Foundation recipients in the news.

The dissertation research of Jennifer s Brach, PT, PhD, GCS, a 1998 PODS I and 2001 NIFTI recipient, was featured in the February 22, 2004, edition of Parade Magazine. The feature summarized an article published by Brach and colleagues (Brach JS, FitzGerald S, Newman AB, et al. Physical activity and functional status in community-dwelling older women: a 14-year prospective study. Arch Intern Meal. 2003;163: 2565-2571) that reported a significant relationship between physical activity during a 14-year period and current functional status in older women, suggesting that physical activity plays a role in maintaining functional ability later in life. Women who were more active fared better than those who were less active, reporting fewer difficulties with daily activities and better physical performance. Brach's study is one of the first to examine the long-term effects of physical activity on functional status in older women. With people living longer. it is important to keep active. Parade Magazine is distributed by more than 335 major newspapers with readership of 78.3 million.

Glenn N Williams, PT, PhD, ATC, SCS, a 1999 McMillan recipient, a 2000 and 2001 PODS I recipient and a 2002 PODS II recipient, received the American Society of Biomechanics Young Scientist Award (Pre-Doctoral). This award recognizes a young scientist whose academic record, scholarship, and research direction are marked by excellence and suggest a promising career as a biomechanics scientist.

Gretchen B Salsich, PT, PhD, Assistant Professor of Physical Therapy, St Louis University, a 1999 NIFTI recipient, recently received a 5-year, $485,038 grant from the National Institutes of Health National Institute of Child Health and Human Development for her project, "Patellofemoral Pain: Tibiofemoral Rotation Impairments."

The long-term goal of the proposed research is to better understand the mechanisms by which lower-extremity alignment and movement impairments contribute to the development of musculoskeletal pain conditions. Her NIFTI award was for a project on patellofemoral joint stress.

Janet K Freburger, PT, PhD, a 2003 grant recipient, and colleagues at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill published an article, "Physician Referrals to Physical Therapy for the Treatment of Musculoskeletal Conditions," in Archives of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation (Freburger JK, Holmes GM, Carey TS. Physician referrals to physical therapy for the treatment of musculoskeletal conditions. Arch Phys Med Rehabil. 2003; 84(12):1839-1849). They analyzed data from the National Ambulatory Medical Care Survey, an ongoing annual survey of US office-based physicians, to identity the factors associated with orthopedic surgeons' and primary care physicians' referrals to physical therapy for musculoskeletal conditions.

They found that significant differences exist in orthopedic surgeons' and primary care physicians' referrals to physical therapy, both within and across specialties, and concluded that variation in physical therapy referral may be indicative of problems with access, inappropriate referral, or both. This study was supported by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality and by a grant from the Cecil G Sheps Center for Health Services Research.

In 2003, Freburger received a research grant from the Foundation for her project, "Use, Access and Effectiveness of Physical Therapy for the Treatment of Spine Disorders," funded by a generous donation from APTA's Private Practice Section. This project analyzed 5 years of data from the National Spine Network to describe the characteristics of individuals who use physical therapy identify the determinants of physical therapy use and physician referral to physical therapy, and evaluate the effectiveness of physical therapy treatment for spine disorders. She presented the findings from her Foundation-funded research in a platform presentation at CSM 2004 and has completed two manuscripts currently in review.

The Foundation congratulates the following recipients who have been awarded doctorates:

* Philip J Blatt, PT, PhD, NCS, a 1999 PODS II recipient. Blatt is currently Assistant Professor in the Department of Physical Therapy at the University of Alabama-Birmingham.

* Kathleen A Hinderer, PT, MPT, PhD, a 1990 and 1991 award and 1998 PODS II recipient. Her dissertation was on "The Relationship between Musculoskeletal System Capacity and Task Requirements in Simulated Crouch Standing."

* JoAnn Kluzik, PT, PhD, PCS, a 1998 and 1999 PODS I and 2000 and 2001 PODS II recipient. Kluzik is currently a postdoctoral fellow with the Department of Neuroscience at the Johns Hopkins University-Kennedy Krieger Institute, under the mentorship of Amy Bastian, PT, PhD, a 1994 and 1995 recipient, and a member of the Foundation's Scientific Review Committee.