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NONPROFITU.S. POSTAGEPAIDBOSTON MAPERMIT NO. 1839

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SargentI N S I D E

2008–2009

Wendy Coster’s measurement tools helpchildren with disabilitiesperform everyday tasks.

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tion about degree programs. You can

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cial aid and degree requirements.

We invite you to stay connected withthe College and learn more about ourprograms and learning environment.To request more information, speakwith a professor or student in yourprogram of interest, or make anappointment to visit the campus,please contact :

L E A R N M O R E A B O U T S A R G E N T

Iam delighted to introduce this issue of Inside Sargent. In the past year, Boston University has embarked upon a new strategic

plan entitled “Choosing to Be Great,” the cornerstone of which is a focus on offering excellent undergraduate and professional

education while strengthening the quality of our faculty and student body. This issue of Inside Sargent will give you a snapshot

of the great progress we have made on both of these fronts in the past year.

One major accomplishment this year was revamping our introductory freshman course from a large lecture to a small

seminar format in which all freshmen have the opportunity to interact with our senior faculty. As you will learn,

students read and discussed books on topics including the relationship between poverty and health, the chal-

lenges facing health care practitioners, and the effect of disabilities on individuals. The readings were made all

the more meaningful since we were fortunate enough to have Dr. Jim Kim, co-founder of Partners in Health,

whose work was the focus of one of the books the students read, as our annual Dudley Allen Sargent lecturer.

The lecture was so popular that it turned out to be the best attended in the history of the Dudley Allen

Sargent Lecture Series.

You will also read about the wonderful experiences that our undergraduate students have outside of

the classroom—from study abroad to working in offsite and our own clinical centers, such as the

Aphasia Community Resource Center. As you will read, these experiences are invaluable in helping

students make critical decisions about their careers, whether they are interested in a career in direct

clinical care or one that will involve health policy and administration.

There is no question that a key to the success of BU Sargent College is the quality of our faculty.

Dr. Wendy Coster, one of the faculty members who is featured on the cover this year, is the Chair of our

Occupational Therapy department, which was rated the #1 program in the country by U.S. News & World Report this

year. Professor Coster received the 2007 Eleanor Clarke Slagle Lectureship Award, the highest academic honor of the

profession, from the American Occupational Therapy Association (AOTA) this past spring at the annual AOTA confer-

ence. Dr. Coster is recognized internationally for developing measures of daily life skills for children with disabilities.

We also feature the work of three of our newest faculty members, Dr. Susan Langmore, Dr. Sweta Girgenrath, and

Dr. Christine Helfrich. Dr. Langmore, who joined our Department of Speech, Language & Hearing Sciences last fall,

is an internationally recognized researcher and clinician in the area of swallowing disorders (known as dysphagia).

Her research aimed at improving swallowing in patients with head and neck cancer is featured in this issue.

Another important newcomer to the Sargent community is Dr. Girgenrath, who recently joined the Department of

Health Sciences. Funded by a grant from the Muscular Dystrophy Association, Dr. Girgenrath is studying the cell

biology of congenital muscular dystrophy. Dr. Christine Helfrich’s research, which focuses on the importance

of teaching homeless individuals life skills that will allow them to stay in housing, is also featured. You will

learn about Dr. Paula Quatromoni, a member of our Nutrition faculty and an investigator on the world-

renowned Framingham Heart Study, who is involved in research assessing the effects of diet and exer-

cise on childhood obesity. Lastly, in this issue you can read about Sargent’s ongoing commitment to

community outreach through our Aphasia Community Resource Center, our Center for Psychiatric

Rehabilitation, and the work of our students and faculty in other settings.

As always, I hope you enjoy this issue of Inside Sargent and I welcome your thoughts

and feedback.

With warm regards,

Gloria Waters

Dean and Professor

MESSAGE FROM THE DEAN

Please recycle

L E A R N I N G 2

2 An Enlightening Experience for Sargent Freshmen

4 Sargent Undergraduates Study Around the World

R E S E A R C H 6

6 The Many Rewards of Healthy Eating

8 Dysphagia: Testing a New Treatment Technique

10 A Yardstick for Progress

12 Helping Children with Chronic Muscular Dystrophy

14 Grant Awards

17 A New MSC

C L I N I C A L A P P L I C A T I O N S 1 8

18 Teaching Skills for Living a Full Life

20 A New Home: Using Research to Better Lives

C O M M U N I T Y 2 2

22 The Elusive Word: Bridging the Gap Between

Mind and Mouth

24 Learning While Helping Others

26 A Well-Balanced Act: Academics and Athletics

N O T E S 2 8

28 Faculty in Print

32 Awards & Honors

C O M M E N C E M E N T 3 2

A T A G L A N C E 3 4

TABLE OF CONTENTS

DEAN: Gloria Waters, PhD

EDITOR: Courtney de Lacy Communications Manager

CONTRIBUTORS: Maggie Bucholt Monica Deady Lester Siobhan NguyenNicole PavlasJudy Rakowsky Karen Soroca

DESIGN AND PRODUCTION: Pamela CooleyShola Friedensohn Patricia ReedBoston University Creative Services

PHOTOGRAPHERS: Kalman ZabarskyBoston University Photo Services

WEB ADDRESS: www.bu.edu/sargent

EDITORIAL COMMENTS:Inside Sargent is an annual publi-cation of Boston University Collegeof Health & Rehabilitation Sciences:Sargent College, Boston, Massachusetts.To obtain additional copies or formore information about BU SargentCollege, please contact Courtney de Lacy at [email protected] or 617-353-7476.

CONTACT INFORMATION:For more information about degreeprograms, and applying to or visit-ing the College, please contactthe BU Sargent College AcademicServices Center at 617-535-2713.

INSIDE SARGENT 2008–2009 3

programs that currently account for half ofSargent’s students. Previously, the two-creditclass was taught in a large lecture hall byrotating faculty.

Matthies said her goals were to give stu-dents a more realistic background on healthand rehabilitation sciences as a whole, inclu-ding the relationship between poverty andhealth, the challenges facing health carepractitioners, and the effect of health anddisabilities on individuals. Instead of a lec-ture hall-based format, the emphasis was onsmall classes of 10 to 12 students, which metin the Dean’s Conference Room. The founda-tions of the new course were based on anintegration of analytical reading, class dis-cussion, and essay writing.

“Students need to understand the broaderframework of health care and its underlyingconcepts,” Matthies explained. “Health care

is organized into different kinds of systems,and the choice of a system has an impact onsociety.”

The course requirements included eightone- to two-page essays and three shortpapers of four to five pages. All of the writtenwork was evaluated by Theodora Goss andother instructors from the College of Arts &Sciences (CAS) Writing Program. Goss, aCAS doctoral student, developed the stan-dards and appropriate materials and teach-ing requirements. “It was a pleasure tocollaborate with Dora. She is a publishedauthor herself and set high standards forwritten work in HP 151,” Matthies said.Papers were graded for organization andclarity. Prior to each class, three discussiontopics were announced; students couldchoose one of the questions and submit their responses in writing as a one-pageessay requirement. This way, every studentwas well prepared to discuss at least one ofthe three topics assigned. Half the grade wasbased on students’ participation in the dis-cussions. They had to actively listen; to con-

L E A R N I N G

Arequired seminar, SAR HP 151Introduction to the Health andRehabilitation Professions was

revamped into an exciting discussion-basedcourse with thought-provoking texts thatbrought cohesion and community to the2007 freshman class.

“It was more fun and more of a challengethan other approaches we usually take tocourse development,” said Melanie L.Matthies, associate dean and associate pro-fessor of speech, language, and hearing sci-ence, who was charged with reorganizingand coordinating the course. “This was ateam effort. Everyone was very generouswith their time and ideas.”

Classes were taught by 10 senior facultymembers, including Matthies, all of whomfacilitated discussions and served as rolemodels in both critical analysis and conver-sation across a wide range of health-relatedissues, including topics based on theirresearch backgrounds. A healthy exchangeof ideas ensued, as the class discussed thebooks Mountains Beyond Mountains: TheQuest of Dr. Paul Farmer, a Man Who WouldCure the World, by Tracy Kidder; How DoctorsThink, by Jerome Groopman, MD; and NoPity: People with Disabilities Forging a NewCivil Rights Movement, by Joseph Shapiro.

“Not everyone was going to agree witheverything that was said, and that was thefun part,” she said. “The discussions are anexcellent opportunity for our faculty leadersto model civilized discourse so that the stu-dents see what constructive disagreementlooks like.”

The corresponding ninth annual DudleyAllen Sargent Lecture featuring Jim YongKim, MD, a co-founder with Paul Farmer ofPartners in Health, a nonprofit organizationto combat global health care disparities,drew a record turnout. According toMatthies, most students were extremelyinspired by the book.

Matthies met several times with thedepartment chairs and Dean Gloria Watersto discuss the approach and basic principlesbefore coming up with a bare-bones frame-work, which the HP 151 team later filled inwith specifics. The course, initially designedto introduce freshmen to Sargent Collegeand its programs, had not changed in sev-eral years. It did not, for example, includematerial specific to the human physiology or health science majors, two undergraduate

2 BOSTON UNIVERSITY

tribute and engage each otherwith well-reasoned arguments;and to comment on eachother’s insights and personalexperiences.

“What shocked me wasthat nearly everyone had a storyabout receiving poor medical care, ranging from doctors being rude or dismis-sive to episodes bordering on malpractice,”Matthies said. “That kind of sharing helpedeveryone feel connected.”

The instructors’ efforts resulted in mostlyenthusiastic and positive responses fromstudents, such as these extracted fromcourse evaluations: “I am a shy person butthe class is small, so I did not feel intimi-dated. . . I liked the relaxed environment.”“Everyone was open to each other’s ideas.”“The writing assignments were usefulbecause they helped me focus on theimportant aspects of the reading.”

According to Matthies, the faculty wasvery creative in their class preparations andused different approaches to make the mate-

rial come alive, including Web links, car-toons, and video clips. For example, one professor used the Google earth website toshow specific areas in Haiti, New York City,and Boston for a discussion surrounding the books.

“I was happy to have had this opportunityto collaborate with so many people and tosee the personal interaction between seniorfaculty and freshmen,” said Matthies. “Theirimmediate connection and the sense ofcommunity were wonderful to see.”

Books used in HP 151, Introduction

to the Health and Rehabilitation

Professions: No Pity, by Joseph

Shapiro; Mountains

Beyond Mountains,

by Tracy Kidder,

and How Doctors

Think, by Jerome

Groopman, MD.

Melanie Matthies

ExperienceAn Enlightening

for Sargent Freshmen

Opposite page: Sargent student Jessica Spiegel in Spain.

Left: BU students take a break from sightseeing; two pho-

tos taken by Katie Wieder during her travels,

one of Howth, Ireland, and the other of the

Wicklow Mountains in Glendalough, Ireland;

Spiegel and friends in London.


able insight into othercultures while pursuingtheir degrees.

“It was a great experience, and I lovedevery second,” said Spiegel, who said shestarted out loving everything about London.

But even the merits of the British national-ized health care system did not ultimatelymake her want to trade in her homeland.

“In the end, I had newfound respect forAmerica and couldn’t wait to get home,” she said.

Getting outside U.S. borders does offer a perspective that can make a career deci-sion click.

Spiegel’s experience, for example, helpedher realize that she wants to concentrate onclinical care rather than health care policy.

