Jennifer Christy, PT, Ph.D., associate professor, director of the UAB Doctor of Physical Therapy program, assistant dean for faculty affairs in the School of Health Professions, has been inducted into the Bárány Society, the International Society for Neuro-otology.

Professor Jennifer Christy, PT, Ph.D., director, University of Alabama at Birmingham Doctor of Physical Therapy program, assistant dean for Faculty Affairs in the School of Health Professions, has been named a Catherine Worthingham Fellow of the American Physical Therapy Association.

UAB Doctorate of Physical Therapy third-year students are finishing up their clinical experiences before graduation in December. One student in particular is making strides to combine his love for sports with his physical therapy skills.

Noah Dehart, a third-year student in the UAB Doctor of Physical Therapy program was selected by the American Physical Therapy Association (APTA) for the Charles Harker Internship. Dehart becomes the first student from UAB to be selected.

For the third consecutive year, the UAB School of Health Professions (SHP) has awarded members of the SHP faculty with faculty grants. This year’s winners are Alexandra Evancho, PT, DPT, assistant professor in the Department of Physical Therapy; Seung Yup (Joshua) Lee, PhD, assistant professor in the Department of Health Services Administration; and Megan Carpenter, OTD, OTR/L, SCFES, assistant professor in the Department of Occupational Therapy, and Elizabeth Wylie, PT, DPT, NCS, assistant professor in the Department of Physical Therapy.

Thanks to the generosity of alumni and friends, numerous scholarships have been established to benefit students in the Doctor of Physical Therapy program. These are the 2022-23 scholarship award winners.

Kiara Thompson, a third-year student in the UAB Doctor of Physical Therapy program was awarded the 2022 SAHPD Student Leadership in Diversity, Inclusion, and Equity Award from the Southern Association of Health Professions Deans at Academic Health Centers.

Tara Pearce, PT, DHS, associate professor and director of Clinical Education for the UAB Doctor of Physical Therapy program, has received the Marilyn Gossman Award for Professionalism in Physical Therapy – the most prestigious honor given by the Alabama Chapter of the American Physical Therapy Association.

Five students have been awarded a UAB School of Health Professions Blazer Forever Scholarship. The award is given to SHP students during Homecoming Week based on their answer to an essay question. This year, we asked the question: What makes you different? 

The UAB School of Health Professions has awarded inaugural faculty grants to Matt Ithurburn, Ph.D., assistant professor in the Department of Physical Therapy, and Haiyan Qu, Ph.D., associate professor in the Department of Health Services Administration.

The School of Health Professions (SHP) Student Awards, for the fall semester of 2020, were managed by the Student Affairs Committee (SAC) with endorsement from the Program Directors. Due to COVID-19, we were not able to recognize our exceptional students with an award ceremony. Nonetheless, it does not diminish their excellence or their accomplishments.

Logan Paul Myrick, a Physical Therapy student expected to graduate December 2022, has been awarded a UAB School of Health Professions Blazer Forever Scholarship. The award is given to five SHP students during Homecoming Week based on their answer to an essay question. This year, there were nearly 100 submissions to the question: What makes you most proud to be a UAB Blazer?

Carla Rigo Lima, a PhD in Rehabilitation Science student expected to graduate May 2023, has been awarded a UAB School of Health Professions Blazer Forever Scholarship. The award is given to five SHP students during Homecoming Week based on their answer to an essay question. This year, there were nearly 100 submissions to the question: What makes you most proud to be a UAB Blazer?

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

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

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

Andrew Butler, Ph.D., dean of the UAB School of Health Professions, was recently elected to the Lakeshore Foundation and the Association of Schools of Allied Health Professions Board of Directors. Butler, who became dean of SHP in July 2019, came to UAB from the Byrdine F. Lewis College of Nursing and Health Professions at Georgia State University where he was associate dean for Research and director of the Clinical Neuroplasticity Lab.

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

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