An APTA-funded $50,000 Health Services Research Pipeline grant will support an investigation into high-value early intervention (EI) for children with functional limitations. The award was among several Foundation for Physical Therapy (Foundation) grants and scholarship awards totaling more than $500,000.
Grant recipient Beth McManus, PT, ScD, MPH, will be investigating regional variability in state and local early intervention and the ways that variability affects use and outcomes, all in an effort to improve service delivery. McManus is an associate professor in the Colorado School of Public Health's Department of Health Systems, Management, and Policy.
APTA is the Foundation's Pinnacle Partner in Research and has been a leading donor in funding major research initiatives such as the Center on Health Services Training and Research (CoHSTAR), investing in research priorities to strengthen the physical therapy profession, and supporting the Foundation's scholarship program each year.
Other grant and scholarship announcements from the Foundation:
Eric Anson, PT, MPT, PhD, the recipient of the $40,000 Pittsburgh-Marquette Challenge Research Grant, will harness virtual reality to explore ways to improve self-motion perception and decrease fear of falling in older adults. This grant is funded in part by APTA's Supporting the Professions Fund.
Annalisa Na, PT, PhD, was awarded the $40,000 Geriatric Research Grant. The goal for her project, titled "Functional Recovery in Patients with Type-2 Diabetes Mellitus following a Primary Total Knee Arthroplasty," is to improve outcomes by establishing effective guidelines. This grant is funded by the Academy of Geriatric Physical Therapy Fund.
Michael Tevald, PT, MPT, PhD, winner of the $40,000 Acute Care Research Grant, will investigate the early impact of lung transplantation on skeletal muscle, with an eye toward enabling the development of evidence-based rehabilitation strategies that will allow acute care physical therapists to effectively address effects of surgery, hospitalization, and illness. This grant is supported by a donation from the Academy of Acute Care Physical Therapy.
Bahar Shahidi, PT, DPT, PhD, was awarded the $100,000 Magistro Family Foundation Research Grant in support of a project that will evaluate the benefits of more intensive exercise-based program for patients with low back pain and provide a platform for future clinical trials. This project is funded by the Foundation's Magistro Family Endowment Fund and Legacy Fund.
Marcie Harris-Hayes, PT, DPT, received the $240,000 Paris Patla Musculoskeletal Grant for the development of effective treatment strategies for people with pre-arthritic hip disorders to improve function, decrease pain, and delay or prevent the onset of osteoarthritis. This grant was made possible by the Stanley Paris and Catherine Patla Fund.
Barbara Sargent, PT, PhD, MS, who was awarded the $40,000 Pediatric Research Grant, will be investigating the identification of cerebral palsy (CP) in early infancy and effective interventions to improve walking outcomes of individuals with CP. This grant is supported by the Pediatric Physical Therapy Fund.
Jason Beneciuk, PT, DPT, PhD, MPH, was named winner of the $40,000 Orthopaedic Research Grant for his project titled "Discriminant and Predictive Validity Assessment of the Keele STartT MSK Tool for Patients with Musculoskeletal Pain in Outpatient Physical Therapy Settings." The study aims to develop effective health care management for people with musculoskeletal pain and implement precision medicine through risk profiling to guide individualized treatment approaches. This grant is supported by the Academy of Orthopaedic Physical Therapy Fund.
In addition to the research grants, the Foundation also awarded 4 Florence P. Kendall Doctoral Scholarships of $5,000 each. The scholarships are presented to outstanding PTs as they begin their first year of graduate studies toward a postprofessional doctoral degree. Scholarship winners are:
- Allison Miller, PT, DPT, University of Delaware
- Jonathan Tsay, PT, DPT, University of California at Berkeley
- Julia Mazarella, PT, DPT, The Ohio State University
- Julie Stutzbach, PT, DPT, University of Colorado-Anschutz Medical Campus
These scholarships are funded by the Kendall Fund and the Rhomberger Fund.
"The Foundation is pleased to support promising, productive physical therapist researchers as they develop innovative and cutting-edge treatments in physical therapy," said Foundation Board of Trustees President Edelle Field-Fote, PT, PhD, FAPTA, in a Foundation news release. "Each recipient has the potential to contribute to our understanding of movement-related health conditions, interventions, and approaches to health service delivery to improve the lives of our patients and clients."