“I still want to be in health care 100 per-cent. I really want to help people and one ofthe most basic ways is to make sure they arehealthy.”

Solimen still plans to aim for a health caremanagement career, but his internship with a British law firm offered a fascinating peekinto the world of wigged legal practitioners.He came away grateful for the chance to seethings he wouldn’t have if he’d stayed state-side.

“It’s 100 percent worth it,” said Solimen.“Otherwise you’ll have four years of, inessence, the same thing.”

Students don’t always wind up in theirfirst choice of countries. For instance, Wiedersaid that learning about public health systemsin an African country—her preference—wasnot possible; she could go abroad only duringthe summer because she is on the varsitycross-country team. But she learned thateven a western country like Ireland oftenapproaches life and work differently than the United States.

“The Irish workplace appears to be morerelaxed than the U.S.,” she said. “Supervisorsare not questioning your work or rate of productivity.”

L E A R N I N G

During her semester in London, JessicaSpiegel worked for a group lobbyingfor stem cell research and her class

got a firsthand look at the British health caresystem on a hospital tour.

Another Sargent junior, Adam Solimen,enjoyed his economics courses in Londonbut was really moved by the sight of hun-dreds of people queuing up to make with-drawals from the troubled Northern Rockbank.

“I thought it was pretty cool to witnesssuch a strange thing in history. People losttrust in banks,” he said.

And during her summer semester in Dublin,Katie Wieder learned about the challengesthat nongovernmental organizations face intrying to help people when she worked withMédecins Sans Frontières/Doctors WithoutBorders.

Sargent undergraduates—who studyabroad in exotic locales from India to SouthAfrica and China to Switzerland—gain valu-

4 BOSTON UNIVERSITY

Sargent Undergraduates Study Aroundthe World

“In the end, I hadnewfound respect forAmerica and couldn’twait to get home.”


To determine who is buying the imovemeals, Quatromoni used grant funds to buythe school cafeterias sophisticated cash reg-isters that require each student to punch in afour-digit code upon checkout that automati-cally records his or her lunch purchase.

The graduate students on the studyhelped school nurses measure and recordthe height and weight of each student. Thisdata and general demographic informationcan then be combined with cafeteria foodpurchase records.

“That’s how we can tell if we are reachingstudents who are most at risk, includingoverweight students, children from lowerincome families, and those of racial diver-sity,” Quatromoni said.

The graduate students involved in thestudy also go around the cafeteria with clipboards and ask middle schoolers to pickfrom one of five cartoon facial expressions tomatch how they feel about the turkey tacosor hummus and raw veggies they just ate for lunch. The study hopes to also evaluateCosta’s records of deliveries to the schools to see whether demand for salad compo-nents and other produce increases as stu-dents’ habits change.

In each school, the study reaches from500 to 1,300 students. Because of delaysgetting the cash register systems and stafftraining up and running in Quincy, data col-lection did not start until spring of 2008,requiring the study to extend into the nextschool year. In New Bedford, data collectionwas completed during the 2007-08 schoolyear.

Over the course of the project, there willbe up to eight graduate students involved,one of whom is a doctoral student in epi-demiology at BU’s School of Public Health(SPH) who is doing her dissertation workusing these data. Also involved are SPH co-investigators Jonathan Howland from the Department of Social and BehavioralSciences and Al Ozonoff from theDepartment of Biostatistics.

Ideally, this innovative study will be a cata-lyst to larger research initiatives addressingchildhood obesity. Costa is already workingin partnership with the MassachusettsDepartment of Public Health through a mini-grant program to offer healthy imove meals tomore school districts. Quatromoni anticipatesthat the next phase of her research will com-bine the healthy eating alternatives with a phys-ical education component for greater effects.

“Hopefully, this is the beginning of some-thing bigger,” she said.

Above: Assistant Professor of Nutrition Paula

Quatromoni brings the imove program into

middle-school communities.

Left: A student proudly holds up an iPod,

her reward for healthy eating, Quatromoni

interacts with children in a school cafeteria

among the fresh fruit displays presented

by Costa.

R E S E A R C H

When lunch for middle school students consists of brownies,potato chips, and ice cream

treats, it doesn’t take a top-notch epidemi-ologist to see red flags for childhood obesity.But it does take solid research by an epidem-iologist to determine whether a program topromote healthy food choices in middle schoolcan bring about positive change in eatinghabits, and that’s where Paula Quatromonicomes in. She started with a small study in herhometown of Medfield, Massachusetts, andfound that even relatively affluent Caucasianyouths eat too much pizza and two few veg-etables and do not exercise enough.

Then Quatromoni discovered that aCharlestown produce distributor had recentlyintroduced a healthy eating program called“imove” into about a dozen area middle schoolsto encourage students to choose more nutri-tious lunch meals in the school cafeteria. Imovemeals are made with more vegetables, fruits,and whole grains and less salt, sugar, and fat.Quatromoni, an assistant professor of nutritionat BU Sargent College and an investigator onthe world-renowned Framingham Heart Study,was awarded funding from the private CharlesH. Hood Foundation to bring imove into middle-school communities serving raciallydiverse and economically disadvantagedchildren and to evaluate the program usinga scientific research design.

“A lot of people are trying to do the rightthing, from food service managers to physi-cal education teachers,” said Quatromoni.

“But we needto do researchand collect

data to determine what strategies actuallyimpact obesity risk.”

Quatromoni devised a study that surveysstudents on their eating patterns, examinestheir food purchases, and tracks their heightand weight over a school year. The study istesting the effectiveness of Costa Fruit &Produce Company’s imove program in fourmiddle schools in Quincy and New Bedford.In each city, one school is receiving imoveand one school is not, allowing for meaning-ful comparisons. Specifically, the research istesting whether students change their food-choice behavior in the presence of healthyalternative lunches, occasional promotionswith free samples of fresh produce, andincentives in the form of raffle tickets foreach imove meal purchased. Raffle prizesrange from skateboards and basketballs toiPods and Red Sox tickets, with an annualgrand prize of a mountain bike.

“It’s really fun to see the students get soexcited about why we are doing this,” saidQuatromoni. “They taste new foods and wincool stuff, and that makes the connectionthat healthy eating can be fun. When theyreceive positive reinforcement for tryingsomething new, students build confidencethat makes them open to trying again.”

While the research is still under way,Quatromoni has seen for herself that the

program has introduced students to new flavors and acceptable new foods.

Every six weeks or so, Costa sponsors freshproduce displays with free samples in theimove schools. She heard one Quincy middle-schooler remark, “I’ve never tasted a freshblueberry before,” and, “I never knew there

was a fruit called ‘ugli fruit’!” The research hasbeen challenging for the same reasons thatthe schools were chosen—permission formshad to be translated into Vietnamese, Chinese,Portuguese, and Spanish.

“The schools don’t always have what they need. This is reallyhumbling work,” she said.

6 BOSTON UNIVERSITY

Paula Quatromoni The Many Rewards of

Healthy Eating

How did you like your imove meal today?

Super Bad Maybe Good

or Maybe BadGood Super

GoodBad


head and neck cancer patients three to sixmonths after radiation therapy.

Radiation therapy can cause the tissue inthe throat to scar, and scar tissue is not aspliable as regular skin. Because this scar tis-sue is not as malleable, when a patient triesto swallow, the throat muscles do not con-strict as much as they would in a normalperson. The treatment will hopefully keepthe muscles working, so that they do notstiffen, and swallowing will improve.

At 14 different sites around the country,Langmore’s study will evaluate the effect ofelectrical stimulation and exercise on swal-lowing in 240 patients, who will be randomlyplaced into one of two groups.

In the experimental group, patients willuse an electrical stimulation device, placedon the skin under the chin, along with swal-lowing exercises. They will undergo three,20-minute sessions a day, six days a week,for three months. During each session, a

tone in the electrical stimulationdevice will indicate that they are toswallow forcefully 60 times overthe course of each treatment.

“It’s a very intense program,”Langmore said. She explains thatwhen the electrical stimulationcomes on, it should help the mus-cles under the tongue contract.This is important because thosemuscles are active very early in thesequence of swallowing. “I like tothink of it as sort of a jump start tothe swallow.”

The control group will undergothe same steps but their devicewill not administer electricalstimulation.

To determine what part, if any,the electrical stimulation device played inpatients’ recovery, speech pathologists willmeasure several swallow parameters fromrecorded video fluoroscopy studies donebefore, in the middle of treatment and aftertreatment. Quality-of-life instruments andother functional measures will be given aswell. The goal is to answer the questions,“Does the swallow get better? Does thepatient’s diet improve and does he or shereport a better quality of life?”

While the clinicians who prescribe thetherapy for the patients will know whoreceives a true electrical stimulation device,those who analyze the swallows will not know.

Langmore’s clinical trial began in 2007,and the first year was spent preparing clini-cians to implement the study, writing proce-dures, and getting approval from the localinstitutions’ review boards before beginning.They expect to begin registering patients forthe study on September 1, 2008.

R E S E A R C H

Swallowing is somethingmost of us take for granted,from enjoying the last swig

of morning coffee to clearing ourthroat before making an impor-tant announcement.

Individuals with dysphagia or a swallowing disorder maystruggle to accomplish thesesimple activities, explains SusanLangmore, PhD, CCC/SLP, BRS-S.Beyond difficulty with activitieslike these, a serious swallowingproblem may have even worsehealth consequences. A personwith dysphagia may not be able to eat properly, resulting in weight loss, or they may aspi-rate, forcing food or liquid intotheir lungs, which can result in pneumonia.

Langmore explains that while workingwith swallowing patients, clinicians may tryto introduce foods with various consistenciesto determine whether a patient may be ableto eat a thin or thick liquid. Other ways tohelp individuals swallow include changingtheir position while they eat.

While these methods sometimes help apatient, they may not always be successful,and a feeding tube may be necessary toensure proper nutrition.

Langmore, who joined the Department of Speech, Language & Hearing Sciences inthe summer of 2007 as a clinical professor, is currently researching another method toimprove swallowing in patients with dysphasia.

Through a grant from the National CancerInstitute at the National Institutes of Health,Langmore is leading an investigation intowhether exercise paired with electrical stim-ulation can improve swallowing problems in

8 BOSTON UNIVERSITY

Susan Langmore

Right: Susan Langmore, clinical professor, Department

of Speech, Language and Hearing Sciences at BU

Sargent College, and professor, Department of

Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery at BU

Medical Center. Above: Langmore displays the electri-

cal simulation device and where it is placed on the

patient; Langmore working with a swallowing patient;

an anatomical model of the musculature and other

major structures used for swallowing.

Langmore said that electrical stimula-tion is used frequently in the field of phys-ical therapy, and has also recently becomepopular for treating patients with dyspha-gia despite a lack of solid research toprove its effectiveness.

“I believe this study is importantbecause no one has ever studied whetherintense exercise really helps patients withswallowing problems secondary to headand neck cancer treated with radiationtherapy,” Langmore said. “Our experiencehas told us this is effective, but no one hasever proven it.” She hopes her efforts shedlight on the issue.

“Although I do think it’s very promising,we need a good trial to see who it helps,”she said. “I think it will have an impact—whether the results are positive or nega-tive, we’re going to know more about theeffectiveness of our treatment.”

Aside from her research, Langmoresees patients at Boston Medical Centerand teaches at BU Sargent College. Inaddition to these activities, she is alsoknown in her field for having developed afrequently used procedure for evaluatingdysphagia: fiberoptic endoscopic evalua-tion of swallowing, or FEES.

