Faculty News
SHRS welcomes the following new faculty to its ranks:
Joanne Merante Baird has joined the Department of Occupational Therapy as an assistant professor. She is also responsible to the Centers for Rehab Services (CRS) as the occupational therapy coordinator of clinical education and professional development. In this role, she will oversee placement of occupational therapy students from a variety of academic programs at CRS clinical sites. Baird received her Bachelor of Arts degree in OT at Pitt and her Master of Arts in OT from the University of Southern California. She has clinical experience from across the health care continuum including acute and inpatient rehabilitation as well as community-based outpatient and skilled nursing care. She is the Pennsylvania Occupational Therapy Association District II secretary.
Dr. Sajeesh Kumar has joined the Department of Health Information Management as an assistant professor. Kumar received his doctorate in Telemedicine from the University of Western Australia, and his research interests are related to the design and development of telemedicine technology, rural and remote health care service, and assessment of medical technology. Prior to coming to Pittsburgh, Kumar conducted research and service activities in Australia, Singapore, the Netherlands, Seychelles, United Arab Emirates, and India. He also recently edited the first books on teleradiology and telepathology (published by Springer). He is continuing his innovative research in telemedicine and e-health at SHRS.
Communication Science and Disorders
Dr. Katya Hill, associate professor, received the Department of the Army Certificate of Appreciation for her contribution to the education of staff at Walter Reed Army Medical Center. Hill was also a presenter at iCREATe’s 3rd International Convention in Singapore. While there, she consulted on AAC service delivery and research needs at various special schools and rehabilitation organizations.
Dr. Sheila Pratt, associate professor, was named a Fellow of the American Speech- Language-Hearing Association, recognizing her outstanding professional and scientific achievements in the field. She also received the ASHA Editors’ Award for the American Journal of Audiology.
Dr. Scott Yaruss, associate professor, was named the 2008 Speech-Language Pathologist of the Year by the National Stuttering Association.
Health Information Management
Dr. Mervat Abdelhak, chair and associate professor, presented recently at a symposium by the International University of Health and Welfare in Tokyo. The symposium addressed formal education as well as workforce issues for health information and cancer registry. Abdelhak was also invited to present the keynote address, “Advances in e-HIM: From Vision to Reality” at a conference in Saudi Arabia in March. During her visit, she also evaluated the Health Informatics graduate program at King Saud Bin Abdulaziz University of Health Sciences and consulted with other academic institutions with interest in health information.
Dr. Sajeesh Kumar, assistant professor, is coordinating all research initiatives of the Center for Telehealth, an informal group of peers involved in telemedicine services at Pitt and UPMC.
Dr. Leming Zhou, assistant professor, presented a poster, “SPARK – A Systems Biology Framework for Agent-Based Biomedical Modeling,” at the Computational Cell Biology Meeting in March at Cold Spring Harbor Lab, NY.
Occupational Therapy
Dr. Denise Chisholm was promoted to associate professor.
Mary Lou Leibold, assistant professor, authored two chapters of the newly initiated American Occupational Therapy Association’s Fieldwork Educator Certificate Program.
Joanne Baird and Leibold, assistant professors, were selected as one of 15 teams nationwide to participate in a three-day Train-the-Trainer Institute and will, in turn, provide multiple two-day workshops, locally and regionally, for occupational therapy practitioners who supervise students during fieldwork. The two also presented at the Pennsylvania Occupational Therapy Association and the Pittsburgh Fieldwork Council’s Conference for Occupational Therapy Practitioners. Also, Baird is representing the American Occupational Therapy Association on the Short Term Alternatives for Therapy Services (STATS) Contract Project administered by the Computer Sciences Corporation (CSC) and funded by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.
Drs. Ketki Raina, assistant professor, Joan Rogers, professor, Terence Starz, professor, and Amalie Andrew, research occupational therapist, presented Patients’ Perceptions of the Meaning of the FIQ Activity Items at the American College of Rheumatology/Association of Rheumatology Health Professionals 2008 Annual Scientific Meeting.
Dr. Elizabeth Skidmore, assistant professor, was invited to present a talk on Life After Stroke: Long-term Issues for Stroke Survivors at the 4th Annual Acute Stroke Management Conference. She also presented Developing Clinical Practice Guidelines for Rehabilitation at the Pennsylvania Association of Rehabilitation Facilities Annual Conference.
Dr. Nancy Baker, assistant professor, and MOT student Abby Sipp presented The Association Between Impairments Due to Rheumatoid Arthritis and Typing Skills at the American College of Rheumatology/Association of Rheumatology Health Professionals 2008 Annual Scientific Meeting. Baker also presented Observational Studies of Non- Pharmacologic Interventions: Methods to Measure Performance at the ACR Clinical Research Conference: Session I: Methods for Non-Pharmacologic Interventions.
Drs. Denise Chisholm, associate professor, Margo Holm, professor, Ketki Raina, assistant professor, Joan Rogers, professor, Elizabeth Skidmore, assistant professor, Min-Mei Shih, postdoctoral associate, Joanne Baird assistant professor, and SHRS alumnae Drs. Razan Hamed and Sana
Abu-Dahab presented peer-reviewed papers at the 31st Annual Pennsylvania Occupational Therapy Association Conference.
Rehabilitation Science and Technology
Al Condeluci, adjunct faculty, served as guest editor of the latest edition of the Journal of Vocational Rehabilitation.
As part of a national campaign organized by the Veterans Administration, VA Canteen Service, and General Mills, Cheerios® released a cereal box featuring several veteran athletes from the 28th National Veterans Wheelchair Games including Dr. Rory Cooper, distinguished professor and chair. Cooper signed cereal boxes and “sports hero cards” at various VA Canteen Service Stores in the Pittsburgh area as part of the campaign. Cooper, an Army veteran, also competed this past fall in the 33rd Marine Corp Marathon, finishing fourth. Cooper was closely followed by a Marine he teamed up with and the two fought in friendly inter-service rivalry as they climbed the hill to the Iwo Jima Memorial in Washington, DC.
Deborah L. Endres, instructor, received a Postsecondary Education Programs Network (PEPNet) grant to support her attendance at the “Addressing Needs of Students Labeled Deaf and Low Functioning At-Risk or Deafblind” held in Houston last fall. PEPNet’s goal in this support was to explore the development of a program based upon the Cognitive Skills Enhancement Program developed and implemented by RST faculty and students in cooperation with the Hiram G. Andrews Center, Johnstown, Pa.
Dr. Katherine Seelman, associate dean of disability programs, professor, Department of Rehabilitation Science and Technology, was named to the Community Advisory Board of WQED, the public broadcasting entity in Pittsburgh. The board reviews programming goals established, the services provided, and the significant policy decisions rendered by the WQED Corporation.
Sports Medicine and Nutrition
Dr. Kevin Conley, assistant professor and program director, Athletic Training Education Program, was named the assistant dean for undergraduate studies for the School of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences.
Judy Dodd, adjunct assistant professor, Clinical Dietetics and Nutrition, was named to the American Dietetic Association Board of Directors as the chairman of the ADA Foundation. She was also elected to the Adagio Health (formerly Family Health Council) Board of Directors.