Were you one of the thousands of people who visited Chicago’s Interna-tional Museum of Surgi-

cal Science last fall when “Redefining the Medical Artist” was on display? The exhibit showcased artwork by our biomedical visualization students, faculty and alumni Curated by stu-dent Meena Malhotra, it included 26

images and animations of everything from surgical tools to ovulation to Influenza A infection

“Redefining the Medical Artist” was widely celebrated in local media, in-cluding the Chicago Tribune and Time Out Chicago, both of which refer-enced AHS’ biomedical visualization program as being the best of its kind

Each year, approximately 50 people

apply to our BVIS program, which can only enroll about 15 students

To learn more about the field of biomedical visualization, watch “The Digital daVinci: Medical Imaging in Education and Information,” a web-cast by BVIS program director Scott Barrows Find the link in the “News & Events” section at www ahs uic edu/bhis

Last year, UIC an-nounced the Chan-cellor’s Discovery Fund for Multidisci-plinary Pilot Research Projects, a grant program to support new collaborations among “emerging research leaders” from different fields throughout UIC Researchers submit-ted 26 applications to compete for the five grants avail-able In December, the recipients were announced Three of the five grants were awarded to research-ers in the College of Applied Health Sciences!

Body and show

BVIS

KN.PT.DHD

Three’s a crowd ... to celebrate!Shane Phillips, assistant professor of physical therapy, and Krista Varady, assistant professor of kinesiology and nutrition: “Role of adipose tissue in mediating cardioprotective effects of alternate day fasting” or, “How losing weight by fasting every other day might protect against heart and vascular disease ”

Jennifer Rowland, assistant professor of disability and human development, working with a faculty colleague in the College of Medicine: “Active video game exercise to improve balance and reduce falls in community-dwelling older adults” or, “How Wii Fit Plus exercise programs can help older adults to stay on their feet ”

Karen Troy, assistant professor of kinesiology and nutrition, working with faculty from the College of Engineer-ing: “A fundamental study of nanoscale material properties of dental compos-ite-tooth interfaces” or, “How can we make the fillings in our cavities last longer for healthier teeth?”

For more on the awards, visit www uic edu/depts/ovcr

1

2

3


Undergraduate kinesiology classes just keep growing With 619 students, enrollment is up nearly 21 percent since fall 2007

Five years of AHS fall enrollments

AHS

OT

(En)rolling up our sleevesAHS faculty and staff are busier than ever, as the fall of 2009 brought record enrollment to the college With 1,342 students, the student body is nearly 19 percent larger than in fall 2008 Why? Four main reasons:

The online MS in health informatics continues to astound, growing from 34 students in fall 2007 to 137 students in fall 2009 (and 179 stu-dents in spring 2010, thanks to rolling ad-missions not available in other programs)

The Department of Physical Therapy welcomed its larg-est DPT class ever: 52 students In past years, the limit was about 37 students

The Department of Occupational Therapy enrolled 38 students in the MS program It was the only way to respond to a 30 per-cent increase in the number of applicants, who had an average GPA of 3 7

‘05

’06

‘07

‘08

’09

0 500 1000 1500

AHS'increasing enrollment

961

953

1,018

1,131

1,342

It was with great sadness that our col-lege learned of the passing of Phyllis M Bartlow, OT ’46, on Feb 17, 2010 in

Little Rock, Ark Ms Bartlow was a graduate in the first

class—the “guinea pig” class, as she once called it—of our now top-ranked pro-gram in occupational therapy She also designed the first student patch for U of I occupational therapy students to wear on their uniform sleeves; her design was later used for students from all of the health professions colleges

Later in her career, she became an OT educator and taught at Illinois Central College in Peoria and the University of Central Arkansas

Through the years, Ms Bartlow was a loyal supporter of UIC’s OT program During a visit many years ago, she re-galed students with stories of “the good old days,” and her generous philanthropy has been an inspiration to many She was also a lifetime member of the Uni-

Phyllis Mugge Bartlow,member of the first OT graduating class, 1923-2010

versity of Illinois Alumni Association “I have warm, lasting regards for my

choice made so long ago,” said Ms Bartlow in a 2009 note to Gail Fisher, clinical associate professor in OT “My father was an alumnus and insisted that I attend there, but with my insistence that I could transfer after two years I always teased Miss [Beatrice] Wade [founding director of the OT program],

saying that she ‘brainwashed’ me [into staying] ”

Ms Bartlow remained extraordinarily active until becoming ill shortly before her death She traveled the world and enjoyed her life at home with regular book and bridge clubs, a life member-ship in the Arkansas Audubon Society, and a seat on the board at the Halberg Ecology Camp

Phyllis Bartlow, recently and standing, second from left, with her classmates in the 1940s. Ms. Bartlow designed the patch seen on the women’s uniform sleeves.


Annette L. Valenta, DrPH, professor in the De-partment of Biomedical and Health Information Sciences (BHIS), is UIC’s principal investigator for a statewide consortium to bring technol-ogy training and expertise to physicians across Illinois

The consortium, including three universities (Northern Illinois, UIC and Illinois State) and seven healthcare-related agencies, has won a two-year, $7 5 million grant from the U S Department of Health and Human Services to create a central hub of information to get medi-cal offices up and running on electronic health record systems, stat

The hub is known as a “Regional Extension Center” (REC), and it will serve doctors through-out Illinois, with headquarters in DeKalb and regional offices in suburban Chicago, central Illinois and southern Illinois Funding from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act is supporting establishment of 70 such RECs nationwide

Through education, outreach and technical assistance, the REC will help providers select, implement and meaningfully use certified electronic health record technology to improve the quality and value of healthcare Valenta and co-investigator Andrew Boyd, MD, research assistant professor in the BHIS department, will contribute their expertise in health informatics to the education and outreach activities within the consortium

For more on the grant, visit www ahs uic edu/bhis and look in “News & Events ”

Did you know the University of Illinois Alumni Association offers amazing, world-expanding group travel opportuni-ties through Explorers, the alumni tour program?

Imagine traveling with old and new friends as well as rekindled acquaintances—all people who share your passion for seeing firsthand the world you live in

UIAA has searched through hundreds of prospective tour itin-eraries to choose the best options to offer, selected for variety, uniqueness and special access Each month they offer four or more different destinations Find out why so many travelers return year after year

Leading theelectronic chargeUIC will be instrumental in spurring adoption of electronic health records

Professionals like alumna Patricia Cunning-ham, HI ’09, will see business boom as the nation drives toward adoption of EHRs.