DYS P H A G I A :

Testing a New

TreatmentTechnique


Wendy Coster knows the value of a yardstick. In 1992, she helpedrevolutionize the world of occu-

pational and physical therapy with what isconsidered the gold standard for measuringhow well children with disabilities or impair-ments perform daily life skills, and she hassoared from there.

Coster, who chairs the Department ofOccupational Therapy, saw the need in the1980s for good instruments to measure per-formance of critical activities of daily living,ones that would produce consistent scoresno matter who interviewed the parents orwhether that child was having a bad day. But when Coster teamed up with physicaltherapist Steve Haley, now at the School ofPublic Health, there was a “Catch-22” oper-ating in grant funding.

“Everyonewanted you touse good mea-sures if you weregoing to run aclinical researchtrial, but theydidn’t want to giveyou any money to develop themeasures,” saidCoster, a professorof occupational

therapy. “They just didn’t get it.”At that time, whether a child was develop-

mentally disabled or suffered an injury or ill-ness, there was no way to measure how wellhe or she performed basic life skills such asdressing, teeth-brushing, getting to school, oreating family meals. The only yardsticks wereIQ tests, which measure cognitive skills but notwhether a child could process an instruction.

A major achievement of the PediatricEvaluation of Disability Inventory (PEDI) is the way it is calibrated to show small incre-ments of progress. It also does not limit themethod a child uses to accomplish a task, acriticism that the disability community had

leveled against previous assessments.“We don’t ask what method they use to

get their shirt on or tie a shoe, we just ask,whatever method they use, can they get itdone?” said Coster.

After the PEDI was published, it quicklybecame not only nationally recognized, itwas translated into 10 languages, includ-ing Chinese and Hebrew. It is now thestandard for research and clinical practice,providing a measure of functional progressand guiding therapies ranging from phar-maceutical to behavioral.

“Once the measure was available, I couldsee how it changed the field,” she said. “Itreally did make a difference.”

Coster has made such a difference notonly with the PEDI but with her entire bodyof work that she was awarded the 2008Eleanor Clarke Slagle Lectureship, the pro-fession’s highest academic honor and alsothe highest honor given by the AmericanOccupational Therapy Association.

Dr. Coster’s work is credited for its cre-ative contribution to the profession’s body of knowledge. “Dr. Coster is an exemplaryfaculty member and tremendous asset toBoston University Sargent College,” saidGloria Waters, dean of Boston UniversityCollege of Health & Rehabilitation Sciences:Sargent College. “She is truly a giftedteacher, researcher, and administrator.”

From the PEDI, Coster went on to developanother groundbreaking instrument, theSchool Function Assessment, which mea-sures how well a student with a disabilitymanages in a school environment, from get-ting in and out of a chair to interacting withpeers. The instrument works like a detectivefor obstacles to success. For instance, if astudent with mobility problems cannotarrive at art class until the rest of the classis launched on the project, this student mayhave limited time to complete it, resulting innot only performing poorly in art but in frus-trations that might cascade to other areas.Without proper detection and intervention,larger problems might develop.

“It could start with a mobility problem but it becomes a much larger problem,” saidCoster, who published her research on the

assessment in 1998 after three rounds ofdata collection.

The School Function Assessment also hasbeen acclaimed internationally, translatedinto Icelandic, Chinese, and Hebrew, and isused for research in Israel.

Coster’s next undertaking is to develop a measure to describe the participation ofchildren and youth with diverse disabili-ties—including physical and learning disabil-ities, autism, and behavioral disorders—inimportant community and home activities.The goal is to create an instrument that cancapture the extent to which children withdisabilities are engaged in culturally mean-ingful activites and events such as familymeals, religious services, community out-ings, and organized groups such as the BoyScouts, which is more challenging than theclear-cut tasks measured in the PEDI. A par-allel scale will measure factors that facilitateor create barriers to participation. Thethree-year project is supported by a grant

from the National Institute on Disability andRehabilitation Research.

“If it weren’t challenging, it probablywouldn’t be interesting,” Coster said. “Youhave to define what you’re asking clearlyenough to get decent data that are also clini-cally useful.”

Meanwhile, Coster and Haley haveanother grant to revise and refine the PEDI,which comes in a current climate of greatersupport in the funding world for ways tostandardize measures of function—theNational Institutes of Health has beenincreasingly inclined to spend money onprojects to ensure research results can becompared, Coster said. Now, grant providerssee the wisdom of developing yardsticks.

As she refines the PEDI, Coster sees howfar her research and the field have come. “Iwish I’d known then what I know now,” shesaid. “But as we learn more, we’ll get betterand better at designing the measures forwhat we really want to know.”

R E S E A R C H

10 BOSTON UNIVERSITY

Wendy Coster

“We don’t ask what methodthey use to get their shirt onor tie a shoe, we just askwhatever method they use,can they get it done?”

Left: Wendy Coster, professor

and chair of the Department

of Occupational Therapy at

BU Sargent College. Above:

Professor Coster’s research is

primarily with pediatric measures;

parents are asked to fill out

inventories to help Coster

gather her research; Coster at

a focus group with the parents

of children with disabilities.

A YA R D S T I C K for P R O G R E S S


R E S E A R C H

Can muscle cells deficient in laminin—a protein that normally helps anchormuscle cells—be manipulated to pro-

long life and reduce the effects of a rare formof muscular dystrophy?

Newly hired Assistant ProfessorMahasweta Girgenrath, PhD, is studying thecell biology in congenital muscular dystrophy(CMD). CMD is the term given to a group of progressive muscle-wasting diseases thataffect both male and female infants at orshortly after birth. Health of muscle cellsdepends on proper structure function of their itegral proteins, including laminin. In the muscle cells of infants with MDCIA, themost common form of CMD, laminin is miss-ing or dysfunctional. The symptoms canrange in severity from mild to extreme, andoften lead to death in early childhood. CMDoccurs in one out of 100,000 births.

CMD is one of nine types of musculardystrophy, an inherited disorder caused bygenetic defects that results in the weaknessand degeneration of the skeletal musclesthat control movement. There are no curesfor any of the muscular dystrophies, onlytreatments for secondary symptoms.

“My major goal is to understand thepathophysiology of this and other forms ofmuscle degenerative diseases and prevent or ameliorate symptoms,” says Girgenrath.

She is the principal investigator on tworesearch grants, one from the NationalInstitutes of Health and a second from theMuscular Dystrophy Association (MDA),awarded to develop strategies to treatlaminin deficiencies. The MDA grant is

part of the special translational research program designed to fast-track treatmentapproaches for rare neuromuscular diseasesthat have proven promising in initial studies,since for-profit drug companies are mostlyinterested in developing drugs that affect alarge segment of the population. The MDAdefines translational research as “preclinicalactivities leading up to a clinical trial.”

MDCIA is rare compared to the morecommon Duchenne muscular dystrophy(DMD), which isn’t detectable until a child is three to five years old. DMD affects onlymales; boys may live as long as 25 or 30years. In DMD, the missing protein is dys-trophin. Clinical trials are already under wayfor DMD patients, including one with gene-compounds being injected into bicep mus-cles, and have shown promising results.DMD affects one in 3,500 male infants.

“MDCIA is such a devastating disease,”says Girgenrath. “And those affected arehelpless infants. It’s pretty scary because

there is no cure. I’d like to try to do some-thing about it.”

Girgenrath has always been intrigued bythe mechanisms that regulate skeletal mus-cle growth, repair, and survival in the contextof muscular dystrophies. After continuingher muscle research as a post-doc atPennsylvania State University, she switchedto cardiac biology at Brigham and Women’sHospital only to realize where her passion lay and accepted a research position atBoston Biomedical Research Institute (BBRI)in Watertown, Massachusetts, an independ-ent nonprofit lab dedicated to forging a con-nection between basic discovery and medicalapplication.

“I wanted to go back to muscle research,”she recalled. “I was lucky to get into the right lab.”

At BBRI, regenerative biology is one offour program initiatives for life debilitatingand deadly diseases, including muscular dystrophy. She worked with scientist JeffreyBoone Miller, her mentor, for six years.There, she was part of a team and becamethe lead author on several papers in peer-reviewed journals, including an article in theJournal of Clinical Investigation on hamperingapoptosis—a type of cell death—to prolongsurvival of those suffering from CMD.

Girgenrath and her colleagues found thattwo genetic interventions increased survivalrates in laminin-deficient mice. Some micewere bred to overproduce a protein calledBcl-2, which protects again apoptosis (celldeath), while others were bred not to pro-duce another protein called Bax, a contribu-


H E L P I N G C H I L D R E N with

Sweta Girgenrath

Left: Sweta Girgenrath, assistant professor in the

Department of Health Sciences at BU Sargent College.

Below: Girgenrath in her lab at Sargent with her research

assistants and graduate students.

tor to cell death. According to Girgenrath,the lack of the Bax protein improved life span growth and muscle health. The Bax-free mice were larger than those bred toreplicate CMD, although not as large ashealthy mice. Bax lessened the diseaseseverity and made the muscles more res-istant to cell death.

“We had noteworthy improvement in the pathology,” she says. “The mice lived 25 weeks or 175 days, instead of 28 to 42days. That’s quite significant.”

Girgenrath speculates that perhaps acombination of therapy strategies might help to prolong life for infants with CMD. For example, along with inhibiting apoptosisand facilitating muscle regeneration, usinggrowth factors such as IGF-1 might improvethe experimental outcomes.

In addition to her research, Girgenrath is in the process of developing a course onthe biology of muscles in health and diseasefor the Spring 2009 semester. She is alsoexcited about pursuing her muscle-stem cellresearch and hopes to have more undergrad-uate and graduate students to assist her inthe lab by fall 2008.

“We’re still struggling to figure out a treatment regime to benefit the quality of life and improve life expectancy,” she says.“Researchers may not find a cure in the nextcouple of years, but prospects of developinga successful treatment regimen are verybright.”

CHRONICMUSCULAR

DYSTROPHY

Cellular processes controlled by IGF-1

IGF-1 molecule

IGF-1 receptor

Hypertropy

Differentiation Survival

Proliferation

14 BOSTON UNIVERSITY INSIDE SARGENT 2008–2009 15

2007–2008 Grant AwardsFrom July 1, 2007, to June 30, 2008, Boston University College of Health & Rehabilitation Sciences:Sargent College received research funding in the amount of $8,607,697.

Below is a sampling of funds received during this period.

