A department of the UIC College

of Applied Health Sciences

FALL 2012

were increased from roughly 36

to 52 students in 2009.)

“The faculty learned from us

and we were part of creating

the strategy for class scheduling

that will benefit future classes,”

says Metcalfe. “That is part of

our class’s legacy to UIC.”

Hats off to you, UIC PT class of

2012! We wish you the best!

Congratulations, Class of 2012!

OMPT lecture impresses again

Our largest-ever class of DPTs

graduated on May 3, as did three

students from our MS in rehabili-

tation sciences. Also Nina Frank-

lin became our first doctoral

student to complete a PT-

centered PhD in the rehabilita-

tion sciences concentration.

Bo Fernhall, PhD, dean of the College of Applied Health Sci-

ences, presided over the cere-

mony to a packed audience at

the UIC Forum. The guest

speaker was Kenneth Cooper,

MD, MPH, who published his

book Aerobics in 1968 and, in the

process, revolutionized personal

fitness. He spoke passionately

and inspiringly with an energy

that would be impressive in a

man half of his 81 years.

The charge from Dean Fernhall

and Dr. Cooper to the class of

2012 was for each graduate to

be an advocate for healthy

change in both our individual

encounters as well as through

our professional leadership in

society.

Some notable facts about our

most recent graduating class

include the large number of ca-

reer changers and increased

numbers of nontraditional and

international students. And the

number of grants and honors for

students in this graduating class

was remarkable.

DPT grad Piriya Metcalfe says,

during her years in the program,

her class and the faculty worked

collaboratively to come up with

solutions to accommodate the

larger class size. (Class sizes

“The whole audience really

responded well to her talk.”

Watch this newsletter and

www.ahs.uic.edu/pt for notice

of the 2013 OMPT lecture.

On Nov. 9, 2012, the depart-

ment hosted the 7th Annual

Distinguished Lecture on the

Science of Manual Therapy, fea-

turing Kornelia Kulig PT, PhD.

Kulig (pictured) is associate pro-

fessor of clinical PT at the Uni-

versity of Southern California.

She is also a Catherine Wor-

thingham Fellow of the APTA

and a founding member of the

American Academy of Orthope-

dic Manual Physical Therapists.

Kulig discussed the role played

by biomechanics in testing pre-

sumptions of manual therapy.

“She showed MRI video of spinal

motion during treatment,” says

Carol Courtney, clinical associ-

ate professor and coordinator of

our OMPT fellowship program.

The Moment A newsletter for alumni and friends of the

UIC Department of Physical Therapy

Clockwise from top: DPT graduates gather after the commencement cere-

mony. Our first PhD graduate Nina Franklin poses with college Dean Bo

Fernhall. Associate. professor Shane Phillips poses with MS graduates.

From the desk of Yolanda Suarez-Balcazar,

Interim Dept. Head

Dear Friends,

Our 2012-13

academic year

got off to a

strong start. It’s with great

pleasure that we share a few

highlights with you here.

This fall 152 DPT students,

13 master’s students, six

fellowship students, and 39

PhD students are studying in our programs. Our pro-

grams have earned national

and international recognition

for their innovation, cutting-

edge research and excel-

lence in teaching. In March,

U.S. News & World Report

reconfirmed our rank at #16 among all U.S. PT programs.

In recognition of the depart-

ment’s faculty, we were

recently invited to join the

Research-Intensive Physical

Therapy Programs Consor-

tium, approved by the board of directors of the Academic

Council of the APTA. Asso-

ciate professor Shane Phil-

lips will represent our de-

partment in this prestigious

group, whose purpose is to

promote academic excel-

lence by strengthening the community of research-

intensive PT programs.

Please enjoy this issue of The

Moment to read about many

of our other recent accom-

plishments of which we’re

so proud.

Alumni revisit the old and peek at what’s new

Below: Tanvi Bhatt, in white, intro-

duces alumni to the laboratory of

professor Clive Pai. Bottom: Mary

Wiegman Fleck ’87, Karen Chan

Heick ’87, Robin Carlson ’87, Lori

Gizewski Farkash ’87, David Scal-

zitti ’87, Elaine O’Connor McCarthy

’82, Joe Ortigara ’82, Yvonne Mly-

narczyk ’82, Dean Bo Fernhall, Elsa

Cherwak ’82, AHS Alumni Board VP Julie Schwertfeger PT ’94, clinical

assistant professor Jeanne McCoy.

Alumni from the classes of 1982

and 1987 came to campus on

Saturday, Oct. 27, to celebrate

their 30th and 25th reunions.

The evening began in the famil-

iar building at 1919 W. Taylor.