See the world with UIC

Cliffs of Moher in Ireland

Colorful houses of Strasbourg

Here’s just a sampling of the trips UIAA is taking in 2010:

JUNE: Grand Journey Ireland

JULY: The Great Journey Through Europe

AUGUST: Machu Picchu and Beyond

SEPTEMBER: Waterways of Russia

OCTOBER: Rails of New England

Find out about the Explorers program at www uiaa org/explorers

HI.HIM

UIC


What happens When you give someone a chance?

you cReate a heaLthy LeaRning enviRonment.

UIC friends and alumni like Bridgette Williams MAMS ‘01, BSN ‘08 know firsthand that scholarships and fellowships sometimes make the difference between earning or forgoing an education. When Bridgette chose to pursue a degree in healthcare, she relied on scholarships to help fund her education at UIC. Now she is living the brilliant future she envisioned as a student: serving as a rehabilitation nurse for the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. Your gift to the UIC College of Applied Health Sciences helps create brilliant futures for students who might not otherwise have a chance to earn a world-class education in aworld-class city.

To learn more about the Brilliant Futures Campaign, visit brilliantfutures.uic.edu.

©2009 University of Illinois Foundation


AHS students who pursuefellowships in the

Urban Allied Health Academygrow as practitioners

... and as people


JASON CARABALLOProgramBS, Nutrition, May 2010

HometownAurora, Ill

Volunteering atAunt Martha’s Health Center and Provena Mercy Medical Center, both in Aurora, Ill

Type of serviceAt Aunt Martha’s, I work with the nurse practitioner in charge to help rewrite educational pamphlets for the large Latino/Hispanic community that resides in Aurora At Provena Mercy, I shadow the dietitians and not only get real-world experience for my field, but also valuable patient exposure—and I’m able to do some patient education as well

Why I became a fellowDietetic internships are very competitive, and I wanted to have something that helped set me apart from my peers to give me an advantage

What I’ve learnedBefore I joined [the Academy], I’d never done volunteer work It has been a lot of fun and really rewarding to be able to give my time and know that it has helped make a difference Also, some of the stories I’ve read through the semester book club meetings have been powerful and insightful It’s given me a new set of eyes from which to view people and their situations Add to it the discus-sions of those stories among my peers, where we would debate and share our insight, and it makes for a great experience I’ve enjoyed being in a group with people from other disciplines because it has helped me to truly understand the concept of what a medical interdisciplin-ary team means

The AHS Urban Allied Health Academy

is an extracurricular program that

offers students opportunities to study

the economic, social and cultural

issues that affect healthcare in urban

environments In the process, students come to

grasp the circumstances that lead to health dis-

parities as well as the conditions that make them

so hard to overcome

The Academy hosts cultural experiences for all

AHS students (see sidebar, p 13), but those who

wish to engage in a deeper exploration of issues

affecting health in urban communities can partic-

ipate in the Urban Allied Health Academy Fellows

Program The Fellows Program provides students

a unique opportunity to work one-on-one with

faculty mentors to build a portfolio of cultural

experience, advocacy, service and research in

diverse environments

Once a student is accepted into the Fellows

Program, he or she is matched with an Acad-

emy advisor, who guides the student through an

individual program of learning in order to acquire

competencies deemed essential to the program,

including cultural awareness and sensitivity;

knowledge of urban health issues; leadership and

advocacy skills; and more

The program is rigorous Besides specific

trainings, each fellow is required to complete a

minimum of 45 hours of service-learning with an

approved community partner and to create a Fel-

lows Program portfolio that documents how he

or she has experienced and acquired the outlined

competencies

On these pages we introduce you to just a few

outstanding Academy fellows from recent years,

all of whom continue to make the college proud

To be truly great at what they do, healthcare professionals need technical expertise. But they also need compassion, sensitivity, perceptive interpersonal skills and an open mind. The UIC College of Applied Health Sciences is committed to producing truly great healthcare professionals.


UCHENNA OSSAIProgramDPT, Physical Therapy, May 2010

HometownI grew up in Dallas, but consider Boston my home I lived there for six years and did my undergrad at Boston University

Volunteering atThe Broadway Youth Cen-ter and The Night Ministry, both in Chicago

Type of the serviceOutreach to homeless youth in need of informa-tion on self-care, using healthcare system and advocating for themselves

Why I became a fellowThe point of having this skill [as a physical thera-pist] is to serve others I was aware that health dis-parities existed but wasn’t sure what that meant Through the Academy, I saw holes in communication systems that impact healthcare So the academic program taught me how to do my job, but the Academy opened doors to the more applicable information about what’s really needed

What I’ve learnedHealthcare distribution isn’t always equal, even when the intention is As a healthcare provider of any kind, it’s my job to ensure that the care I provide is consistent, fair and good to every patient I see

Just being aware that people come from different back-grounds is NOT enough Making treatments and inter-ventions environmentally relevant is the very best way to sustain long-term improvements

ANNE KIRALYProgramI participated in the Acad-emy during my master’s program in occupational therapy, but I’m a three-time grad of UIC: BS, Move-ment Sciences, 2005; MS, 2007; Doctorate of Occu-pational Therapy, 2008

HometownNaperville, Ill

Volunteered atEl Valor*, Chicago

Type of serviceI worked with adults with developmental disabilities on daily living skills and community participation

Why I became a fellow Going into the field of oc-cupational therapy, I knew that I would be work-ing with individuals from diverse backgrounds I became a fellow to satisfy my desire to learn about different cultures and become a more culturally compe-tent clinician

What I’ve learnedThrough participation in the seminars, book groups, film screenings and community practicum, I learned to acknowledge and appreciate the diversity that sur-rounds us daily The Academy increased my awareness of existing health disparities and gave me the tools to help advocate for those facing challenges

Through immersive experiences, students in theAcademy learn about delivering care that notonly makes people well, but improves people’s lives.