R E S E A R C H

Principal Investigator Project Title Agency Funds This Action

Helen Barbas, Professor of Health Sciences Organization of Prefrontal Feedback Circuits NIMH $344,546

Helen Barbas, Professor of Health Sciences Prefrontal Anatomic Pathways in Executive Control NINDS $354,116

Helen Barbas, Professor of Health Sciences Architecture of Myelinated Axons Linking Frontal Autism Speaks $53,000Cortical Areas (V. Zikopoulos)

Sharon Cermak, Professor of Occupational Therapy Physical Activity, Fitness and Obesity in Children NICHD $152,822With Coordination Disorders

Sharon Cermak, Professor of Occupational Therapy Training Long-Term LEND Neurodevelopmental Disabilities HRSA $30,016

Sharon Cermak, Professor of Occupational Therapy Diet, Activity, and Obesity in Children with Autism NICHD $5,102(Subcontract via UMass Medical Center)

Jeffry Coady, Assistant Professor of Speech, Lexical Influences on Nonword Repetition NIDCD $81,250Language & Hearing Sciences by Children with and without SLI

Ellen Cohn, Clinical Associate Professor of Speech, IPA: Culture and Communications in Hypertension Dept. of Veterans $21,034Language & Hearing Sciences Affairs Management

Wendy Coster, Associate Professor of Occupational Therapy Development of Measures of Participation Dept. of Education $195,233and Environment for Children with Disabilities

L. Clarke Cox, Clinical Associate Professor of Speech, Hearing Acuity, Cognitive Aging, and Memory for Speech NIA $20,313Language & Hearing Sciences

Marianne Farkas, Director of Training, Innovative Knowledge Dissemination and U.S. Dept of Education $499,966Center for Psychiatric Rehabilitation Utilization for Disability and Professional

Organizations and Stakeholders

Marianne Farkas, Director of Training, Peer Support for University Students with Psychiatric HSS/SAMHSA $84,075Center for Psychiatric Rehabilitation Disabilities (Subcontract via NAMI Support Technical

Assistance & Resource Center)

Mahasweta Girgenrath, Assistant Professor of Health Sciences A Combinatorial Strategy to Treat the Pathology MDA $45,000of Congenital Muscular Dystrophy

Mahasweta Girgenrath, Assistant Professor of Health Sciences A Combinatorial Strategy to Treat the Pathology MDA $11,250of Congenital Muscular Dystrophy

Christine Helfrich Homeless Mentally Ill: Strategies for Dept. of Education $44,629Maintaining Residential Stability

Norman Hursh, Associate Professor of Rehabilitation Counseling The Boston Connects Model of Student Mathile Family Foundation $21,094Support: Expanding Technical Assistanceand Evaluation (subcontract via Boston College)

Karen Jacobs, Clinical Professor of Occupational Therapy University Students’ Laptop Computer Use OERC $30,000

Karen Jacobs, Clinical Professor of Occupational Therapy University Students and Their Notebook Computer Use: Phase II OERC $25,500

Susan Kandarian, Professor of Health Sciences Role of IKK Signaling in Skeletal Muscle HHS/NIH/HIAMS $52,074Atrophy (D. Van Gammeren)

Susan Kandarian, Professor of Health Sciences Regulation of Gene Expression in Skeletal Muscle: HHS/NIH/NIAMS $349,375NF-kB Signaling in Atrophy


Susan Kandarian, Professor of Health Sciences Identification of NF-kappaB Target Genes HHS/NIH/NIAMS $209,625in Skeletal Muscle During Cachexia

Julie Keysor, Assistant Professor of Physical Therapy Disability Risk Factors Among Older Adults Arthritis Foundation $90,000With Knee Arthritis

Gerald Kidd, Jr., Professor of Speech, Central Factors in Auditory Masking NIDCD $432,206Language & Hearing Sciences (In conjunction with Hearing Research Center)

Gerald Kidd, Jr., Professor of Speech, Core Center Grant—Sound-Field Laboratory (Core 1) NIDCD $182,839Language & Hearing Sciences

Larry Kohn, Coordinator of Development, Training for the Future (Subcontract via U.S. Dept of Education $66,000Center for Psychiatric Rehabilitation Comm. of Mass./Rehabilitation Commission)

Melanie Matthies, Associate Professor of Speech, Constraints and Strategies in Speech Production NIDCD $35,196Language & Hearing Sciences

Melanie Matthies, Associate Professor of Speech, Effects of Hearing Status on Adult Speech Production NIDCD $68,690Language & Hearing Sciences

Kathleen Morgan, Professor of Health Sciences Regulation of Contraction of Blood Vessels NHLBI $317,180

Kathleen Morgan, Professor of Health Sciences Dynamics of the Vascular Smooth Muscle Cytoskeleton NHLBI $1,303,738

Kathleen Morgan, Professor of Health Sciences Subcellular Organization of Signaling in Smooth Muscle NHLBI $678,331

Kathleen Morgan, Professor of Health Sciences Characterizing a Novel Branch of the American Heart $38,000Signaling Network that Regulates Vascular AssociationSmooth Muscle Contraction (S. Vetterkind)

Patricia Nemec, Clinical Associate Professor of Long Term Training in Rehabilitation for Dept. of Education $41,951Rehabilitation Counseling Individuals With Psychiatric Disabilities

Deborah Nicolellis, Marianne Farkas People Encountering People: Curricula to Shift Dept. of Education $100,000Center for Psychiatric Rehabilitation the Paradigm for Master’s Level Rehabilitation

Counseling Students

Gael Orsmond, Associate Professor of Occupational Therapy Impact of Parenting Adolescents and Adults with NIH $180,247Autism (U. of Wisconsin Subcontract)

Paula Quatromoni, Assistant Professor of Health Sciences Evaluating IMOVE: An Environmental Intervention Charles Hood $150,000to Promote Healthy Eating in Middle-School Children Foundationfrom Massachusetts Communities at High Risk

for Childhood Obesity

Paula Quatromoni, Assistant Professor of Health Sciences Energy Density, Adoption of Healthy Lifestyle Unilever UK $69,280Behaviors, and Metabolic Disease in a Central Resources, Ltd.Population-Based Cohort

Maria Restrepo-Toro, Center for Psychiatric Rehabilitation Center for Capacity Building on Minorities U.S. Dept. of Education $22,300with Disabilities Research (Subcontract via University of Illinois/Chicago)

E. Sally Rogers, Director of Research Activities, RRTC on Recovery and Recovery-Oriented Psychiatric U.S. Dept of Education $750,000Center for Psychiatric Rehabilitation Rehabilitation for Persons With Long Term Mental Illness


R E S E A R C H



E. Sally Rogers, Director of Research Activities, Instrument to Measure Recovery Promoting U.S. Dept. of Education $149,908Center for Psychiatric Rehabilitation Competence Among Spanish Speaking

Mental Health Providers

Zlatka Russinova, Senior Research Associate, Advanced Research Training Program In U.S. Dept. of Education $149,986Center for Psychiatric Rehabilitation Psychiatric Rehabilitation

Eliot Saltzman, Associate Professor in Physical Collaborative Research: Landmark-Based National Science Foundation $44,663Therapy & Athletic Training Robust Speech Recognition Using

Prosody-Guided Models of Speech

Leher Singh, Associate Professor of Speech, Prelexical Predictors of Word Learning NIDCD $79,341Language & Hearing Sciences

Leher Singh, Associate Professor of Speech, How to Grow a Lexicon: Word Discovery in Infancy NICHD $14,252Language & Hearing Sciences

Louise Stanczak, Doctoral Student in Speech, Individual Differences In Lexical NIDCD $26,747Language & Hearing Sciences and Syntactic Ambiguity Resolution

Robert Wagenaar, Professor of Physical Body-Area Instrumentation (Lift Monitor) for The Hartford Fire $125,016Therapy & Athletic Training Avoidance of Workplace Injury (in conjunction Ins. Co.

with Center for Information and Systems Engineering)

Robert Wagenaar, Professor of Physical The Effects of Anterior Cruciate Ligament NATA $2,500Therapy & Athletic Training Reconstruction on Gait Coordination: Research & Foundation

A Dynamics Perspective (K. Lam)

Gloria Waters, Dean, Professor of Speech, Assessment of Comprehension Skills U.S. Dept. of Education $313,756Language & Hearing Sciences in Older Struggling Readers

Gloria Waters, Dean, Professor of Speech, Language Comprehension in Aging NIA $506,280Language & Hearing Sciences and Alzheimer’s Disease

Gloria Waters, Dean, Professor of Speech, Functional Neuroimaging Studies of NIDCD $39,270Language & Hearing Sciences Syntactic Processing (Subcontract via Mass.

General Hospital)

DUDLEY ALLEN SARGENT RESEARCH FUNDThe Dudley Allen Sargent Research Fund helps graduate students, faculty, and alumni of Sargent meet the expenses of research projects. Initiated in 1966 by the class of 1921 and supported by contributions from alumni and friends as well as by indirect funds from sponsored research, this fund helps foster innovation in health care research. Listed below are the 2008 recipients.

Paula Quatromoni, Assistant Professor of Health Sciences CYCLE Kids: a Pilot Study to Deliver and Evaluate an Exercise Intervention to School-Age Children in Urban Schools

Dr. Naira Matevosyan, Center for Psychiatric Rehabilitation Reproductive Health in Women with Serious Mental Illnesses: Client and Provider Perspectives

Dr. Marie Mesidor, Post Doctoral Fellow The Relationship Between Mothers with Severe Mental Illness and Their Daughters

Mario Munoz, Doctoral Student, Rehabilitaion Science Program The Association Between Motor Coordination and Fitness in Hispanic Children

2007–2008 Grant Awards (Continued) A New MSC:

Renovation Drawsto a Close

The final touches are beingadded to the newly renovated,LEED-certified George K.

Makechnie Study Center (MSC), dueto be completed by the start of Fall2008 classes. A support facility thatprovides media production resourcesfor students and faculty as well as astate-of-the-art computer laboratoryavailable for student use, the MSC isa cutting-edge study center for BUSargent College students.

The center’s resources will includea video-editing suite and media-viewing facilities; 11 computer work-stations; 4 soundproof study rooms;55 seats, and an additional, largerseminar/group work room. Technicalsupport and instruction will also beoffered, along with media support forthe BU Sargent College community.

Construction has commenced onthe last and more cosmetic touches,bamboo counters and glass walls.The result of all this hard work willbe a modern study center filled withnatural light.

“We are delighted with the finishedproduct. It is not only much more fuc-tional than the previous space, butalso very attractive,” said Dean GloriaWaters. “The new study center will bean excellent resource for everyone inthe Sargent community: students,faculty and staff.”


Boston University schools and departments.These collaborations—and those with otherSargent College programs—have enabledHutchinson and Kohn to develop cutting-edgerehabilitation programs that are helping tochange the mental health field.

The Center has worked with SargentCollege’s Nutrition & Fitness Center todevelop a nutrition health and wellness pro-gram for “CPR” students. In addition, theSargent Exercise program worked with theCenter to develop an exercise regimen forpeople with mental illness. The Center alsoserves as an important field placement forSargent undergraduate and graduateOccupational Therapy students.

In 2007, the Center collaborated with theSchool of Theology and Associate Dean forAcademic and Administrative Affairs JohnBerthrong to develop a course called KindredSpirits. The course teaches students aboutthe role animals can play in helping peoplerecover and was developed based on evi-dence-based practices in animal-assistedinterventions. CPR teacher Marjorie Jacobs is aided by graduate theology students andMicah, her 26-pound poodle. During class,Micah demonstrates her uncanny ability toreach out to students who are stressed, sad, orin need of unconditional love and acceptance.

The Department of Physical Education,Recreation & Dance (PERD), located inFITREC at Boston University, has also col-laborated with the Services Division for 20years. PERD, under Executive Director WarinDexter’s leadership and with the support of Assistant Director of Athletic FacilitiesManagement Alan Weinberger, has providedspace and courses that promote the physicalwell-being of students in the Services Divi-sion. Physical health is often impacted whenpeople are treated for mental health issues,

resulting in additional co-morbidity such asdiabetes, hypertension, and cardiovasculardisease. Physical health interventions, suchas those available at FITREC, are critical tohelping people live healthier lives so they can learn and work successfully.