Tours with assistant professor

Tanvi Bhatt included visits to

updated classrooms and several

new research labs.

Associate professor Shane Phil-

lips did much to plan the event,

and clinical associate professor

Carol Courtney and clinical

assistant professor Jeanne

McCoy were in attendance.

They all helped illustrate to

alumni what UIC Physical Ther-

apy has become: a best-in-class

education located in a globally

admired research environment.

Students Sambit Mohapatra,

Prakruti Jayantilal Patel, Jenny

Sampras, Kelly Askins and

Claire Marie Skurka Mysliwy

volunteered to lead tours and

report on research in progress.

Later, alumni met for dinner

with yet more of their class-

mates at Pompei Little Italy.

Among the chatter and laugh-

ter, former professor Mary

Keehn asked alumni to record

brief video messages for re-

vered retired professor Harry

Knecht, who was department

head from 1978 until 1989, and

who sent a written message to

his reuniting students. His note,

like the rest of the evening, was

warmly received by all.

PhD student named Heart Association fellow

Aruin, says, “In my three dec-

ades of advising graduate stu-

dents, Neeta is among the top

I’ve worked with.”

Of Kanekar’s AHA fellowship,

Aruin says, “This is the first

time a UIC student has

achieved this award. It is excit-

ing to wonder at where stu-

dents like Neeta will bring our

profession in the future.”

Neeta Kanekar has won a pre-

doctoral fellowship from the

American Heart Association.

The grant, providing $26,000

per year for two years, will help

her complete her research,

“Enhancement of postural con-

trol in individuals with stroke-

related asymmetries.”

After graduating at the top of

her physical therapy class at

Maharashtra University in India,

Kanekar came to UIC for her

MS degree before going on to

the PhD program in Kinesiology,

Nutrition and Rehabilitation

Sciences.

Kanekar has maintained a 4.0

GPA in our program, and she

has published three papers in

international peer-reviewed

journals. Her advisor, Prof. Alex

PhD candidate Neeta Kanekar,

who also recently received the

"Love of Learning Award" from The

Honor Society of Phi Kappa Phi.

Page 2 The Moment

Above: 1982 alumni Elaine

O’Connor McCarthy and Joe

Ortigara at Pompei; Below: Students

Kelly Askins (DPT), Prakruti Patel

(PhD) and Jenny Sampras (pre-PT

undergrad) prepare to demonstrate

the research conducted in a PT lab.

Students have fun with PT Month

PT scholars continue to win funding

UIC PT works the walk

Wheelie champion and first-year

student Adam Fagan and second-

year student Kaitlyn Pasquinelli

enjoy the day’s events.

The department organized its

first-ever “PT Olympics” to

celebrate the National Physical

Therapy Month in October.

First-year students competed

against second-year students in

events such as: the one-legged

TUG (timed up and go) test;

“wheelies,” a test to see who

could hold a wheelchair on its

two back wheels the longest;

wheelchair relay races down

the department’s long corridor;

“PT Pictionary,” for which stu-

dents had to draw PT-related

concepts such as “vertigo” and

“fracture;” a spelling bee, quiz-

zing on medical terminology;

and most popular, “Dressing

the Skeleton,” which challenged

teams to create the best-

dressed skeleton using only

medical supplies, such as gowns,

belts and catheters.

With such great fun had by all,

and the department hopes to

make it a PT Month tradition.

See more event photos in

our “3-Day 2012” album

at www.facebook.com/

UIC.PT.

This summer, the Department

of Physical Therapy once again

served as the official PT partner

for the Susan G. Komen 3-Day

fundraising walk, held Aug. 10-

12 in metro Chicago.

Under the leadership of clinical

instructor Heather Feldner, 37

PT students volunteered, and

seven participated in “full

crew,” staying all three days and

camping over both nights. It’s

the largest group of student

volunteers PT has ever assem-

bled for the event, which they

began staffing in 2009.

“It was the first time any stu-

dents were full crew,” reports a

proud Feldner. “Also for the

first time, the volunteers held an

event that raised about $500 for

the Komen foundation.

“True awesomeness!” she adds.

Page 3

NOTEWORTHY Kudos to third-

year DPT

student Laura

Ansilio! She won

the “Caught in

the Act” Award

for exemplary service during

her clinical internship at UIC

Hospital. The honor is

usually reserved for full-time

employees. Ansilio’s patient-

nominator said she offers: “A

nice blend of confidence,

compassion and encourage-

ment,” and that she

“perceived and responded to

my pain by adjusting

interventions but still held

me to her expectations.”

Fall 2012

We proudly announce the fol-

lowing grants recently received

by scholars in our department.

These awards fund the research

that translates into meaningful

outcomes for patients in need.