* El Valor is a community organization in Chicago’s Pilsen neighbor-hood It supports individuals and families who are dealing with disabili-ties and disenfranchisement to participate fully in community life See page 3 for a story about a director at El Valor who is a treasure to AHS


NICOLE HORNProgramOTD, Occupational Therapy, July 2010

HometownAurora, Ill

Volunteering atEl Valor*, Chicago

Type of service I developed and facilitat-ed money management groups with adults with intellectual disabilities

Why I became a fellowI saw a need for cultural sensitivity and diversity awareness in suburban places for healthcare The opportunities provided through the program seemed to be the optimal way to develop these skills

What I’ve learnedWhile I put extra ef-fort and work into the groups and to teach [El Valor] staff to carry on those groups, I felt as though I learned so much from the participants The learning was a two-way street and everyone benefited That is what makes for a good community partnership

SANDRA (WELLS) BEILProgramBS, Nutrition, 2008

HometownChicago

Volunteered atEl Valor*, Chicago

Type of serviceI helped conduct a health, fitness and nutrition workshop It included a hands-on presenta-tion of [nutritional] label reading, understanding of nutrients in foods, a healthier-cooking demo, exercise tips, and a tour of the local grocery store to show better choices when shopping

Why I became a fellow I always believed that, if you have a gift to share, it’s selfish not to share it with others I had knowl-edge and understanding of the basics of nutrition and many people in underserved areas don’t have the luxury of receiving guidance in that area

What I’ve learnedOne of my favorite quotes is from Mother Teresa: “Let no one ever come to you without leaving better and hap-pier ” If someone takes to heart one piece of information I’ve given to them, no matter how small, it has changed their lives That’s an incredibly powerful feeling

COME ONE, COME ALL!The AHS Urban Allied Health Academy isn’t only for students who wish to pursue participation in the rigorous Fellows Program Every student in the college has an open invitation to attend Academy-sponsored events including:

Book groups to discuss a differ-ent book each semester, each

illustrating an aspect of life in our country, far from the American Dream Recent titles include Luis Alberto Urrea’s The Devil’s High-way, Jeannette Walls’ The Glass Castle and Rebecca Skloot’s The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks.

Seminars that showcase schol-ars engaged in advocacy,

multicultural research and the elimination of health disparities Past topics have included the world food crisis and how homopho-bia and heterosexism hurt everyone

Lectures by high-profile guest speakers who present intimate

knowledge of life in urban America Recently, the pro-gram hosted Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Leon Dash, who spoke about his years documenting social conditions among Wash-ington, D C ’s underclass

Film showings that concentrate on nonfiction accounts of life

in an unequal world, such as the PBS documentary series “Unnatural Causes,” a multipart examination of “what connections exist between healthy bodies, healthy bank accounts and skin color ”


Years before she enrolled in AHS’ Doc-tor of Physical Therapy pro-gram, Uchen-na Ossai knew

she wanted to be a therapist—and also more than that. She wanted to understand health in a broad context and be able to advise clients about the ba-sics of caring for themselves.

Ossai is now a PT student due to graduate in May 2010, as well as a fellow of the AHS Urban Allied Health Acad-emy. The Academy is an ex-tracurricular program that offers students opportunities to study the issues underly-ing the disparity in healthcare delivery between the haves and have-nots in urban envi-ronments. (See more on the Academy and Ossai’s experi-ence with it on p. 10.)

The Academy, Ossai says, opened her eyes to the breadth and depth of that dis-parity and some of its root causes.

“I craved that. Some peo-ple think that being African-American is the same as being culturally competent,” says Ossai, the daughter of Ni-gerian-born parents. “Being minority doesn’t mean you can’t have prejudice.”

Through her Academy work, Ossai discovered that accessibility (including defi-ciency of information) tends to be one of the larger failures in the healthcare system. She saw a pronounced detriment to populations of LGBT and homeless youth, especially transgender individuals, who face musculoskeletal implica-tions and who require much education and treatment.

“A lot of people just don’t know what’s available to them,” Ossai observed. “I wanted to focus on community health. I wanted to educate [LGBT and homeless youth] that they have a right to quality healthcare. This population lacks the au-dacity and self-advocacy that gives insured people signifi-cantly better healthcare and, in

turn, better health outcomes.”Her vision was so clear,

it was practically a business plan. All she needed was an “investor.”

Around the same time, Ossai learned about the Sch-weitzer Fellowship, a one-year program that provides a stipend to graduate-level students in health-related programs who commit to designing and carrying out a service project concentrated on unmet local health needs. Perhaps it was just what she needed.

PREP WORKBefore applying for the

Schweitzer Fellowship, Os-sai had to lay some ground-work. She knew that, if she wished to work with home-less individuals, she’d need to earn their trust by getting to know them over a period much longer than the one-year time frame of the award—which, by the way, “I didn’t really think I had a chance [to win],” she confesses.

So to prepare (and to ful-fill her community service requirement as an Academy fellow), Ossai began volun-teering in April 2008 with The Night Ministry, a Chicago nonprofit that serves home-less youth.

Two nights a week, year-round, Ossai and the rest of the Night Ministry’s Youth Out-reach Team serve homeless people where they are: on the street. They host educational health wellness circles on a corner in Chicago’s Lakeview neighborhood to discuss con-cerns raised by participants, including anxiety, insomnia, back pain, foot care, dental health, and more. Participants are both regulars and drop-ins.

“I know most of these peo-ple by name now,” Ossai says.

THE FELLOWSHIP COMETH

With a sure connection to a receptive community, Ossai applied for the Sch-weitzer award in February

SO FAR.SO GOOD.Spirited PT student and Schweitzer FellowUchenna Ossai puts her knowledge of health to use well beyond the realm of traditional physical therapy and she’s just getting started


2009. In May, she learned she’d been chosen for a fel-lowship, complete with a $2,500 stipend. Since 1996, Ossai is only the third physi-cal therapy student in the Chicago area to win a Sch-weitzer; most are students

of medicine, nursing, public health or social work.

As a Schweitzer fellow, Ossai is continuing her work through The Night Ministry, and now she’s learning as she’s teaching—investigating how homeless youth in Chi-

cago learn about and use resources in the community, and collecting information about their experiences with the healthcare system. Re-search isn’t a requirement of the fellowship; it’s just important to Ossai.

“I ultimately would like [to use what I’m discover-ing] to develop a communi-ty-health template that could be transferrable to other dis-ciplines, especially physical therapy,” she says. “I pri-marily would like to use this data in everyday interactions with my patients and future colleagues.”

Though it isn’t tradition-al physical therapy practice, she acknowledges, “I believe basic, general healthcare should be within the scope of every health professional. I think it is most definitely feasible to promote a holistic approach to patient advocacy and prevention in clinical and academic settings.”