Another initiative within the ServicesDivision is an art gallery featuring artwork by people in recovery and people whobelieve in recovery from mental illnesses.Each semester a new artist is exhibited, providing an opportunity for the Universitycommunity, the mental health community,and the greater community to collaboratethrough art to increase understanding ofmental health issues and reduce the stigmaassociated with them. Last summer’s exhibitfeatured the oil paintings of Reynold Poisson,a successful Haitian-born artist who liveswith depression. The gallery is located onthe walls of CPR’s Services Division and isopen from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. daily.

The Services Division provides recoveryscholarships to all students to ensure every-one has an opportunity to access these inno-vative services regardless of their financialstatus. Kohn and Hutchinson seek fundingfrom private foundations and donors, whichallows them the freedom to be innovativeand progressive. As one student said, “WhenI came to the center I was hoping…all I hadwas hope. I came here and I found peoplewho were sensitive to my feelings and whotell me that my feelings are real and havemeaning. This program has been a catalystin helping me communicate and trust in theworld again…and has given me hope that Ican take the next step in my life.”

With the help of their partners, CPR con-tinues to innovate to help improve the livesof students enrolled in both the RecoveryEducation Program and Boston University.

C L I N I C A L A P P L I C A T I O N S

For 25 years, Dori Hutchinson, ScD,Director of Services, and Larry Kohn, MS,Director of Development, have created,

researched, and funded innovative recoveryprograms at BU Sargent College Center forPsychiatric Rehabilitation (CPR) to help peoplewith serious psychiatric illnesses to live, learn,and work successfully in their communities.

CPR’s service division offers a range ofrecovery-oriented programs that focus ondeveloping the skills and supports people needto lead healthy lives as students, parents orfamily members, workers, and community res-idents. Using an adult education model that is embedded in the principles of psychiatricrehabilitation and public health, participants,known as “students,” choose from an array ofcourses that raise awareness, teach informa-tion and skills, and develop support strategiesfor role transformation.

Services include the Recovery EducationProgram, which offers 25 courses per semesterfocusing on health, personal and career devel-opment, as well as “Training for the Future,”which prepares students for employment withintensive computer and work-readiness courses.In addition, the Services Division offers individ-ual services to people who want one-to-onesupport in achieving goals.

The Services Division is staffed by rehabilitation professionals, many of whom have graduated from Sargent’sDepartment of Rehabilitation Counseling and Boston University’s School of SocialWork. In addition, the Services Division is a sought-after internship site for BU SargentCollege graduate students and graduate stu-dents of other colleges within BU.

“Our mission is to create programs thatpromote recovery from the consequences of a serious psychiatric disability, includingpoverty, unemployment, disrupted education,and poor health. We offer programs thatdevelop people’s readiness to change their primary role from that of a mental healthclient to that of a student, worker, and com-munity member,” explained Hutchinson.

A unique aspect of the Services Division is its collaborative relationships with other


Dori Hutchinson& Larry Kohn

Teaching Skills

Left: Director of Services Dori Hutchinson and Director of

Development Larry Kohn of BU’s Sargent College Center

for Psychiatric Rehabilitation with Kindred Spirits poodle

Micah. Above, top to bottom: Patients involved in the

physical health intervention program in FitRec at Boston

University; CPR teacher Marjorie Jacobs and her poodle

Micah; Reynold Poisson, CPR artist and student, whose

art is on the walls of CPR.

for Living

A Full Life

The study also exceeded expectations for the retention of the participants, allEmergency Housing Program participantsfrom Northwestern Memorial Hospital orsingle-room occupancy residents of theLawson House YMCA.

“No one had really done a study like this,”Helfrich said. “We thought we’d lose a lotmore people by attrition and we were reallyinterested in looking at feasibility issues.”

At the beginning, each client was thor-oughly assessed for four to six hours on cog-nitive and motor function, substance abuse,trauma history, and readiness to change,Helfrich said. Then, clients each received amanual with the material to be covered inclasses on money management, nutrition,community safety, cleanliness, and how totake care of themselves and their rooms. The life skills that were shared in the groups,however, came from group members them-selves, who were considered experts basedon their own experiences transitioning from

homelessness. That method of instruction,based on social learning theory, was found tobe more effective than having the therapistor another authority figure serve as theexpert instructor, said Helfrich.

The classes covered practical informationsuch as how to eat on modest means. Agroup member, for example, pointed out thelocations of soup kitchens and food pantriesand detailed their practices, such as thethree dozen eggs that one place gives to a single client, said Helfrich.

Groups also went to a local bank thatagreed to let the clients open accounts withno fees. When homeless, the clients had priorbad experiences with banks and were wary ofentering, but a bank official welcomed them,walked them through procedures, and someof them even signed up for direct deposit andother stabilizing programs.

The study also sought to create a positiveexperience with police, but no one showedup when they were supposed to go to apolice station. So, they tried a neighborhoodpolice beat meeting. At first, the clients weretoo intimidated to speak at the meeting inthe YMCA’s upscale neighborhood, but afterthey saw that neighbors shared an interest inreducing drug dealing and street crime, theychimed in. Soon, the clients were supplyingvaluable information to police, who steppedup patrols to good effect.

Throughout the study, participants hadindividual meetings with researchers toreevaluate the study and their progress; theyalso met three and six months after the study.Now, researchers are analyzing results andthe role that mental illness diagnoses, historyof homelessness, trauma, and abuse play inhow well participants fared in the study.

At the end, certificates were presented tothose who completed the study, and manybought frames and hung the framed diplo-mas in their very own rooms.

“They really wanted something to showfor what they accomplished,” she said. “They took a lot of pride in completing it.”

Above Left: Christine Helfrich, assistant professor in the

Department of Occupational Therapy at BU Sargent

College. Right: Helfrich’s study helps once-homeless

people enjoy a stable life off the streets. Clients receive

instruction on cleanliness and safety and relearn how to

take care of themselves.

C L I N I C A L A P P L I C A T I O N S

In a Chicago YMCA, 86 once-homelesspeople are enjoying a stable life off thestreets and out of the shelters, as they

pay rent, keep house, and build community.The 86 are part of an occupational ther-

apy study that imparted life skills throughempowerment and practical training, includ-ing experiences such as opening a bankaccount and joining a crime-watch group.

“The results show promise beyond curb-ing evictions,” said Christine Helfrich, anassistant professor of occupational therapy.

“It’s really an exciting project,” saidHelfrich. “Our overall observations are thatpeople’s life skills are definitely improvingand eviction rates are decreasing.”

Recent federal efforts to combat home-lessness have focused on moving people intopermanent homes. The moves are important,but without preparation they often proveunsuccessful because clients need to refreshrusty skills and build new ones to adapt.Helfrich’s study has tackled the challenges


Christine Helfrichthat emerge in the housingtransition forpeople with a history ofhomelessnessand sometimesmental illness,substance abuse,domestic abuse, and other trauma. It is unique because it tapped historicallyhomeless clients from its design andincluded them in focus groups where theywere consulted on the biggest obstacles inadjusting to independent residential life after being homeless.

Funded by a $450,000 grant from theNational Institute of Disability and Rehabili-tation Research, the study was a demon-stration of cost-effectiveness, especiallywhen considering the cost of these servicesversus a shelter, hospital, or other treat-ment. Helfrich started it as a faculty mem-

ber at theUniversity of Illinois at Chicago, and when thetime came tocomplete herresearch, shebrought the

grant with her to BU Sargent College.The study has been so successful that

Helfrich is seeking additional funding for alarge nationwide study that would broadenthe program to other settings, such as agroup home, a day program, and a shelter, to further demonstrate its effectiveness.

“People need the skills to stay in housing,”she said. “And this would help not only thepeople who are homeless, it would help thestaff working in shelters and other settingsimprove their track record of placements,which helps encourage more landlords toaccept people.”


A New

HOME:Using Researchto Better Lives


“For some people it’s tough to get out ofthe frustration and depression. The centergives those with aphasia a chance to con-nect with people who have lived through it,to realize they can make improvements andinspire and motivate each other,” sheexplained.

Kaplan echoed the importance of com-munity in coping with the disorder, notingthat the word “community” is part of boththe Aphasia Community Resource Centerand the Aphasia Community Group.

“Aphasia takes away the ability to usethe tools of language to advocate for one-self,” Kaplan said. “We offer programs andservices which foster a sense of belongingto a community.”

Both Kaplan and Hoover noted that Dean of BU Sargent College Gloria Waters, whose research is in the area of aphasia,

has played an important and integral rolein developmenting the resource center.

The Center provides an excellent oppor-tunity for graduate students in the Speech-Language Pathology program to obtainexperience in working with aphasia clientsand to interact with them and their families.

“You can definitely improve their abili-ties,” says Jen Maietta (’08). “In the writinggroup, you can see people improve, evenover one semester. People who were leavingout whole words from their sentences startto include them. They also conjugate verbscorrectly and keep the right endings onwords. It’s amazing to see.”

The Aphasia Community ResourceCenter offers courses each semester for amodest fee; the Aphasia Community Groupmeets once a month and is free. For moreinformation about the center or specificcourses, visit www.bu.edu/sargent/centers/clinical/aphasia/.

The work of the Aphasia Community ResourceCenter is supported in part by a grant from theBoston Foundation and also by a generous giftfrom Mynde S. Rozbruch Siperstein (’78) andGary S. Siperstein (SMG’08), which funded theSiperstein Aphasia Community Resource Center.

C O M M U N I T Y

Because there are many different typesand degrees of aphasia it is important to distinguish among them in order to provideoptimal treatment.

According to the National Institute onDeafness and Other Communication Dis-orders, the disorder affects about one millionpeople in the United States.

Established in 2006, the Aphasia CommunityResource Center at BU Sargent College offerssupport, socialization, education, and advo-cacy to individuals, as well as their familiesand friends, touched by aphasia and relateddisorders.

Founded by Kaplan in 1990, the AphasiaCommunity Group (ACG) met at SpauldingRehabilitation Hospital before it relocated toBU Sargent College in the fall of 2006, whengroup programs were first offered at theACRC. Prior to that, BU had offered therapyfor those with aphasia; the move to Sargentand the birth of the ACRC solidified a morecomprehensive resource.

Each semester, the center offers up totwelve groups which focus on topics such asconversation, books, newsletters, public speak-ing, photography, writing, film, and computers.

Kaplan said he has seen the positive effectsthat participating in these groups—as well asthe monthly community group—can have onindividuals.

“I’ve seen so many examples of peopleparticipating in our groups who afterwardsare so much more active and assertive andtake greater communicative risks,” he said.

He described one woman who used toavoid communication when she wasapproached by struggling to say, “Nevermind, ask someone else.” Now, after partici-pating in the groups, she initiates more con-versation and has become more responsive.

Another woman who has taken the Toastmasters Class at the center was shyand nervous about public speaking after her stroke, said Elizabeth Hoover, MS,CCC/SLP, and a clinical supervisor of theACRC. However, her confidence blossomedthrough the group and she was able to returnto her role as a lector at her church.

The monthly meetings of the ACG alsogive those with aphasia a place to communi-cate with others who share the isolation andloneliness that often accompanies the disor-der, and also offers family members a placeto talk about the loss of communication intheir loved ones.

As with any loss, there can be an aspectof grief that accompanies a disorder such as aphasia, and the groups offer those livingwith it a place to connect with others whounderstand, Hoover said.


