2011 News and Events
Reese receives 2011 APTA Lucy Blair Award
The APTA has notified Nancy Reese that she has been awarded the APTA Lucy Blair Award – the highest award for service in our Association. She will officially receive her award during a ceremony at APTA Annual Conference in Baltimore in June. This award is a huge accomplishment for Dr. Reese and for UCA! The Lucy Blair Service Award is given to individuals who show outstanding contribution of service at the National, Regional, and State level of the American Physical Therapy Association on the basis of the results of an individual’s service and not merely the duration or continuity of that service.” Each year – 5-6 members are recognized. Dr. Reese is the second individual from the State of Arkansas to receive the important award.
2011 DPT Student Awards & Scholarships Presented
Congratulations to the 2011 Outstanding DPT Student Park Tipton! Park was selected by his classmates and recognized on August 12 during the Physical Therapy Convocation Ceremony held in Reynolds Performance Hall. Physical Therapy Student Scholarship recipients for 2011 were also announced. Nat Grubbs and his wife Traci presented the Madeline Ann Grubbs Scholarship to Morgan Purkiss of the 2012 DPT Class. Dr. Margaret McGee presented the Thomas Meadows Scholarship to Ashley Roughton of the 2013 class. Dr. Nancy Reese presented the Joe Finnell Scholarship to Elizabeth Davis, Class of 2012 and Gabriel Harris and Ashley Roughton, both of the 2013 class. Pictured right from left to right are Ashley Roughton, Gabriel Harris, Elizabeth Davis and Morgan Purkiss. The Department of Physical Therapy Faculty recognized DPT Graduates for newly created Excellence Awards to recognize exceptional academic, clinical, research and service achievements. Park Tipon was the 2011 Service and Leadership Excellence Award Recipient. Erica Cason received the Clinical Excellence Award based on clinical instructor nominations. The Research Excellence Award recipients were Allison Burba Horgan, Brittany Sexson, Jill Womack and Park Tipton. The Academic Excellence Award recognized five students who maintained a 4.0 GPA throughout the DPT curriculum including Erica Cason, Joshua Eaves, Brittany Sexson, Park Tipton and Jill Womack.
August 12, 2011 – DPT Graduation Ceremonies
Graduates of the 2011 Doctor of Physical Therapy program were honored on Friday, August 12 at the University of Central Arkansas. DPT Students family and guests attended the Physical Therapy Convocation ceremony in Reynolds Performance Hall followed by a reception in the Student Center Ballroom from 3:00-5:00. Convocation guest speakers will include Dr. Steven Forbush of the UCA PT Faculty and Paul Kuipers of the DPT Class of 2011. In addition to the Outstanding DPT Student and Scholarship awards, the Department will present, for the first time, awards for Academic Excellence, Research Excellence and Service and Leadership to the DPT class of 2011. Later, the University Commencement Program was in the Farris Center.
August 6, 2011 – EMG Course
The Department of Physical Therapy will be hosting a CEU course entitled SEMG Sequence Assessments – A straight forward approach to applied Kinesiologic – EMG evaluations for clinicians presented by Todd Shewman with Noraxon UCA, Inc. The course is a hands-on course for integrating surface EMG into movement assessment. The course will be on Saturday, August 6 from 8am – 4:30pm. Contact Dr. Kevin Garrision at kgarrison@uca.edu for more information about course registration or to RSVP.
APTA Clinical Instructor Education and Credential Course
The Department of Physical Therapy hosted the APTA Clinical Instructor Education and Credential Course on Friday and Saturday, September 16-17, 2011. Dr. Misty Booth presented the course.
PT Alumni Weekend Course October 29, 2011
Physical Therapy Alumni Weekend held on Saturday, October 29 featured Nat Grubbs course entitled Clinical Update: Rehabilitation of Common Hip and Knee Conditions. Topics included (1) The ACL Epidemic: Causes, Prevention and Rehabilitation, (2) Patellofemoral Joint Rehabilitation: A Concise Yet Comprehensive Overview and (3) Emerging Trends in Hip Arthroscopy: Practical Rehabilitation Implications. The Department also hosted a tailgating cookout in front of the PT Center from 3:00-5:00 for all PT Alumni and their guests prior to the UCA Homecoming Football game at 6:00.
