Health Professions Students Shine at Aletheia
On May 7, more than 100 School of Health Professions students gathered for the Aletheia Research Symposium. Held every spring, Aletheia (Greek for 鈥渢ruth鈥�) provides these young scholars the opportunity to showcase their research findings and defend the capstone projects they have carried out under faculty supervision.
The students presented 30 posters representing research that spanned graduate and undergraduate-level studies in the School鈥檚 five fields: physical therapy, physician assistant studies, occupational therapy, interdisciplinary health sciences, and nursing.
Kicking off the afternoon were opening remarks from Associate Professor of Occupational Therapy听Beth Elenko, Ph.D., Provost and Executive Vice President听Jerry Balentine, D.O., Vice Provost for Research听Jared Littman, Ph.D., Dean听Gordon Schmidt, Ph.D., and President and Chief Executive Officer of Gurwin Healthcare System Stuart Almer, FACHE.
鈥淩esearch motivates you and can change the course of your career. Research moves you forward,鈥� said Balentine. 鈥淓vents like this reward you for all of the great work you have done.鈥�
In a ceremony new to Aletheia, Almer presented five students鈥攐ne from each School of Health Professions academic discipline鈥攚ith a $1,000 financial award for academic excellence, sponsored by .
Those awarded students are Zeiad Kawy, interdisciplinary health sciences; Melissa Chattergoon, nursing; Caitlin Soravilla, occupational therapy; Burt Bacason, physical therapy; and Jillian Palma, physician assistant studies.
Assistant Professor of Physician Assistant Studies听Jaclyn Cotgreave Ph.D. (B.S.鈥�05), keynote speaker, presented the results of her dissertation 鈥淭eaching Emotional Intelligence in Physician Assistant Educators.鈥� Her study explores the knowledge of emotional intelligence skills and their importance in physician assistant educational leadership and the success of program graduates.
Student researchers then manned their posters as attendees mingled. Following the hour-long poster session, Professor of Physical Therapy and Aletheia Co-founder听John Handrakis, Ed.D., D.P.T., led the platform presentation session鈥攎oderated by Instructor of Interdisciplinary Health Sciences听Alexander Rothstein, M.S.,鈥攚here eight groups of physical therapy and interdisciplinary health sciences students formally presented their research on stage.
鈥淎letheia is such an important annual event,鈥� said occupational therapy student Laura Johansen, who presented 鈥淧reparing Entry Level Occupational Therapists for Family-Centered Practice鈥� with her peers Angelina Loguidice, Darian Licata, and Katlyn Gluck. 鈥淭his provides an opportunity to bring everyone from the School of Health Professions together to learn about each other鈥檚 projects and gain more insight and knowledge about the other disciplines within the school.鈥�
Co-chairs of the Research and Scholarship Committee Elenko and Associate Professor of Physician Assistant Studies听Shinu Kuriakose, DHSc, led faculty and the research committee who judged the 30 poster projects.
This year鈥檚 judges:
- Professor of Physical Therapy and Alethiea Co-founder John Handrakis
- Instructor of Interdisciplinary Health Sciences Alexander Rothstein
- Associate Professor of Physical Therapy听Rosemary Gallagher, Ph.D., D.P.T.
- Assistant Professor of Physical Therapy Michael Tautonico, D.P.T.
- Associate Professor of Physician Assistant Studies听Kristine Prazak-Davoli, Ph.D.,
- Associate Professor of Interdisciplinary Health Sciences听Amerigo Rossi, Ed.D.
- School of Health Professions Director of Administration and Operations Paul Anderson
- School of Health Professions Administrative Specialist Jeanne Renz
The following student teams were selected as first-place winners in their respective poster session categories:
Health and Medicine
鈥淗eart Rate Response to Maximal Exercise in a Participant with C8 Spinal Cord Injury鈥�
Student Researcher: Tash茅ima Johnson
Advisor: Alexander Rothstein; Amerigo Rossi, Ed.D.; John Handrakis, PT, D.P.T., Ed.D.
Department: Interdisciplinary Health Sciences
Lifestyle
鈥淓ffects of Pediatric Cancer on the Relationship Between Patients and Their Siblings鈥�
Student Researchers: Mazal Baron, Brocha Sima Feinberg, Miriam Kirschner, Natalie Nisanov, Peri Lieberman, Sussy Mayer, Joyce Shlomo
础诲惫颈蝉辞谤:听Pamela Karp Ed.D., OTR/L
Department:听Occupational Therapy
Technology/Education
鈥淧hysician Assistant Student鈥檚 Overall Program GPA and Effect on PANCE Scores鈥�
Student Researchers: Thomas Goldrick, Nicholas Pallis, Barbara Pepe, Nicole Posillico
础诲惫颈蝉辞谤:听Sara Winter PA-C, M.S.
Department:听Physician Assistant Studies
Rehabilitation
鈥淏alance Confidence and Falls Predict Figure of 8 Walk Test Performance in People with Parkinson鈥檚 Disease鈥�
Student Researchers: Jessica Feinstein, Yehuda Roth, Juliat Saju, Steven Shih, Simon Tsang
础诲惫颈蝉辞谤:听Lori Hochman PT, Ph.D.
Department:听Physical Therapy
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