Jerome Kaplan & Elizabeth Hoover

T H E E L U S I V E W O R D :

Top Left: Jerome Kaplan and Elizabeth Hoover, both clinical

supervisors in the Aphasia Community Resource Center at BU

Sargent College. The center offers support, socialization, educa-

tion, and advocacy to individuals—as well as family and friends

who are touched by aphasia and related disorders. It also serves

an important role as a training site for students in Sargent’s

Speech-Language Pathology progam.

B R I D G I N G the G A PB E T W E E N M I N D

Consider what it would feel like if thelast word you said tonight was thelast word you would say with ease.

Imagine waking up with only a fraction ofyour ability to communicate.

For those who live with the communi-cation disorder aphasia, this is their reality.

“Aphasia by definition is a very isolatingcondition,” said Jerome Kaplan, MA, CCC/SLP,clinical supervisor at the Aphasia CommunityResource Center (ACRC) at Boston UniversityCollege of Health & Rehabilitation Sciences:Sargent College. “It is devastating.”

Aphasia is a communication disorder whichimpairs the brain’s ability to process speech,language, reading, or writing. The disorder isacquired when the area of the brain that isresponsible for these functions is damaged,most often as a result of a stroke or headinjury but sometimes as a result of otherneurological disorders such as brain cancer.

There are many forms of aphasia, includingnonfluent and fluent. While fluent aphasia ischaracterized by a more normal flow of wordsbut with impaired ability to comprehend, non-fluent aphasia is characterized by effortfulspeech output in which the individual strug-gles to produce single words or short phrases.For example, an individual may say “tackle”when he means to say “apple.” Or, instead ofsaying, “I’d like eggs and bacon for breakfast,”he may say, “Eggs…bacon.” The differences insymptoms are due to the different locationsof neurological damage.

and M O U T H


Homeless Program (BHCHP) with her stu-dents last year and was so impressed sheadded BHCHP to the partner practicum list.Shanelle County, BS Health Science andMinor in Public Health ’08, was the first stu-dent to work with BHCHP.

Under RN supervision, County assessedthe feet, blood sugar levels, and needs of dia-betic patients. She worked with the team toprovide patients with footwear, educationalmaterials, and medication. She was alsoresponsible for patient documentation—askill she learned through her prior athletictraining curriculum at BU.

Before she began her practicum, Countyplanned to focus on health care managementversus a clinical option. “But once I realizedthe impact I made on my patients’ lives…these people who just wanted to know some-body cared for them…I decided to combinethe two fields. I am applying to nursing andphysician assistant programs,” she said.

EDUCATING POLITICIANS ABOUTTHE BENEFITS OF OT

Occupational Therapy (OT) helps peopleparticipate to their fullest potential in dailylife, but many people are unaware of its benefits. Karen Jacobs, clinical professor,Occupational Therapy, worked with StateRepresentative Louis Kafka to sponsor OTDay to educate legislators at the State House last April.

Jacobs recruited her graduate students to demonstrate OT’s role in six areas: Mental Health, Work and Industry, Produc-tive Aging, Children and Youth, Rehabilita-tion, and Health and Wellness. Thirteenteams developed interactive displays andhands-on educational experiences.

Roxanne Chess’ (MS ’09) team enticedvisitors to their booth with cookies. Thecatch? They could only indulge if they werewilling to spread icing on the cookie with a non-dominant hand. Once visitors were busy icing baked goods, the education began.

“Many people did not realize the lack ofservices and equal opportunity individualsface in Massachusetts. A number of staterepresentatives came back to our table withadditional questions and thanked us for educating them about the issue. We reallylearned how to reach out to people in inter-active ways to demonstrate how importantOT is to rehabilitation,” said Chess.

Jacobs and Kafka will join forces againnext year to continue the education process.

Above: Erica Joseffy, a graduate student in the Master of

Science in Speech-Language Pathology program. Left: Ann

Dix, Clinical Assistant Professor of Speech, Language &

Hearing Sciences, instructs Erica on the proper way to

conduct the hearing screening. Erica conducts free hearing

screenings for children at the BU Children’s Center.

C O M M U N I T Y

PROVIDING FREE HEARING SCREENINGS

Hearing loss can dramatically affect aca-demic performance, yet many schools lackthe manpower necessary to screen students.Ann Dix, Clinical Assistant Professor of Speech, Language & Hearing Sciences, runsthe Boston University Hearing ScreeningProgram, which provides free screenings inschools throughout greater Boston.

Last year, Dix’s first-year Speech-Language Pathology graduate studentsscreened approximately 1,000 children infourteen schools and preschools, includingthe Boston University Children’s Center. They examined ear structure, evaluatedeardrum mobility, and conducted hearingtests. They also created detailed reports for children who failed the test.

Erica Joseffy, MS ’09, learned to adapt thetest for her audience. “It is difficult to deter-mine whether preschoolers misunderstandour directions or can’t hear. To help eliminatethis confusion, we played together. The chil-dren held blocks by their ears and put themdown when they heard a tone. Once thegroup mastered this skill, we tested the children individually,” Joseffy explained.

One of the sites that benefited from thescreenings was Dearborn Academy, a K–12public school for children with emotional orbehavioral issues. “A lot of our children donot receive proper medical care. The kids can be challenging but the Boston Universitystudents are incredibly professional and havedone wonders with them,” said School NurseDiane Melia.

HELPING STUDENTS OVERCOMELITERACY PROBLEMS

Clinical Assistant Professor in Speech,Language & Hearing Sciences Kerry Howlandand her graduate students provide servicesto students at risk for language and literacyproblems at the Baldwin School, a pilotschool that enrolls a diverse group of chil-

dren, including many who are learningEnglish.

Howland’s students worked in teams of two with pre-kindergarten through firstgrade students on phonological awareness,sound symbol correspondence, and earlydecoding and comprehension skills.

“Phonological awareness is breakingwords into sounds followed by sounding outwords—all early reading skills. One trainingtechnique the children loved involved feedingpuppets. For instance, the bear puppet onlyeats foods that begin with ‘B’s. They loved to tell whether he should eat an item or spitit out,” explained Howland.

Shannon Rice, MS ’09, recalled her expe-rience teaching sound symbol correspon-dence using the Telian-CAS Lively LettersProgram. “I showed a card with an ‘I’ thatlooked like a person shooting a basketballalongside a crowd cheering ‘Get it in!’, aphrase that focused on the ‘I’ sound. Thecards simplified the connection betweenletters and their sounds for the children.”

The graduate students learned to think on their feet and to tailor activities to meetthe needs of their students while the child-ren declared that they learned to read.

HELPING HEAL THE HOMELESSAn integral component of the undergrad-

uate Health Science Program is the popularfour-credit practicum managed by full-timepracticum instructor Shelley Brown. Studentsapply the knowledge, ethics, and skillslearned in the classroom in a supervisedhealth care setting.

Eileen O’Keefe, MD, MPH, director of the Undergraduate Health Science Program,toured the Boston Health Care for the


COMMUNITY PROJECTS

It’s hard to say who benefited more from BU SargentCollege professors’ hands-on teaching styles last year—the students who gained invaluable experience, or thepeople they helped. The following stories highlight fouroutstanding Sargent community outreach programs.

L E A R N I N G While Helping Others

Academicsand Athletics

Tahari James

A W E L L- B A L A N C E D A C T:

Tahari, a health science major at BU Sargent College

and a public health minor at BU School of Public Health,

does a great job of balancing an All-American track

career and academics.

Balancing schoolwork, practice, gametravel, and everything else can be challenging for student athletes. But

All-American athlete Tahari James, a seniorat Boston University College of Health &Rehabilitation Sciences: Sargent College andstar member of the BU women’s track andfield team, make it look not only doable, but easy.

This hectic lifestyle is not foreign toJames, who was also a member of the trackand field team in high school and earned ascholarship from Boston University to jointheir team. James, who says she feels “reallyblessed to be surrounded by people whomake this sport so enjoyable,” competed in her final indoor NCAA Championship inMarch 2008 and took sixth place in thetriple jump, beating school and personal

records and earning her All-American athlete honors.

“After I heard my rank-ing going into the finals, I knew that the All-American honor was

right there,” explainsJames. “I was thrilled about

being named All-American—

my coach always told me that I had thecapacity to do it. I was very happy to endmy last indoor season on such a high note.”

James is a health sciences major at BUSargent College and a public health minorat BU School of Public Health and is also a member of both the Student AthleticAdvisory Council and the Inner StrengthGospel Choir. Doing it all “comes down totime management and staying on top ofeverything,” she says, adding that shewouldn’t change a thing.

After spending the past three years at BU, James is expected to graduate in May 2009.

“I was very happy toend my last indoorseason on such ahigh note.”

C O M M U N I T Y

INSIDE SARGENT 2008–2009 2726 BOSTON UNIVERSITY

Barbas, H. (2007). Specialized Elements of Orbitofrontal Cortex in Primates. Ann N Y Acad Sci.1121: 10–32.

Barbas, H. and Zikopoulos, B.(2007). The Prefrontal Cortex and Flexible Behavior. The Neuro-scientist, 13: 532–545.

Barbas, H. (2007). Flow of Informa-tion for Emotions Through Temporaland Orbitofrontal Pathways. J. Anatomy, 211: 237–249.

Ben-Sasson, A., Cermak, S.,Orsmond, G.I., Tager-Flusberg, H.,Carter, A.S., Kadlec, M.B., and Dunn,W. (2007). Extreme Sensory Pro-cessing Behaviors in Toddlers WithAutism Spectrum Disorders. Ameri-can Journal of Occupational Therapy,61, 584–592.

Ben-Sasson, A., Cermak, S.A.,Orsmond, G.I., Carter, A.S., andFogg, L. (2007). Indicators of Sen-sory Defensiveness and Anxiety inToddlers: Perspectives of Occupa-tional Therapists and Psychologists.Infant Mental Health Journal, 82,1–23.

Berger, S. and Kaldenberg, J.(2008). Complexities Associatedwith Aging. In S. Copolla, S. Elliott,and P. Toto (Eds.), Strategies toAchieve Gerontological Excellence(SAGE) in Occupational TherapyPractice (199–222). Bethesda, MD:AOTA Press.

Berger, S. (2008). Client Education.In E.B. Crepeau, E.S. Cohn, andB.A.B. Schell (Eds.), Willard &Spackman Occupational Therapy(11th ed. 418–425). Philadelphia:Lippincott Williams and Wilkins.

Coady, J.A., Evans, J.L., Mainela-Arnold, E.M., and Kluender, K.R.(2007). Children With SpecificLanguage Impairments PerceiveSpeech Most Categorically When It Is Both Natural and Meaningful.Journal of Speech, Language andHearing Research, 50, 41–57.

Caplan, D., Stanczak, L., andWaters, G. (2008). Syntactic andThematic Constraint Effects onBOLD Signal Correlates of Compre-hension of Relative Clauses, Journalof Cognitive Neuroscience, 20,643–656.

Caplan, D., Chen, E., Waters, G.(2008). Task-Dependent and Task-Independent NeurovascularResponses to Syntactic Processing,Cortex, 44, 257–275.

Caplan, D., Waters, G., DeDe, G.,Michaud, J., & Reddy, A. (2007). A Study of Syntactic Processing in Aphasia I: Behavioral (Psycho-linguistic) Aspects, Brain andLanguage, 101, 103–150.

Cohn, E.S. (2008). Team Interac-tion Models and Team Commun-ication. In E.B. Crepeau, E.S., Cohn,and B.A.B. Schell (Eds.), Willard &Spackman’s Occupational Therapy,11th ed. Philadelphia: J.B. Lippin-cott Co.