Wang Publishes Article in The Diabetes Educator
Wang W, Balamurugan A, Biddle J, Rollins K. Diabetic Neuropathy Status and the Concerns in Underserved Rural Communities: Challenges and Opportunities for Diabetes Educators. In press. The Diabetes Educator. 37(4) issue of July/August, 2011
Alumnus Dr. Jeff Nolen, Dr. McGee Publish an Article
Dr. Jeff Nolen, 2010 DPT Graduate and Dr. Margaret McGee, Associate Professor of Physical Therapy recently published an article along with Dr. Hao Liu of the University of North Texas Health Sciences Center in Fort Worth entitled “Comparison of gait characteristics with a single-tip cane, tripod cane, and quad cane” in the Journal Physical and Occupational Therapy in Geriatrics, 2010; Early Online.
Wang Receives 2011 NIH / INBRE Grant
Dr. Wen Wang, Assistant Professor in the Department of Physical Therapy recently received the 2011 NIH/ INBRE Arkansas Faculty Grant for $21,563 entitled “Role of Myeloid HIF-1a in Diabetic Wound Healing. ” The study will take place between May 1 and August 1. Dr. Wang will serve as the primary investigator for the proposed study that is to determine whether myeloid HIF-1a protein regulates diabetic wound healing in vivo using a mouse model with a myeloid-selective HIF-1a deficiency (HIF-1a KO) to study wound healing. Dr. Wang completed the 2010 NIH/ INBRE Arkansas Faculty Grant as the primary investigator entitled “Macrophage-Endothelial Co-Culture System as an In Vitro Dermal Angiogenesis Model in Wound Healing” which looked at developing a macrophage-EC co-culture system as an in vitro dermal wound angiogenesis model to study wound healing.
Fant Recognized as Finalist for UCA Employee of the Year
Charlotte Fant, MS, CHES, Program Advisor for the Department of Physical Therapy was recently honored as a finalist for the 2011 UCA Employee of the Year during the UCA Service Awards Ceremony held on April 19. This is the second year in a row for Ms. Fant to receive this honor. She serves as the Advisor for the Pre Physical Therapy Club in addition to her duties as program advisor for all pre Physical Therapy students and all UCA BS in Health Science-Physical Therapy Emphasis majors on campus which includes nearly 250 students.
Wang Presents During UCA China Trip
Wen Wang recently presented “Ginkgo biloba and Insulin Resistant Syndrome – A Clinical Study” at the Yunnan Agricultural University in China on March 22, 2011.
Drs. Fletcher and Garrison Publish an Article
Dr James Fletcher, Associate Professor and Dr. Kevin Garrison, Assistant Professor along with Drs. Hao Liu and Clayton Holmes of the University of North Texas Health Science Center in Fort Worth recently had an article published entitled: “Bilateral absence of quadrates femoris and semimembranosus” in the International Journal of Anatomical Variation. 2011;4:40-42.
UCA Physical Therapy Presentations at 2011 CSM – New Orleans
Park Tipton, SPT, Doctor of Physical Therapy Student in the DPT Class scheduled to graduate in August 2011 presented research completed with former UCA faculty member Dr. Hao Liu, now of University of North Texas Health Science Center in Fort Worth and Dr. Clayton Holmes also of the University of North Texas Health Science Center. Their abstract and poster presentation entitled “Effect of a Selected 6-Form Tai Chi on Improvement in Balance and Quality of Life Among Older Adults” was presented at the American Physical Therapy Associations Combined Sections Meeting held February 9 -12 in New Orleans, LA.
Drs. Yates and Garrison with Allison Burba-Horgan, SPT and Brittany Sexson, SPT
Assistant Professors Dr. Charlotte Yates and Dr. Kevin Garrison presented research recently at the American Physical Therapy Associations Combined Sections Meeting held February 9 -12 in New Orleans, LA. Drs. Yates and Garrison were assisted by Doctor of Physical Therapy students Allison Burba-Horgan and Brittany Sexson, both of the DPT Class scheduled to graduate in August 2011, as well as two researchers from UAMS. Their abstracts and poster presentations were titled: “Outcome Measures for Exploring the Mechanisms of Hyper-Reflexia and Spasticity that Develops Post SCI in the Rat and the Effects of Passive Exercise Interventon on Each Outcome Measure. Yates, CC, Garrison K, Burba-Horgan A, Franz J.” and “Regional CX-36 Changes Following Complete SCI and Interventions in the Rat. Garrison K, Yates CC, Charlesworth A, Sexson B, Burba-Horgan A”
Reese Elected Treasurer of the Academic Council of APTA
Nancy Reese, Professor and Chairperson of the Department of Physical Therapy, was recently elected in November to the Board of Directors of the Academic Council, a newly formed organization of physical therapy programs within APTA. Dr. Reese was elected as Treasurer of this organization that will serve as the authoritative voice of physical therapy education in the United States.