In addi t ion to her Schweitzer Fellowship, Os-sai is spending this academic year in a rotation of full-time clinical internships, and she holds a part-time job. How does she have the energy to go out to the street corner week after week, Chicago winters included?

“There is this large pop-ulation of individuals who historically have decreased health status and healthcare outcomes. There are very few good resources available that provide them with compre-hensive care,” she says. “I don’t want to be a therapist that focuses on perfecting my manual therapy skills, but can’t provide my patients with education and com-munity resources to main-tain their newly improved health status. That makes no sense.” ■

At time of writing, Uchen-na Ossai was applying for a one-year residency in wom-en’s health with an eye toward becoming a board-certified clinical specialist, an elite cre-dential for physical therapists. She hopes one day to own her own practice concentrating on physical therapy and women’s health issues.

“A lot of people just don’t know what’s available to them. ”


RAN FEBRUARY 10, 2010

Parkinson’s disease, a debilitating movement disorder, is usually controlled by using drugs that

compensate for a lack of the neurotrans-mitter dopamine.

Parkinson’s patients have a deficit of this important chemical because of de-generation in an area of the brain stem where it is made—a structure called the substantia nigra.

A team of researchers led by David Vaillancourt, associate professor of ki-nesiology, believe tests using functional and high-resolution structural brain im-aging will reveal new clues about early Parkinson’s disease. They were awarded a two-year, $855,000 National Institutes of Health grant to do the work.

“What’s not well understood is how the structure and function of the basal ganglia, or other parts of the brain, are affected early on in the disease,” Vail-lancourt said.

He and his colleagues are recruit-ing 25 subjects with early signs of Par-kinson’s who haven’t yet begun taking drugs to control the disease.

Their study will compare findings to a control group matched for age, gen-

der and handedness—because all sub-jects will perform motor tasks with their hands while their brain is being imaged.

The study will be the first into early Parkinson’s to use functional brain im-aging during gripping tasks designed to simulate everyday activities such as but-toning a shirt or blouse, or holding a cup.

“Individuals will undergo a brain

AHS faculty aren’t just teaching what’s in

textbooks; they’re performing research and

creating new knowledge that will fill the

textbooks of the future.

Alongside our top-notch educational programs, research is always percolating in the College of Applied Health Sciences. Collected here are three stories by Paul Francuch, associate director in the UIC News Bureau, written and originally published in the campus newspaper UIC News.

Brain scan could advance diagnosis, treatment of Parkinson’s disease

David Vaillancourt, PhD



In February, Vaillancourt also won a $383,771 grant from the Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Research to further his work.

Occupational therapy expert helps war vets make transition homeRAN NOVEMBER 11, 2009

With nearly 200,000 Afghan and Iraqi war veterans re-turning home with war-

related mild brain injuries, the U.S. military is turning to AHS occupational therapy professor Gary Kielhofner to help them make the transition back to normal, productive civilian lives.

The U.S. Army Medical Depart-ment’s Proponency Office for Re-habilitation and Reintegration is recommending that affected veterans follow three clinical assessments devel-oped by Kielhofner, his colleagues and his graduate students when pursuing occupational therapy.

“First, an occupational self-assess-ment,” said Kielhofner, in which people indicate perceived abilities for perform-ing everyday tasks, and how important these abilities are to their lives.

“This assessment allows us to de-termine discrepancies between how people want to perform and how they’re actually doing,” he said.

The second assessment is called the “work environment impact scale.”

“This assessment looks at the rela-tive stress, stimulation, satisfaction and other things that accrue from de-mands and opportunities from one’s workplace, in both social and physical aspects,” Kielhofner said.

Finally, the ability for communica-tion and interaction is assessed.

“This was included because brain trauma is sometimes associated with changes in interpersonal abilities, and challenges in getting along with others.”

Kielhofner hopes the use of clini-

scan while they exert force using their hands against a device that measures how hard and how fast they squeeze,” said Vaillancourt. “Functional brain imaging will be targeted at the basal ganglia, which is the part of the brain that underlies symptoms of Parkin-son’s disease.”

Vaillancourt’s group wants to study what is happening before Parkinson’s patients begin treatment with drugs such as levodopa that can change the way the brain functions. Pre-treatment brain scans may be useful to develop markers for screening and diagnosis.

Those with Parkinson’s will be im-aged as soon as possible after volun-teering and will begin treatment with anti-Parkinson’s drugs afterward.

“With Parkinson’s, the brain must change over time, because it’s a neuro-degenerative disease,” Vaillancourt said.

“This study will serve as the basis

for trying to understand how the dis-ease progresses.”

Cynthia Comella, professor of neu-rological sciences at Rush Universi-ty Medical Center, will assist on the project. Imaging will be performed at UIC. Co-investigators at UIC include Daniel Corcos, professor of kinesiology, Deborah Little, associate professor of neurology and rehabilitation, and Jane Prodoehl, research assistant professor of kinesiology. ■ Continued on page 18



RAN NOVEMBER 4, 2009

Drinking from a cup or placing a book on a shelf is easy for most people, but such simple

tasks can be challenging for those with neurological diseases like multiple scle-rosis or Parkinson’s, or for people who had a stroke.

The problem, according to a team of UIC physical therapists: using too much force when lifting objects. The tight gripping can cause fatigue, mak-ing everyday tasks difficult.

The answer to regaining control and coordination may be as easy as applying a gentle touch to the affected hand from a finger of the opposite hand.

“We studied how this light touch application changes the way people apply force to an object they want to grip,” said Alexander Aruin, professor of physical therapy.

The study, reported in the journal Neurorehabilitation and Neural Repair, compared eight adults with multiple sclerosis to eight without the disease,

Gary Kielhofner, DrPH: “We’re proud to haveour work recognizedin this way.”cal assessments will have a meaningful impact on veterans’ lives.

“We’re proud to have our work rec-ognized in this way, and to be able to make a contribution to the care of our soldiers,” he said.

Clinical assessments, intervention protocols and service programs are among the items Kielhofner offers to practicing occupational therapists around the world.

Internationally recognized for his work, Kielhofner has spent three de-cades developing what he calls a “mod-el of human occupation” that addresses the psychosocial challenges of clients with disabilities taking part in reha-bilitation therapies.