Faculty In PrintA selection

of publicationswritten by

faculty duringthe 2007–2008academic year:

Cohn, E.S., and Henry, A.D. (2008).Care-Giving and Child Rearing. InE.B. Crepeau, E.S., Cohn, and B.A.B.Schell (Eds.), Willard & Spackman’sOccupational Therapy, 11th ed.Philadelphia: J.B. Lippincott Co.

Coster, W. and Khetani, M.A.(2008). Measuring Participation of Children With Disabilities: Issuesand Challenges. Disability andRehabilitation, 30, 639–648.

Coster, W., Haley, S.M., Jette, A.,Tao, W., and Siebens, H. (2007).Predictors of Basic and InstrumentalActivities of Daily Living Perform-ance in Persons Receiving Rehabili-tation Services. Archives of PhysicalMedicine and Rehabilitation, 88,928–935.

Coster, W., Haley, S.M., Ni, P.S,Dumas, H.M., and Fragala-Pinkham,M.A. (2008). Assessing Self-Careand Social Function Using a Com-puter Adaptive Testing Version ofthe Pediatric Evaluation of DisabilityInventory. Archives of PhysicalMedicine and Rehabilitation,89, 622–629.

Coster, W.J. (2008). CurricularApproaches to Professional Reason-ing for Evidence-based Practice. In B.A. Schell and J.W. Schell (Eds.)Clinical and professional reasoning in occupational therapy. Baltimore:Lippincott Williams and Wilkins.311–334.

Daunhauer, L., Coster, W.J., Tickle-Degnen, L., and Cermak, S. (2007).Effects of Caregiver-Child Interac-tions on Play Occupations AmongYoung Children Institutionalized inEastern Europe. American Journal ofOccupational Therapy, 61, 429–440.

Ellis, T., Rork, T., and Dalton, D.Be Active: An Exercise Program forPeople with Parkinson’s Disease.American Parkinson’s DiseaseAssociation. March 2008. In press.

Farkas, M., and Anthony, W.A.(2007). Bridging Science to Service:The Rehabilitation Research andTraining Center Program. Journal of Rehabilitation Research andDevelopment, 44(6), 879–892.

Fiala, J.C., Feinberg, M., Peters, A.,and Barbas, H. (2007). Mitochond-rial Degeneration in Dystrophic Neu-rites of Senile Plaques May Lead toExtracellular Deposition of Fine Filaments. Brain Struct Funct.212(2): 195–207.

Ford, M.P., Wagenaar, R.C.,and Newell, K.M. (2007). PhaseManipulation and Walking in Stroke. Journal of NeurologicalPhysical Therapy, 31, 85–91.

Gal, E., Cermak, S., and Ben-Sasson,A. (2007). Sensory and MotorIssues and Intervention. In Gabrielsand Hill (Eds.), Autism: Beyond EarlyIntervention. New York: Guilford.95–123.

Gallant, C., Malek, S., Morgan, K.G.(2007). Focal Adhesion Signaling isRequired for Myometrial ERK Acti-vation and Contractile PhenotypeSwitch Before Labor. J Cell Biochem.100(1): 129–40.

Gallun, F.J., Mason, C.R., and KiddJr., G. (2007). The Ability to Listenwith Independent Ears. Journal ofthe Acoustical Society of America, 122, 2814–2825.

Gallun, F.J., Mason, C.R., and KiddJr., G. (2007). Task-DependentCosts in Processing Two Simultan-eous Auditory Stimuli Percept. andPsychophys. 69, 757–771.

Gangopadhyay, S.S., Gallant, C.,Sundberg, E.J., Lane, W.S., andMorgan, K.G. (2008). Regulationof Ca2+/calmodulin Kinase II by a Small C-terminal Domain Phos-phatase. Biochem J. 412(3): 507–16.

Gavett, E. and Peaper, R. (2007).Critical Thinking: The Role ofQuestions. Perspective on Issues in Higher Education, 10, (1), 3–5.

Gross, K.D., Niu, J., Zhang, Y.Q.,Felson, D.T., McLellan, C., Hannan,M.T., Holt, K.G., and Hunter, D.J.(2007). The Varus Foot and HipConditions In Older Adults. Arthritisand Rheumatism, 56, 2993–2998.

Hagner-Holler, S., Pick, C.,Girgenrath, S., Marden, J.H., andBurmester, T. (2007). Diversity ofStonefly Hexamerins and Implica-tion for the Evolution of Insect Stor-age Proteins. Insect Biochem MolBiol. 37(10): 1064–74.

Helfrich, C.A. and Beer, D. (2007).Use of the frstSTEp Screening Toolwith Children Exposed to DomesticViolence and Homelessness: AGroup Case Study. Physical andOccupational Therapy in Pediatrics,27(2), 63–76.

Helfrich, C.A., Fujuira, G., andRutkowski, V. (2008). Mental Health Characteristics of Women in Domestic Violence Shelters.Journal of Interpersonal Violence,23, 437–453.


N O T E S

BrainandLanguage

Cellularand Molecular

Medicine

Arthritis & Rheumatism

C O R T E X

AJOTThe American Journal ofOccupational Therapy

May-Benson, T. and Cermak, S.(2007). Development of an Assess-ment of Ideational praxis. AmericanJournal of Occupational Therapy,61(2), 148–153.

Munevar, S., Gangopadhyay, S.S.,Gallant, C., Colombo, B, Sellke, F.W.,Morgan, K.G. (2008). CaMKIIT287and T305 Regulate History-Depend-ent Increases in Alpha Agonist-Induced Vascular Tone. J Cell MolMed. 12(1): 219–26.

Must, A., Bandini, L.G., Tybor D.J.,Phillips, S.M., Naumova, E.N., Dietz,W.H. (2007). Activity, Inactivity andScreen Time in Relation to Weightand Fatness Over Adolescence inGirls. Obesity, 15:1774–1781.

Must, A., Bandini, L.G., Tybor, D.J.,Janssen, I., Ross, R., and Dietz, W.H.(2008). Behavioral Risk Factors inRelation to Visceral Adipose TissueDeposition in Adolescent Females.Int J Ped Obes., 3: 28–36.

Orsmond, G.I. and Seltzer, M.M.(2007). Siblings of Individuals WithAutism Spectrum Disorders Acrossthe Life Course. Mental Retardationand Developmental DisabilitiesResearch Reviews, 13, 313–320.

Orsmond, G.I. and Seltzer, M.M.(2007). Siblings of individuals withautism or Down syndrome: Effectson adult lives. Journal of IntellectualDisability Research, 51, 682–696.

Orsmond, G.I., Lin, L.Y., and Seltzer,M.M. (2007). Mothers of adoles-cents and adults with autism:The contribution of disability in siblings to maternal well-beingand family adjustment. Intellectualand Developmental Disabilities, 45,257–270.

Quatromoni, P.A. (2008).Clinical Observations from NutritionServices in College Athletics. J AmDiet Assoc, 108: 689–94.

Shattuck, P.T., Seltzer, M.M.,Greenberg, J.S., Orsmond, G.I.,Lounds, J., Kring, S., and Bolt, D.(2007). Changes in Autism Symp-toms and Maladaptive Behaviors inAdolescents and Adults with AutismSpectrum Disorders. Journal ofAutism and DevelopmentalDisorders, 37, 1735–1747.

Singh, L., Nestor, S.S., and Bortfeld,H. (2008). Overcoming Effects ofVariation on Infant WordRecognition: Influences on WordFamiliarity. Infancy, 2008, Vol. 13Issue 1, 57–74.

Smith, B.A., Kubo, M., Black, D.,Holt, K.G., Ulrich, D.B. (2007).Effect of Practice on a Novel Task,Walking on a Treadmill: Preadoles-cents With and Without Down Syn-drome. Physical Therapy, 87, 1–12.

Starr, J. (2007). PulmonaryPhysical Therapy. In Seigelman, R.,O’Sullivan S.: Guide for PhysicalTherapy License Examination,International Educational Resources,Ltd., Concord, MA.

Taggart, M.J. and Morgan, K.G.(2007). Regulation of the UterineContractile Apparatus andCytoskeleton. Semin Cell Dev Biol.18(3): 296–304.

White, D.K., Wagenaar, R.C., DelOlmo, M.E. and Ellis, T. (2007). TheTest-Retest Reliability of 24 Hoursof Activity Monitoring in Individualswith Parkinson’s Disease in Homeand Community. Neurorehabilitationand Neurological Repair, 21(4):327–40

Zikopoulos, B., Barbas, H. (2007).Circuits Formultisensory Integrationand Attentional Modulation Throughthe Prefrontal Cortex and the Thala-mic Reticular Nucleus in Primates.Rev Neurosci. 18(6): 417–38.


Hilgetag, C.C. and Barbas, H. WhyDoes the Outer Surface of the BrainHave Folds? Response in: ScientificAmerican Mind, June/July 2007, 86.

Holt, K.G., Saltzman, E., Ho, C.L.,and Ulrich, B.D. (2007). Scaling ofDynamics in the Earliest Stages ofWalking. Physical Therapy, 87,1458–1467.

Hutchinson, D., Anthony, W.A.,Massaro, J., and Rogers, E.S. (2007).Evaluation of a Combined SupportedEducation and Employment Com-puter Training Program for Personswith Psychiatric Disabilities. Psychi-atric Rehabilitation Journal, 30,189–197.

Jacobs, K. (Ed.) (2008).Ergonomics for Therapists. 3rdEdition. St. Louis: Mosby, Inc.

Jacobs, K., Lockhart, R., Chiang, H-Y, and O’Hara, M. (2007). Bookbagsfor children. In R. Lueder and V. Rice(eds.), Ergonomics for Children...Designing Products and Places forToddlers to Teens. London and NewYork: Taylor and Francis.

Kidd Jr., G., Mason, C.R., Richards,V.M., Gallun, F.J. and Durlach, N.I.(2007). “Information masking” in Auditory Perception of SoundSources. In Yost, W.A., Popper, A.N., and Fay, R.R. (eds.) New York:Springer Science+Business Media,LLC, 143–190.

Koncarevic, A., Jackman, R.W.,and Kandarian, S.C. (2007). TheUbiquitin-Protein Ligase Nedd4 Targets Notch1 in Skeletal Muscleand Distinguishes the Subset ofAtrophies Caused by Reduced Muscle Tension. FASEB J. 21(2):427–37.

Lahav, A., Saltzman, E., andSchlaug, G. (2007). Action Repre-sentation of Sound: AudiomotorRecognition Network While Listen-ing to Newly Acquired Actions.Journal of Neuroscience, 27, 308–314.

Lane, H., Denny, M., Guenther, F.,Hanson, H., Marrone, N., Matthies,M., Perkell, J., Stockmann, E., Tiede.,M., Vick, J., and Zandipour, M.(2007). On the Structure of Pho-neme Categories in Listeners withCochlear Implants. Journal ofSpeech, Language and HearingResearch, 50, 2–14.

Lane, H., Matthies, M.L., Guenthe,R.H., Denny, M., Perkell, J.S.,Stockmann, E., Tiede, M., Vick, J.,and Zandipour. (2007). Effects ofShort-and Long-Term Changes inAuditory Feedback on Vowel andSibilant Contrasts. Journal of Speech,Language and Hearing Research, 50,913–927.