Assistant professor Tanvi

Bhatt received a four-year

award of more than $300,000

from the American Heart Asso-

ciation to study the risk of falls

among stroke survivors, and

training to help prevent them.

Associate professor Shane

Phillips received a three-year

$150,000 supplement to his NIH

grant to take on PhD candidate

Austin Robinson as a research

associate.

Professor Alex Aruin received

a five-year grant award worth

nearly $80,000 from the Na-

tional Multiple Sclerosis Society

to study rehab

research training

to enhance func-

tional perform-

ance in MS pa-

tients.

Clinical associate professor

Carol Courtney (pictured)

received a $25,000 award from

the APTA to collect pilot data

in her research into pain

mechanisms in osteoarthritis.

NOTEWORTHY On Jan. 1, 2013, former PT

professor Mary Keehn and

alumna Julie Schwertfeger,

’94, will begin their terms as

president and vice president,

respectively, of the Illinois

Physical Therapy Association.

Keehn is now our college’s

associate dean for clinical

affairs. Congrats to both!

Prof’s invention is “uplifting”

We all know that physical ther-

apy can help stroke recovers

learn to shift their body weight

slightly to the weaker, stroke-

affected side to regain balance,

but for some patients, the

weakness returns after their

therapy ends.

Professor Alex Aruin has devel-

oped an inexpensive, simple

way to deal with the problem,

training the brain to rebalance

body weight using a simple shoe

insole he refers to as a

“compelled body weight shift.”

The insole, which measures less

than half an inch thick, slightly

lifts and tilts the body toward

the stroke-affected side, restor-

ing balance without the patient

even thinking about it.

Aruin, with colleagues at UIC

and Marianjoy Rehabilitation

Hospital in Wheaton, studied

two patient groups: one group

(at UIC) that recently had

strokes, and one group (at

Marianjoy) that had strokes over

a year ago.

“We tried a purely biomechani-

cal approach,” Aruin said. “We

mechanically lifted the healthy

side so the patient cannot resist.

The mechanics force body

weight to where it is distributed

almost 50/50. When patients

ambulate in such a condition,

they learn how to bear weight

equally through both [legs].”

Results for the two test groups,

which followed slightly different

protocols, were measured

against control groups not using

the therapeutic shoe insole. All

the patients received standard

post-stroke physical therapy.

After the testing period, patients

stopped using the insole. About

three months later they were

tested again to see if they re-

tained the ability to keep their

balance.

Aruin and his colleagues found

1919 W. Taylor St. (MC 898)

Chicago, IL 60612

T: 312-996-7765 F: 312-996-4583

E-mail: harley@uic.com

www.ahs.uic.edu/pt

ALUMNI, SEND US YOUR NEWS! We strive to have an ongoing conversation with alumni of our

programs. Where are you living? Where are you working? How

has your life developed, personally and professionally? How has

your UIC degree served you since you left us? Please send us

your updates (https://illinois.edu/sb/sec/7824288).

that PT helped both the insole-

user and control groups, but the

insole group got an added

boost.

“They showed more symmetri-

cal body weight distribution and

bore more weight on their

affected side, and their gait ve-

locity improved,” he said.

Aruin hopes other physical

therapists will use the simple

devices on their stroke patients

to see if they, too, can benefit.

His associates are considering

ways to use the insole to im-

prove posture in post-stroke

patients.

Results of the study, which was

supported by a grant from NIH,

were published in two journals:

ISRN Rehabilitation and Topics in

Stroke Rehabilitation. Also, read

an article Aruin’s work in the

Chicago Tribune (go to

www.chicagotribune.com and

search for “Aruin”).

Professor Alex Aruin holds his shoe insole that can help patients who are

recovering from stroke to regain their balance for the long-term.

College of Applied Health Sciences Alumni Weekend

May 3-5, 2013

The college we call home is planning its first-ever all-

alumni reunion, slated to include campus tours, a young

alumni reception, a Saturday night party featuring an

alumni awards program, and more!

Please save the dates to come back to campus and revisit

some of the people and places from your years at UIC.

You’ll also get to network with health professionals from

diverse disciplines and locations.

Watch your mail and e-mail for details!

Visit us online (https://illinois.edu/sb/sec/7824288) to ensure

we have your preferred e-mail and mailing addresses

YOUR SUPPORT GOES A LONG WAY

The UIC Department of Physical Therapy’s Annual Fund

provides us with current-use funds to put toward immediate

program enhancements. Your gift helps us upgrade instructional

technology, enrich scholarship awards, and more. To learn

more, please call Elise Krikau at 312-996-1339 or visit us online

(www.ahs.uic.edu/alum/support.php). Thank you!