The model, which has gained world-wide use among occupational thera-pists for research and practice, is de-tailed at www.moho.uic.edu.

The University of Illinois holds copyrights on 20 assessments Kiel-hofner and his students have devel-oped over the past few decades. Some are available for free, while others are sold for use by occupational therapists through an e-store on the MOHO clearinghouse Web site. Proceeds are used for research in developing new assessments and clinical tools. ■

Continued from page 17

War vets

A gentle touch may help peoplewith neurological diseases

Physical therapy professor Alexander Aruin, PhD, studies the grip force that MS patients need to use to lift certain objects.



Life sciencesl Honorable mention: Charles Tate, kinesiology and nutrition, for “A Study of the Os Peroneum: Relationship to Degenerative Joint Disease in the Foot and Ankle”

Physical sciences/engineering/computer science/mathematicsl 2nd place: Ivy Abraham, kinesiology and nutrition, for “High-resolution Diffusion Tensor Imaging in the Putamen and Globus Pallidus of De Novo Parkinson’s Disease”l Honorable mention: Christine Hofmann, kinesiology and nutrition, for “Biomechanical Evaluation and Redesign of a Universally Designed Accessory Unit for Exercise in Manual Wheelchair Users”

Humanities/social sciences/business practicesl Honorable mention: Brandon Postel, kinesiology and nutrition, for “Undergraduate Student Attitudes on Human Cadaver Use in an Anatomy and Physiology Course” ■

gender-matched and of comparable age. “In each case, the grip force required

to lift an object decreased” with the light touch, Aruin said.

He found similar results in an earlier study he did of people with arm weak-ness caused by stroke.

Why the simple light finger touch application works so well is not fully un-derstood, but Aruin offers a hypothesis.

“It could be due to auxiliary senso-ry information from the contra-lateral arm,” he said.

“When we use our second hand and touch the wrist of the target hand, avail-able information to the central nervous system about the hand-object interac-tion may increase. Without the touch, the information needed to manipulate an object comes only through vision

and sensory input from just the target arm and hand.”

Aruin and his colleagues tested sub-jects gripping and lifting a variety of objects that they moved in several dif-ferent ways, directions and velocities. The gentle finger touch always helped to reduce grip force, making the task easier.

The researcher said he and his col-leagues plan to test the approach on those with other neurological and mus-cular diseases to examine the effects.

“We look forward to developing training and rehabilitation procedures on how to use this,” said Aruin.

“We know that MS patients are prone to fatigue and muscle weak-ness. This finding may enable them to perform daily activities more indepen-

dently to improve their quality of life.”The paper’s lead author was Veena

Iyengar, a former graduate student of Aruin’s now at Advocate Lutheran General Hospital. Other authors were Marcio Santos, a former UIC postdoc-toral fellow now at Santa Catarina State University in Brazil, and Michael Ko, a neurologist with Loyola University Medical Center.

Earlier findings were reported in the journal Clinical Neurophysiology. The research was supported by a grant from the National Multiple Sclerosis Society. ■

Many additional stories on AHS re-search and programs have run in UIC News since assembly of this article. The newspaper is accessible to the public at www.uicnews.uic.edu.

Kinesiology student Charles Tate, who will graduate in May 2010, won an honorable mention for his extensive study on joint disease in the foot and ankle.

Students get in on the act

In April 2009, 77 undergraduate and 90 graduate students throughout UIC competed in the annual Student Research Forum. The competition—judged by some 200 alumni and more than 70 faculty—features student research

projects in three categories. In 2009, students from the College of Applied Health Sciences were honored in every undergraduate category.

At time of writing, the 2010 Student Research Forum on Tuesday, April 20, was fast approaching. As in years past, AHS expects a large number of students to participate—and to head home with honors.



Sometimes people sur-prise us.

Such was the case one day in fall 2009, when Tamar Heller, head of the Department of Disability and Human Development (DHD), returned to her office to find a short let-ter from the Ethel Louise Armstrong Foundation.

The letter, written by ELA Foundation founder and president Margaret A. Staton, stated that the foundation would like to make a gift of $500,000 to DHD, primarily to provide fellowships to women en-rolled in the doctoral pro-gram in disability studies, and also to support disser-tations and to bring women with disabilities to campus to serve as faculty or guest speakers.

“The ELA Founda-tion’s mission meshes beautifully with our de-partment’s focus on re-moving barr iers that have prevented people with disabilities from equal participation in the world,” says Heller.

Staton decided to make the unsolicited donation based on DHD’s supe-rior reputation and her online research about its programs.

“The UIC PhD pro-gram already demonstrated a track record,” says Staton. “Also, Chicago has been a hub for people with disabil-ities for quite a while with its strong independent-liv-ing center.”

She also had some per-

sonal insight: “I looked at who I had given grants to in the past and how many students from UIC had ap-plied for our scholarships. It was obvious the program was growing.”

Disabled by a spinal cord tumor at age 2, Sta-ton has dedicated her life to bettering the position of people with disabilities in society. She served as executive secretary for the White House Conference on Handicapped Indi-viduals during the Cart-er administration and has trained countless people on accessibility and the Americans with Disabil-ity Act through her activity in various advocacy organ-izations.

Staton was motivated to get involved by, among other things, a distaste for the way women with dis-abilities were overlooked by the women’s movement of the 1960s and ’70s. Worse was her frustration at see-ing women with disabilities identify so deeply with the women’s movement but not at all with the disability movement.

In 1994, she founded

the ELA Foundation with a mission “to change the face of disability on the planet.” She recalls, as re-cently as the early 1990s, being unable to use pub-lic restrooms and being forced to take freight el-evators because passenger cars couldn’t accommo-date her wheelchair.

“It took me back to where black people and white people couldn’t use the same bathroom,” she laments.

The foundation is named for Staton’s grand-mother, Ethel Louise Armstrong, with whom she has long felt a dis-tinct kinship. Armstrong aspired to become a doc-tor but was denied her dream because of soci-etal expectations of wom-en in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. In-

stead, she studied arts at McGill University in Montreal, graduating in 1895 as class president and valedictorian. A wid-ow with four children by age 48, Armstrong opened her home to boarders to sustain her family.

“She epitomized the values of independence, self-reliance, perseverance, dignity and caring—all with a sense of humor—as she forged new territory for herself and her family,” Staton wrote for the foun-dation’s website. “It’s with those same values that the ELA Foundation serves people with disabilities.”

