The PhD in Rehabilitation Sciences Class of 2025 may be small but their accomplishments are not. Their impressive achievements were recognized during an awards ceremony on Tuesday in Building 39. 

Stephen Grist, who will defend his dissertation on Musculoskeletal Injury and Military Physical Fitness: A Dynamic Relationship, on July 10, is an active-duty member of the military who had to navigate several detours such as mentorship changes, data delays, and more. Research mentor Dr. Ben Adams, an assistant professor in the Department of Physical Therapy, said of Stephen, “He showed us how to navigate uncertainty and determination with integrity, and somehow he made us laugh along the way.”

Dr. Teresa Kimberly, director of the Brain Recovery Lab, highlighted Baothy Huynh’s ability to problem solve. She also noted that the class speaker who will defend her dissertation on Probing Cortical Inhibition in Focal Dystonia: Multimodal Investigations Across Hand and Laryngeal Subtypes on June 24, received the American Association of University Women's Dissertation Fellowship Award. Previous winners of the award include Marie Curie; Janet Resnick, the second woman in space; Janet Reno, the nation’s first attorney general; and Representative Shirley Chisholm, the first black woman elected to Congress.

Earning her PhD is not the only milestone for Amber La Marca this year. The new mother was able to celebrate the occasion with her son, Rhys, who may not remember the glowing words shared by her research mentor, Dr. Julie Keysor (who recently took the position of Chair of the Physical Therapy Department at UMass Lowell) but will be able to look back at this time in their lives through La Marca’s dissertation on Utilizing Behavior Change Techniques and Rehabilitation Technology to Promote Physical Activity in the Home and Community, which she will defend on July 23.

Although Amy Maguire was not able to attend the ceremony, her research mentor, Dr. Joanne Christodoulou, said, “I can assure you, we will have many celebrations of Amy with her” before noting that Maguire is one of the few speech language pathologists who has made an impact on neurosurgery. That happens to be the topic of her dissertation, The Neurosurgical SLP: Investigating Neurocognitive Functional Preservation, Outcomes, and Plasticity, which she will defend on July 15.

The four weren’t the only ones recognized during the ceremony. Ehsan Sinaei and Katherine Burke earned awards from the Dr. David Krebs Doctoral Research Fund, which goes a PhD student to support their scholarly activities and dissemination of research in areas related to motor function. 

Katherine Golden won the award from the Gregory L. Lof Dissertation Support Fund, which goes to any PhD candidate to support their research dissertation expenses not covered by other sources of funding.