School of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences

Sarah (nee Izzi) Hamel, MS-SLP '13 and her sister Stephanie Izzi, MS-SLP '16 joined forces in 2017 to create Autism Included, a nonprofit serving Providence, RI, and the surrounding area. Its mission is to “re-envision education by designing strategic frameworks for families, schools, and communities” so that autistic children can thrive.

Jillian Davis, MS-SLP, ’19, speech language pathologist at TIRR Memorial Hermann, was a guest on the podcast, “A Stroke of Good Misfortunes” on which she shares her path to becoming a speech language pathologist, among other topics.  
 

Through her initiative Southern Connecticut Sibshop, Zara Waldman DeLuca, MS-SLP ’11, PhD, is making a positive impact on the lives of 6–12-year-olds who have siblings with disabilities. The idea for this initiative came after DeLuca connected with the international support program Sibshops, during the pandemic, as a way to keep herself and her adult sister with cognitive disabilities and profound deafness busy.

Rachel Sakofs, MS-SLP ’07, was awarded the 2023 Clinician of The Year Award from the Jacksonville Area Speech-Pathology Association.

Kristin Branco, MS-SLP '02, was inducted into the East Providence Local Advisory Committee (EPLAC) Wall of Fame for her long-standing support of special needs students/programs in the district during the 16th annual Special Needs Recognition Program in May 2024.

Karla Hawkins, DPT '15, Amanda Smigliani '17, and Yasamin Zarbafian '20, were recognized as physical therapy board-certified clinical specialists by the American Physical Therapy Association. Hawkins and Smigliani were certified as geriatric clinical specialists and Zarbafian as an orthopedic clinical specialist.  

Colleen Peyton, DPT '04, will serve as a member of the Northwestern University Shirley Ryan AbilityLab research team that is developing an automated general movement assessment and outcome prediction tool for infants using a clinician-centered approach. United Cerebral Palsy is funding this work and has given the team $20,000 to complete it. 

Jennifer Fridgen, DPT '05, was a co-author on the Laryngoscope journal article, "Injection Medialization in Infants with Vocal Fold Immobility Improves Dysphagia.” Initial results suggest that injection medialization is safe and improves early objective swallowing outcomes in children less than two-years old with VFI after congenital cardiac surgery.

Andrea Lui, DPT '14, has combined her personal passion for knitting with her professional expertise to create The Knitting PT, which is an online educational resource and clinical practice focused on helping makers take care of their bodies while crafting. 

Nicole Bickhart’s, PP-OTD ’24, Innovation Project poster was accepted to the AOTA Education Summit.  ASHT has extended a special invitation to highlight her poster in a "spotlight" session in St. Louis.

Kristen Keech, PP-OTD ’22 was awarded a prestigious National Board for Certification in Occupational Therapy (NBCOT) Impact Award, which recognizes OTPs who demonstrate exceptional professional commitment to improve their clients’ overall life satisfaction and valued occupations.  In addition, Keech's PP-OTD Innovation Project manuscript Conscious care: a proposed model to improve interprofessional care of patients with disorders of consciousness in the acute hospital setting, with mentor support from IHP faculty member Jessica Asiello, OTD, OTR/L, was accepted to the journal Brain Injury.

Meaghan Costello, PT, DPT '02, board-certified clinical specialist, neurologic physical therapy, was named chair of the Neurologic Specialty Council of the American Board of Physical Therapy Specialties. As chair, Costello will serve as a liaison to leadership within the American Board of Physical Therapy Specialties, the American Physical Therapy Association and, the Academy of Neurological Physical Therapy. 

Christopher Bise, DPT '10, is lead author on the Physical Therapy & Rehabilitation journal article, "First Provider Seen for an Acute Episode of Low Back Pain Influences Subsequent Health Care Utilization." Bise's research found evidence of an association between first choice of provider and future health care use. 

Whitney McWherter Cranna’s, PP-OTD ’22, article, “Building Disability Inclusive Panel Discussions: Supporting Interdisciplinary Conference Spaces,” which was written with her interprofessional colleagues was published in OT Practice in the July 2024 edition.

Ann Henshaw, PP-OTD ’23, represented occupational therapy during an interprofessional panel discussion titled, “Bedside Rehabilitation Interventions in Palliative Care” at the National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization (NHPCO) Annual Interdisciplinary Conference.  The conference focused on opportunities and challenges on the front lines.

Alicia Tardiff, PP-OTD ’23, along with Sunny Winstead as her mentor, published "The Occupational Therapy Vocational Profile (OTVP): Supporting Transition and Employment Opportunities for Young Adults with Disabilities” in Journal of Occupational Therapy, Schools, & Early Intervention in July 2024.

Liana Brockway, MPAS '21, was named a clinician of the year by the MGH Hospital Medicine Unit (HMU). This award recognizes HMU clinicians who best embody the spirit of collaborative medical decision making, patient-centered care, equity, and education.

Meg Simione, PhD '17, is a co-author on the Pediatric Obesity article, "The Association of Food Insecurity on Body Mass Index Change in a Pediatric Weight Management Intervention." The findings of this research study suggest that food insecurity may reduce the effectiveness of pediatric weight management interventions (PWMI) consistent with national recommendations; however, more studies should be conducted to better understand this relationship.