Get up to date on the Department of Disability and Human Development at www.idhd.org. Learn more about the Ethel Lou-ise Armstrong Foundation at www.ela.org.

PEOPLE

Ethel Louise Armstrong in her McGill graduation photo, 1895

Giving with purposeActivist and philanthropist Margaret Staton supports graduate studies of women with physical disabilities


The multi-tiered planter that Gilbert “Gibb” Fink (OT ’59) built to keep deer from eating his wife’s herbs is a small but telling example of his ability to solve anything.

Gibb’s ingenuity drove a career and a company dedicated to assisting the disabled. Now Rita Fink, a 1974 graduate of the UIC College of Education, is honoring her late husband’s wish to give back to UIC’s occupational therapy program, which helped to propel him on his career path.

The gift is a charitable remainder trust, which will provide Rita income for the rest of her life. Thereaf-ter, the trust will create an endowed fund for the OT department, with at least half its annual income used to award fellowships to students who demonstrate fi-nancial need. The balance will be used to advance the department’s mission.

The Department of Physical Therapy is thrilled to introduce this year a new sponsor for its longstanding Distinguished Lec-ture Series. Accelerated Rehabili-tation Centers has committed to three years of funding to attract the best speakers and produce promotional materials for two lec-tures per year.

The support is made more meaningful by the fact that Ac-celerated was founded in 1988 by two PT alumni: Randolph Frieser, ’85, and Eric Warner, ’88 (they continue to lead the company as president and CEO, respectively).

The first Accelerated-spon-sored lecture in the series was April 8, with guest speaker Fred-die H. Fu, MD, who discussed “What We Have Learned in ACL Surgery.” Dr. Fu joined us from the University of Pittsburgh, where

he is the David Silver Professor of Orthopaedic Surgery and chair of the medical center’s Department of Orthopaedic Surgery.

“As an alumnus of UIC’s physi-cal therapy program,” says Warner about the first Accelerated-spon-sored lecture, “I considered it both an honor and a privilege to co-sponsor [Dr. Fu’s lecture] on ACL surgery. It expanded our knowl-edge in the treatment of those with this critical diagnosis to achieve the best-in-class in functional out-comes for our patients.”

Watch www.ahs.uic.edu/pt for announcement of the next Accel-erated-sponsored presentation in the Distinguished Lecture Series.

Accelerated learningAlumni business sponsors esteemed lecture series in physical therapy

Willing and ableOT alum Gilbert Fink spent a lifetime helping the disabled. Now a trust in his name seeks to help students wishing to walk in his footsteps.

Rita Fink is honoring the request of her late husband, Gilbert “Gibb” Fink, to give back to AHS’ occupational therapyprogram.

“Gibb was passionate about everything he did, and always wanted to help others,” says Rita. Gibb was par-ticularly indebted to former OT program director Bea-trice D. Wade, who made arrangements for him to pursue his degree while working to support his family. He later established Therafin Corp., a supplier of equipment for the disabled.

“We honored Gibb with our college’s Alumni Achieve-ment Award in 2003, and are honored to learn that he never forgot where he came from,” says OT department head Yolanda Suarez-Balcazar.

This story, written by Jessica Olive Stanczak, original-ly appeared in the January/February 2010 issue of UIC Alumni Magazine. It is reprinted here with permission.

Proud alumnus Eric Warner, PT ‘88


The UIC College of Applied Health Sciences is made better every day by the generosity of alumni, friends, corporations and foundations who support our programs through private donations, in-kind donations and corporate matching gifts. We are honored to acknowledge the donors who contributed to the college during the 2009 fiscal year, ending June 30. Their concern for the future—and present—of AHS helped us improve the student experience by upgrading classroom technology, sending students to professional conferences, and providing enhanced learning and living spaces. It also created seed funding for additional scholarships. To each donor, our deepest thanks.