N O T E S


Faculty In PrintA selection

of publicationswritten by

faculty duringthe 2007–2008academic year:

Continued

Intuition

MIND

The Journal of Neuroscience

PSYCHIATRIC

REHABILITATION

JOURNAL

Archives ofPhysical Medicine and

Rehabilitation

Journal ofCognitive Neuroscience

FACULTY AWARDS

Director of Programs in AthleticTraining SARA BROWN, MS, wasawarded the Athletic Trainer of theYear (2008) from Athletic Trainersof Massachusetts.

Professor SHARON CERMAK, EdD,received the Lady Davis Fellowshipfrom the Hebrew University, Israel.

KEE CHAN, PhD, was invited to participate on an NIH CareerSymposium panel in Washington,D.C., in April 2008. She was also awarded a Genetic AllianceTransformational LeadershipScholarship.

JEFFREY COADY, PhD, a Developingthe Emerging Scientist awardee,was also selected as one of ten junior scholars by NIH and theAmerican Speech-Language-HearingAssociation (ASHA) to participate in the 2008 conference inWashington, D.C.

Associate Professor WENDY

COSTER, PhD, delivered the 2008Eleanor Clarke Slagle Lecture“Embracing Ambiguity: Facing theChallenges of Measurement” to theannual meeting of the AmericanOccupational Therapy Association in Long Beach, CA; the Lectureshipis the highest academic awardgranted by the AOTA. The AOTAalso awarded her a recognition cer-tificate for her role as catalyst men-tor in the Leadership DevelopmentProject and a Certificate of Appre-ciation (2008) “in recognition andappreciation of her significant con-tributions to occupational therapy.”

Clinical Associate Professor DAVID

CREASEY, MD, received the 2008Whitney R. Powers Award forExcellence in Teaching.

ART DELL ORTO, PhD, AssociateExecutive Director, was awarded the first Cohen-Danley LifetimeAchievement Award, which isdesigned to honor individuals whohave made outstanding contribu-tions to the field over the course of their careers while personifyingits values and highest ideals.

Clinical Associate Professor TERRY

ELLIS, PhD, received the Gertrude M.Lamb Award from Springfield Col-lege for outstanding contributions to the physical therapy profession in April 2008.


Awards & Honors

Numerous faculty and

students were honored

for their professional

contributions,commitment to

service, andexcellence in

scholarship during the

2007–2008 academic year.

A selection of those

recognized:

Professor COURTENAY HARDING,

PhD, was honored with a specialaward for “important contributionsto the humane treatment of peoplewith schizophrenia” by the Interna-tional Society for the PsychologicalTreatments of the Schizophreniasand Other Psychoses (ISPS-US) atthe national annual meeting.

Associate Professor NORM HURSH,

ScD, was awarded the RehabilitationEducator of the Year Award by theInternational Association of Rehab-ilitation Professionals at theirAnnual Conference in Los Angeles in May 2008.

Assistant Professor PAU L A

Q UAT ROMO N I , ScD, was namedmedia Spokesperson on ChildhoodObesity for the American HeartAssociation and served as AdvocacyCaptain for the American HeartAssociation campaign on obesitytitled “You’re the Cure.” She wasalso invited to become a member of the Boston Obesity NutritionResearch Center.

Clinical Assistant Professor ANNE

SULLIVAN SOYDAN, ScD, receivedthe Mary Switzer research fellow-ship (2008–2009) from theNational Institute on Disability andRehabilitation Research (NIDRR).

Associate Professor ELSIE VER-

GARA, ScD, received a FulbrightAward through the Senior Special-ists Scholar Program and will travel to Australia to study at theUniversity of Sydney for sevenweeks.

Professor ROBERT WAGENAAR,

PhD, was named the Orthotic Edu-cation and Training Trust Lecturer by the International Society ofProsthetics and Orthotics UKNMA2007. He was also a Dozor VisitingScholar, serving as Faculty of HealthSciences at Ben-Gurion University ofthe Negev.

GRADUATE STUDENT AWARD

MSOT I student ELEXA WAUGH-

QUASEBARTH was awarded anAlbert Schweitzer Fellowship; theFellowship program’s mission is to reduce disparities in health andhealthcare by developing “leaders in service” who are individuals whoare dedicated and skilled in helpingunderserved communities and whoinfluence and inspire others byexample.

OUTSTANDING SENIOR AWARDS

MAGGIE CATLIN and MICHAEL

GUSS received this year’s PROFES-SIONAL CONTRIBUTION AWARD, an honor given annually to studentswho show great potential profes-sionally through scholarship,research, clinical experience, and promoting programs to thecommunity.

JENNIFER ADAMS and MEENA

THEVA received the TWINESSAWARD, presented by an honorsociety the Class of 1921 organizedto recognize seniors who exemplifyservice, loyalty, thoughtfulness, andexcellence of scholarship.

NICHOLAS DEPUTY and JOSHUA

MERSON received the COMMUNITYSERVICE AWARD, annually pre-sented to students who are activelyinvolved in volunteering outside theUniversity using skills they’veattained through their education,and showing an outstanding abilityto represent the ideals set forth bythe College.

ELENA QUATTRONE and RACHEL

TORAN were presented with theSTUDENT ACTIVITY AWARD, whichrecognizes students who makestrong contributions to Collegeand/or University extracurricularactivities.

ROBIN BERSHADER was presentedwith the 2008 BERNARD KUTNERAWARD, given annually to the stu-dent who exemplifies the ideals ofSargent College through excellenceof scholarship, high moral character,outstanding service to the Schooland community, loyalty and serviceto one’s fellow students, and exemplary potential as a health care professional.

STAFF AWARDS

Fieldwork Clinical Assistant JOAN GENTILE received both the University Perkins Award forMeritorious Service and the SargentCollege Award of Merit for her yearsof outstanding work supporting theoccupational therapy and physicaltherapy clinical education programs.


Sharon Cermak

David Creasey

Art Dell Orto

Paula Quatromoni

Joan Gentile

Norm Hursh

Wendy Coster

N O T E S

Robert Wagenaar

Terry Ellis

On Sunday, May 18, 2008, 400 studentsgathered with family, friends, faculty, andstaff to celebrate Commencement and

receive baccalaureate, master’s and doctoral degrees.“I’m proud to hand you your diplomas today and,like your parents, watch with pride as you prepareto soar in your careers, nolonger as Sargent studentsbut now as Sargent alumni. I look forward to learningabout the difference I knoweach of you will make in our world,” said GloriaWaters, PhD, Dean ofBoston University College of Health & RehabilitationSciences: Sargent College, as she welcomed attendees.

Invited speaker LisaIezzoni, MD, MSc, professor of medicine at HarvardMedical School and BethIsrael Deaconess MedicalCenter and the associatedirector of the Institute forHealth Policy at theMassachusetts GeneralHospital, stressed com-monalities amongst thegraduates, especially theirneed to think of patients aswhole people, not individualbody parts. Building on herown experience with multiple sclerosis and livingin a wheelchair, she reminded graduates that part-nering with patients to improve daily living is anopportunity to “give countless patients the samegift of freedom and independence and makenumerous lives better.”

Along with invited speaker Dr. Iezzoni, Class of2008 Valedictorian Donna Kurowski also gave aspeech. Donna received her bachelor’s degree in

human physiology with a 3.99 GPA; she is a stu-dent in Boston University’s Modular MedicalIntegrated Curriculum (MMEDIC) program inwhich students earn both a BS and MD in 8 years.

Before presenting diplomas, Dean Waters rec-ognized two outstanding individuals from Sargent

for their extraordinary contribu-tions to the College.

The Sargent College Award ofMerit, awarded annually to fac-ulty, staff, or an alumnus who hasserved the College in an exem-plary manner, was presented toMs. Joan Gentile, assistant forthe Clinical Education compo-nents of the OccupationalTherapy and Physical Therapyprograms.

Dr. David Creasey, clinicalassociate professor in theRehabilitation Counseling pro-gram, received the Whitney R.Powers Award for TeachingExcellence. His enthusiasm forteaching and ability to presentmaterial in a thoughtful, con-cise, and effective manner werehighlighted by a student whowrote, “Dr. Creasey shows a clearmastery and passion for the sub-jects that he teaches and bringsthem to life for his students.” The award is named in honor of

Whitney R. Powers, Professor Emeritus of SargentCollege, who for over 25 years shared his out-standing teaching gifts with students.

C O M M E N C E M E N T

Commencement 2008

Graduating Students

Prepare to Soar

Right, top to bottom: Dean Gloria Waters; Professor Art Dell Orto;

Commencement Speaker Lisa Iezzoni; Dean Gloria Waters and

Clinical Assistant Professor Lee Marinko, who also received her

doctorate degree. Left: Sargent students and faculty.

“I’m proud to hand youyour diplomas todayand, like your parents,watch with pride asyou prepare to soar inyour careers, no longeras Sargent studentsbut now as Sargentalumni. I look forwardto learning about thedifference I know eachof you will make in our world.”

INSIDE SARGENT 2008–2009 3534 BOSTON UNIVERSITY

PROGRAMS OF STUDY OFFEREDAT B O S TO N U N I V E R S I T Y S A R G E N T CO L L E G E O F H E A LT H& R E H A B I L I TAT I O N S C I E N C E S

Applied Anatomy & Physiology

Athletic Training

Audiology

Health Science

Human Physiology (Pre-Med)

Nutrition

Occupational Therapy

Physical Therapy

Rehabilitation Sciences

Speech-Language Pathology

Speech, Language & Hearing Sciences

S P E C I A L P R O G R A M S

Combined BS and MPH in Public Health

Combined BS in Athletic Training and Doctor of Physical Therapy

U . S . N E W S & WO R L D R E P O RTB E S T G R A D U AT E S C H O O LR A N K I N G S

Most of our professional graduate pro-

grams are ranked within the top 15% in the

country. Specific rankings are as follows:

• Occupational Therapy Program ranked#1 (tied) out of 152 programs

• Physical Therapy Program ranked #24out of 199 programs

• Speech-Language Pathology Programranked #25 out of 244 programs

N AT I O N A L C E RT I F I C AT I O NB O A R D E X A M PA S S I N G R AT E S

Percentage of Sargent students in entry-

level graduate programs who passed the

exam the first time:

Nutrition 99%

Occupational Therapy 100%

Physical Therapy 100%

Speech-Language Pathology 100%

A L A S T L O O K


BOSTON UNIVERSITY COLLEGE OF HEALTH

& REHABILITATION SCIENCES: SARGENT COLLEGE hasbeen preparing health care leaders and defininghealth care leadership for 127 years. As knowl-edge about health and rehabilitation increasesand society’s health care needs become morecomplex, BU Sargent College continuouslyimproves its degree programs to keep up withthis ever-evolving field and our learning environ-ment fosters the values, effective communication,and clinical skills that distinguish outstandinghealth professionals. Our curriculum alsoincludes an important fieldwork component, pro-viding students in every major with substantiveclinical experience; clinical internships are avail-able at more than 1,400 health care facilitiesacross the country. The College also operates out-patient rehabilitation practices that offer a fullrange of services to the Greater Boston community.

FACULTY

Full-time 57

Part-time 38

ALUMNI 13,500 in 53 countries

CLINICAL SITES 1,400 in all 50 states and 4 countries

STUDENTS UNDERGRADUATE GRADUATE

Number of full-time students (as of Spring 2008) 797 353

Average SAT 1258 n/a

Average GRE n/a 1200

SARGENT AT A Glance

sargent - bu

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