Scholarships, Fellowships, and Grants.

Foundation-Funded Research Receives Additional Funding From NIH

Andrea L Behrman, PT, PhD, Assistant Professor, Department of Physical Therapy, University of Florida, received a 5-year $550,000 Career Development Award from the National Institute for Child Health and Human Development, part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), to examine the effects of a long-term locomotor training program (see Phys Ther. 2000; 80:688-700) on spinal cord reflex modulation and overground walking velocity in persons with incomplete spinal cord injury.

The NIH award, titled "Activity-Dependent Plasticity After Spinal Cord Injury," expands upon a $30,000 fellowship Behrman received from the Foundation for Physical Therapy in 1998. The Foundation fellowship, along with $10,000 from the American Paralysis Society, enabled Behrman to acquire pilot data, establish mentoring and collaborative relationships, and begin conducting research.

"The support of the Foundation provided me the opportunity to collaborate with senior scientists in neuroscience and to begin building a bridge between basic and clinical research," said Behrman. "It was a critical piece in the success of the [NIH] application and the extension of this in-depth study of an experimental physical therapy intervention."

Scholarships Available for Early Doctoral Students

The Foundation for Physical Therapy announces its 2001 Mary McMillan Doctoral Scholarships for full-time or part-time students who have been accepted by a doctoral program. Applicants must be licensed physical therapists entering postprofessional doctoral study during the 2001-2002 academic year.

Up to 6 scholarships, in the amount of $5,000 each, may be awarded. Completed applications are due August 15, 2001. Recipients will be notified in December.

To request an application, call the Foundation at 800/875-1378 or e-mail: [e-mail].

Schedule for 2002 "DOCS" Scholarships and Fellowships

This summer, the Foundation will have applications ready for its annual Doctoral Opportunities for Clinicians and Scholars (DOCS) program. If you are a licensed physical therapist in a postprofessional doctoral education program, it's not too early to begin planning for the 2002 DOCS application process. Applications will be available this July.

The DOCS program is open to full-time or part-time students and includes opportunities for 1-year doctoral scholarships and postdoctoral fellowships. The scholarships, called Promotion of Doctoral Studies (PODS), begin at level I, $7,500 for physical therapists who have completed at least 2 full semesters or three quarters of their course work toward a doctorate. The level II $15,000 PODS scholarships are for physical therapists who have been formally admitted to candidacy.

The fellowship portion of DOCS, called New Investigator Fellowship Training Initiative (NIFTI), funds postdoctoral research for physical therapists who have completed their education within the last 5 years. Fellowships are for $30,000 and are renewable for 1 year.

Guidelines and applications for the DOCS program will be available in July and will be due to the Foundation by January 15, 2002. The Foundation's Scientific Review Committee will review completed applications and make recommendations to the Board of Trustees in March 2001. The Board of Trustees will approve funding in April 2002, recipients will be notified in May 2002, and monies will be disbursed to awardees in August 2002.

Awardees Complete Scholarship Studies

The following physical therapists have completed research grants and doctoral scholarships from the Foundation for Physical Therapy and submitted dissertations, progress reports, or final reports.

Joan Campbell Darbee, PT, PhD
University of New York at Buffalo
1994, 1995, and 1996 Doctoral Research
  Awards
Project Title: Positive Expiratory Pressure
  Breathing and Gas Distribution in
  Individuals With Cystic Fibrosis

Sharon L Olson, PT, PhD
Texas Woman's University
1999 Research Grant, Effectiveness of
  Physical Therapist Intervention in
  Reducing Frailty in the Elderly
Project Title: Risk Intervention Strategies for
  Elders

Margaret E O'Neil, PT, PhD, MPH
MCP Hahnemann University
1998 Doctoral Research Award
Project Title: The Impact of Family
  Resources, Environmental Support, and
  Physical Therapy on the Functional
  Motor Outcomes of Children in Early
  Intervention

Rose Marie Rine, PT, PhD
University of Miami
2000 Research Grant, Effectiveness of
  Physical Therapist Interventions for
  Children
Project Title: Examination of the Effect of
  Exercise on Motor Deficits in Children
  With Hearing Loss

Dorian K Rose, PT, MS
University of Southern California
1999 Promotion of Doctoral Studies
  (PODS), Level I
Area of Study: Neural Control of Movement

Katherine J Sullivan, PT, PhD
University of Southern California
1996 Doctoral Research Award
Area of Study: Role of the Sensorimotor
  Cortical System in Skill Acquisition and
  Motor Learning

The grant and scholarship recipients listed above presented their results in journals such as:

Journal of Sport & Exercise Physiology Neurology Report Neuroscience Abstracts Society for Neuroscience Proceedings

The recipients also presented their results at meetings of the American Physical Therapy Association and the North American Society for Psychology of Sport and Physical Activity.