CORPORATE AND FOUNDATION DONORS

$100,000-499,999

The Autism Program of Illinois

$50,000-99,999

Arthritis Foundation

Educational Tape Recording for the

Blind Inc

Robert Wood Johnson Foundation

$25,000-49,999National Multiple Sclerosis Society

$15,000-24,999

Crohn’s and Colitis Foundation

$5,000-14,999 Access Living of Metropolitan

Chicago

American College of Sports Medicine

Consortium of MS Centers

El Valor Corporation

Ida Miriam Stern Memorial Fund Inc

$2,500-4,999American Hand Therapy Foundation

$1,000-2,499 HDI Technologies, Inc

KPMG Foundation

Third District Illinois Federation of

Women’s Club

$500-999

Todd Buck Illustration Inc

$100-249 Abbott Laboratories Fund

Browning Family Trust

Illinois Health Information

Management Association

James E Taaffe Ltd

$1-99 The Baxter International Foundation

Cardinal Health Foundation

Global Impact

Smart Moves Pediatrics

Tyco Electronics

INDIVIDUAL DONORS

$100,000-499,999 Rita M Grabowski Fink

$5,000-14,999

Dorothy Omori Bergeron

Samuel P and Phyllis E Bowen

Savitri K and Krishna I Kamath

Barbara Loomis

Kathryn E Roach

$1,000-2,499 Joan O Hinken

Sandye Lerner

Lawrence M Pawola

Thomas L Spees

Charlotte Tate

John P Wenzl

$500-999Evelyn J Alston

Deborah S and James J Barber

Todd A Buck

James B DeLapp and Suzann K

Campbell-DeLapp

William R and Carol J Frey

Dale R Mitchell

Sandra Strome

$250-499Jane A Baker

Fabricio E Balcazar and Yolanda

Suarez-Balcazar

Patricia Booth

Alice R Bowker

James N and Carole W Christman

Lewis D Goldstein

Tamar Heller

Helen P Massey

Elizabeth Harmon Miller

Renee A Pleshar

Susan N Postal

David A Scalzitti

Geraldine Smothers

June D Wencel-Drake

$100-249Alexander S Aruin

Roy C Barbe

Patricia B Barg

Karl and Diane Glick Berolzheimer

Joanne J Bradna

Katherine S and Carl Breving

Michele J Brown

Lois Browning

Jeffrey J and Nina I Bzdelik

Susan M and Brian M Cahill

Michael E and Donna M Calwas

Ethel B and Haddon C Carryer

Sheila S Castette

Timothy J Coleman

Anissa L Davis

Mary Jo DeBates

George and Bohdanna S Domino

Mark Donovan

Eileen M Doran

Judith G Eft

Gregory S and Marcia Finlayson

Shirley Fisher

Jean E Fraser

Sharon L Gaskin

Jeanne E Gates

Christina M Ginter

Michael D Goodling

Eric S Hammond

Karrie L Hamstra-Wright and

Brandon M Wright

Pamela A Heavens

Jessica M Herron

Christina Hui-Chan

Debra K Hultine-Zenor

Yoshimi Ikeda

Demetra John

Lisa M Johnson

Michael J Kerr

Keith A Kirby

Marelet Kirda

Kathleen and Joseph A Krzak

Jeanne W LaBree

Susan H Larson

Lani Chen Lee

Ellen S Leemputte

Barbara E and Barry E Levy

Sherry L Lissitz

Barbara J Loar

Maria Londos

Kathryn F Loomis

Marabeth Loomis

Paula M Lundell

Honora E Lynch

Mary Rizzolo Mann

R Jay and Lisa J McElroy

Alice Boeshart Meister

Barbara J Mengarelli

Karen Z and Larry E Morrison

Steven B Nasatir

Laura Neiberg

Eileen M Olsen

Lorraine W Olsen

Kathleen A and Charles E Olson

Robert F Parshall

Carolyn H Phelan

Curt A and Katharine L Preissner

Helen L Ramsammy

Joy A Ransdell

Dirk J and Eileen B Rauglas

Laurie A Raymond

John and Patricia L Reuskens

Frances Rizzo

Renee C Gangas Rowley

Michael J Ruiz

Lou Ann Schraffenberger

Marilyn P Scitar

Romil K Sood

Donald D Straube

James E Taaffe

Renee R Taylor

Patricia W Walker

Richard D and Mary G Wartick

Debra E Weiss

Frederick L Wendler

Ann Wiemert-Slater

Carol W Wilkins

Helen J Winer


$50-99 Gilbert W and Harriet S Adelstein

Elizabeth Z Allan

Michael A Amaro

Murray Ardies

Carolyn Arnold

Jacqueline V Bailey

Daniel J and Mary Lou Bareither

Kris A Barnekow

Betty L Becker

Gerard A and Barbara J Becker

Linda M Beribak

Mary L Berta

Susan M Bettenhausen

Christine H Beuthin

Henry R and Princess E Bey

Martha T Birkett

Antigone D Blackwell

Patricia H Blatzer

Barbara J Blond

Jill Schiff Boissonnault

Matthew J Brady

Deborah A Broeker

Christine E Broenneke

Mark P Broutman and Sandra E

Simon

Renee C Broyles

Estherbeth Buchbinder

Jacqueline C Budwitis

Marjorie A Buser

Irene P Chervenak

Monica N Chestnut

Jack C Cieslak

Randi J Cogswell

Lori L Collalti

Sara M Condon

Sheila M Conners

Julie A Conroy

Noel F Conroy

Joanne M Corpus

Laura J Coury

Patricia G Cramer

Nancy B Crivellone

Patricia S Crumrine

Randy Dagostino

Scott M and Mary J Davis

Nancy Jane Dawe

Sylvia K Dea

Alan M Diamond

Holly S Dietz

Salme O Drunga

Claudine E Duncan

Kimberly E Eberhardt

Debra J Eisenmann

Shirley E Esenther

Tai-Shen L Fan

Mark A Fasick

Gail S Fisher

Ruth E Forni

Carol L Freeman

Nancy H Gabianelli

Edward J Galarza

Kathlyn J Gear

Robert R Genaze

Catherine Gesior

Maureen Giardina

Mary J Gilson-Swiger

Carol S Gleich

Kathleen A Golos

Nancy J Gramse

Rebecca R Greising

Ruth G Grossman

Darice M Grzybowski

June C Gustafson

Wayne E Haley

Virginia S Hall

Kathleen A Hallett

Linda S Hamm

Roberta L Hansen

Barbara J Heier

Nancy D Hejna

Karen A Henrickson

Sheila A Herman

Daniel B Hier

Susan P Holmes

Martha A Hoover

Mary Catherine Horne

Janice R Hubatch-Smith

Patricia Hubberts

Lisa M Huizenga

Suzanne K Jahnke

Ruth Anna Jameson

Susan M Janke

Gwendolyn Jones

George D Jurinek

Sally A Kannaka

Jeremy W Karger-Gatzow

Toby and Debra L Karnehm

Curt Keim

Patricia A Kelly

William T Kircher

Elvira V Klinsky

Keith I and Audrey L Klopp

Julie C Kong

Susan L Kotval

Rayna M Kraman

Oscar H Krieger

Lauren M Leno

Michele Lewis

David T and Kristin I Livingston

Nancy M London

Donna S Long

Pamela J and Thomas R Lovett

Sheila A MacGregor

Trudy R Mallinson

Jane C Malone

Michael B Maloney

Barbara L Marello

Christine D Marszalek

Philip E and Rose Layden Martin

Mary Therese Maslanka

Earl L Massel and Marilou O Leyson-

Massel

Lillian M Matsumoto

Marjorie M Matthews

Sheila Elaine Maxwell

Tim and Jeanne O’Neil McCoy

Margaret Ann McNamara

Laura L Meagher

Wendy L Melgarejo

Sandra L Menze

Melissa L Metcalf

Janet F Miller

Rita Brosious Miller

Jeanette D Mills

Alan S Mina

Peggy C Mitchell

Victoria P Mogil

Margaret M Molek-Otto

Cheryl J Monroe

Jeri A Mullan

Keelin K Murphy

Maryrose T Murphy

Susan L Murray

Beverly J Myers

Joseph P and Catherine A Neilly

Patricia M Nelson

Elaine Nicholas

Lynn J Nord

Bonnie S Norrick

Nancy A Nystrand

Susan M O’Brien

Teresa A Olsen

Luanne H Olson

Teresa C O’Neill

Joseph Ortigara

Eileen A O’Toole

Roberta G Owen

Maria Padron

Clive Pai

Michael M Pawlowski

Nancy P Pelish

Elizabeth W Peterson

Roxanne M and Lawrence Pincombe

Kelli M Polo

Maryann M Radowski

Chatura Ravishankar

Charlotte Razor

Larry Reiner

William A and Julie H Rettberg

Cathleen C Riemenschneider

Susan M Ruff

Linda S Rusenovich

Randall W Saks

Alice J Salzman

Nancy L Samuelson

Caryn L Sanders-Marcus and Eric M

Marcus

Jon Santanni

Jean D Scherer

Jennifer A Schmidt

Kay C Schulte

Denise J Schwartz

Julie L Schwertfeger

Elizabeth Susan Scudder

Corinne E Shannon

Marie I Shaw

Toby J Sheasby

Melanie Shuran

Rochelle B Sincox

Catherine J Sioson

Arthur C Slowinski

Nancy E Zabelin Smolar

Stuart T Sommer

Nancy J Sons

LouAnn M Sopata

Amanda A Sosnowski

Joan Sourapas

Anita C Stehmeier

J John Stephens Jr and Joyce A

Stephens

Cynthia K Sternisha

Randall J Stolk

Kathleen M Strelow

Sharon B Sugerman

Debra K Sullivan

Nancy K Szmyd

Dana R Tameling

Teresa A Taylor

Vicky D Tenenbaum

Germaine L Timlin

Arthur J Trybek

Elisabeth M Van Boekel

Marilyn F Victor

Jose Villagomez and Yanitsa Soto

Fachin N Walker

Bess D Walter

Althea V Walton

Margaret J Watson

William B and Judy A Webber

Susan J Whitthuhn

Susan R Witz

Karen Wolfeiler-Fleischer

William C Wombles

Roland E Wozniak

Rosa M Yepez

June Gatch Zaragoza


LAST SHOT

Student support delivered ASAP

ASAP is such a hit with AHS students that word has spread. Life sciences students in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences (LAS) are now showing up for assistance.

Kinesiology is the only aca-demic program in the College of Applied Health Sciences

that accepts students at the fresh-man level (i e , right out of high school) When the college realized the added benefits that its under-graduates in kinesiology—who make up nearly 50 percent of the student body—could reap from

more personal support, we inau-gurated the Academic Support and Advising Program ASAP offers students the individualized help they need to succeed This takes many forms: tutoring; peer mentor-ing; career counseling; seminars on time management, test taking and study skills; and professional emotional counseling

ASAP is larger now, having at-tracted nutrition undergrads, grad-uate students and even students from other UIC colleges Through ASAP, the college offers personal-ized collaboration to help students confront the unique and personal challenges that threaten to derail their success And we’re all the bet-ter for it

WHAT ASAP HAS ALWAYS OFFERED:

• one-on-one peer tutoring

• personal and career counseling

• academic support seminars (skills for test-taking, studying and reducing stress)

• free computer use

• scholarship information

WHAT’S NEW AT ASAP AS OF SPRING 2010:

• quiet room exclusively for individual study

• tutor-led study groups for Human Physiological Anatomy (a famously tough core course)

• ongoing student textbook exchange

• Power of Peers Mentoring Program

What’s happening at ASAP?

Total number of students visiting

Spring 2009 Fall 2009

Total number of visits

Number of students tutored

Number oftutoring sessions

Number of attendees for time-management training

FALL2008

SPRING2008

FALL2009

FALL2008

SPRING2008

FALL2009

FALL2008

SPRING2008

FALL2009

FALL2008

SPRING2008

FALL2009

FALL2008

SPRING2008

FALL2009

397

390

511

28

22

19

51

84

68

142

275

309

4,056

5,242

3,810

79%86%AHS

undergraduatesAHS

undergraduatesAHS grad students 4%

Studentsfrom LAS 8%

Other 2%

AHS grad students 4%

Studentsfrom LAS 14%

Other 3%

The word is

out!

Where are the students coming from?

BREAK NEWS GROUND!

New address? New job? Promotion? Professional award? We’d like to hear from you! We may include your news in future alumni publications

First name Last name Maiden name

Program Degree Graduation year

Mailing address

City State ZIP

E-mail

Send your updates to Helen Massey, Directorof Alumni Relations

Mail:UIC College of Applied Health Sciences808 S Wood (MC 518)Chicago, IL 60612

Fax:(312) 413-0086

E-mail: hamassey@uic edu

Tell us what you’ve been doing:

The Academic Support and Ad-vising Program was the brain-child of Sandra Strome, PhD.

A clinical psychotherapist, Strome ob-served too many bright, capable stu-dents struggling in core courses or entirely dropping out of our bachelor’s

program in kinesiology. She felt certain those students could persevere if only they had resources for dealing with whatever beset them, be it personal issues or academic challenges. Five years later, Strome still leads ASAP, and more than 500 students visit the center

some 3,800 times per semester. By fall 2009, life sciences students from the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences accounted for 14 percent of visitors—a result of word-of-mouth praise for a simple concept made exceptional by Strome’s passionate dedication.

Sandra Strome, center, huddles up with the close-knit staff of the Academic Support and Advising Program

ASAP owes much to its founder

University of Illinois at Chicago

Office of the Dean (MC 518)

College of Applied Health Sciences

808 South Wood Street, 169 CMET

Chicago, Illinois 60612-7305

Address Service Requested

NON-PROFIT

ORGANIZATION

U.S. POSTAGE

PAID

PERMIT NO. 4860

CHICAGO, IL

AHS MAGAZINE

AHS is looking forward to Commencement 2010

2010 commencement speaker Kristina Ripatti-Pearce

As is true at this time every year, the College of Applied Health Scienc-es—and especially its graduating

students—is eagerly anticipating Com-mencement 2010, happening May 6 at the UIC Forum.

The commence-ment speaker this year i s Kr ist ina Ripatti-Pearce, a 10-year veteran of the Los Angeles Police Department, who was shot and para-lyzed from the chest down by a robbery suspect. She’ll share her inspiring story of reclaiming her active lifestyle with the help of professionals in rehabilitation, nutrition and physical activity.

Last year’s ceremony was made memo-rable by speaker L. Tammy Duckworth, major in the Illinois Army National Guard, Iraq War veteran, and an assistant secretary for the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. She told graduates: “When you are asked to compromise your standards ... remember what you learned here, from this school and from one another.”

Alumni are invited to attend Commence-ment 2010 on a first-come, first-served basis. Please call Elaine Nicholas at (312) 996-2077 to reserve a seat.

Tammy Duckworth, commencement speaker in 2009

AHS Magazine 2009-10

Documents

Transcript of AHS Magazine 2009-10