Scholarships, fellowships, and grants. (Foundation for Physical Therapy).

Foundation Supports Exciting New Research in 2003

In October 2002, the Foundation awarded $120,000 for research grants to physical therapists for projects evaluating the effectiveness of physical therapy interventions. In September, the Foundation's Scientific Review Committee reviewed 18 grant applications, and, in November, the Board of Trustees approved 3 applications for funding. The following physical therapists were awarded $40,000 1-year grants for research projects beginning in 2003:

Janet Kues Freburger, PT, PhD, Research Associate, Cecil G Sheps Center for Health Services Research, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, was awarded a grant to evaluate the effectiveness of physical therapist practice (related to Questions 3.6 or 3.7 of the Clinical Research Agenda). This grant, made possible by a donation from APTA's Private Practice Section, will support her research project, "Use, access, and effectiveness of physical therapy for the treatment of spine disorders."

Neva Kirk-Sanchez, PT, MSPT, PhD, Assistant Professor, College of Health and Urban Affairs, School of Health, Florida International University, Miami, Fla, was awarded a grant to evaluate the effectiveness of physical therapist practice. This grant, made possible by student fundraising efforts in the Pittsburgh-Marquette Challenge, will support her research project, "Factors related to adherence to a home exercise program after discharge from outpatient physical therapy."

Wayne Stuberg, PT, PhD, PCS, Associate Professor and Director, Physical Therapy, Brace and Motion Laboratory, Monroe-Meyer Institute, University of Nebraska, Lincoln, Neb, was awarded a grant to evaluate the effectiveness of common physical therapy interventions for children with high-incidence special needs. His research project, "The effect of manual stretching in children with cerebral palsy," is funded by the Foundation's Section on Pediatrics Endowment Fund.

Foundation President Jayne L Snyder, PT, MA, noted, "The Foundation proudly awards funding to physical therapists to pursue the research goals of our profession. Congratulations to each of these worthy recipients."

Profiles of Excellence

This month, the Foundation focuses on two physical therapists at different ends of the research spectrum. One of the Foundation's many success stories involves an exceptional physical therapist researcher, Ruth Rose-Jacobs, who has benefited from Foundation support and has helped carry out and received, million-dollar grants from federal sources.

At the other end of the spectrum are physical therapists who are enrolled in doctoral programs of study and are preparing to add to the body of knowledge as physical therapist researchers. The Foundation focuses on one noteworthy recent scholarship recipient, Katrina Maluf, PT, PhD, who is on her way to becoming one of tomorrow's research stars, aided by APTA members' generous support to the Foundation.

Ruth Rose-Jacobs, PT, ScD, Assistant Professor of Pediatrics and Research Scientist at Boston University School of Medicine, is a 1986 and 1996 Foundation award recipient. The article, "Do `We Just Know?' Masked Assessors' Ability to Accurately Identify Children with Pre-natal Cocaine Exposure," was published in the Journal of Developmental and Behavioral Pediatrics (2002; 23: 340-346).

This article summarizes research supported by Rose-Jacobs' 1996 Foundation research grant, "Infants from the Inner City: Relationships between Risk and Outcome Measures of Interest to Physical Therapy," and by National Institute for Drug Abuse (NIDA) grant, "Cocaine Exposure In Utero: Elementary School Follow-up," that was awarded to Deborah Frank, MD, and on which Rose-Jacobs is a co-investigator. The article concludes that trained research assistants are unable to accurately distinguish if a child has been exposed to cocaine in utero without knowing the child's history. The research assistants incorrectly labeled many children as cocaine-exposed, based on observations and lower test scores, when in fact the children had not been prenatally exposed to the drug. Labeling children as cocaine-exposed may result in negative expectations for children and could undermine their potential and development.

The Foundation research grant awarded to Dr Rose-Jacobs in 1996 helped set the stage for her participation in the NIDA study. "The grant from the Foundation gave me, as a new independent researcher, the paid time, experience, recognition from my department, and certainly financial resources to carry out analyses, writing, and management of all aspects of the research process. In addition, having the grant opened new professional opportunities. Because of my professional growth during the Foundation grant, I was able to participate at a higher level on the NIDA grant."

Dr Rose-Jacobs is currently also the Principal Investigator and Director of Research for Project RISE, a $1.1 million dollar grant from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services (SAMHSA) and the Casey Family Programs for "Starting Early Starting Smart: Longitudinal Preschool Extension for Project RISE," at the Boston Medical Center. Project RISE is a longitudinal clinical research project whose purpose is to determine the effect on children and their families of integrating behavioral health care services into a pediatric primary care clinic compared with standard pediatric primary care during the first 3 years of life. Dr Rose-Jacob's first grant from the SAMHSA/Casey Family Program funded the planning, recruitment, and data collection phases of this project for newborns at 6, 12, and 18 months. The $1.1 million Preschool Extension Grant covers infant and family intervention and testing of the same children when they are 2 and 3 years old. "My experience with the Foundation and grant history helped me to obtain two SAMHSA/ Casey Family Program grants totaling $3 million over a period of 6 years."

Dr Rose-Jacobs also received Foundation funding in 1986 for a research project, "Quantitative Assessment of the Development of Reaching in Health Full-term and Pre-term Infants at Seven, Nine, and Twelve Months."

Katrina Maluf, PT, PhD, a 2001-2002 PODS II recipient, earned her PhD in December 2002 from the Interdisciplinary Program in Movement Science at Washington University in St Louis, Mo. At the annual VIII EMED Scientific Meeting, an international scientific conference, held July 31 to August 3, 2002, in Kananaskis, Alberta, Canada, Dr Maluf was awarded the prestigious Novel award for outstanding research in the field of pressure distribution for her paper, "Comparison of physical activity and cumulative plantar tissue stress among subjects with and without diabetes mellitus and a history of recurrent plantar ulcers." This paper reports on research from a portion of Dr Maluf's doctoral thesis. Her project, funded entirely by the Foundation, used innovative methods to estimate the stresses that are encountered on the plantar foot over a 1-week time period. Dr Maluf presented data that suggests that patients with diabetes have a much lower tolerance of physical stress than is commonly believed.

   Maluf, KS, Mueller, MJ. Comparison of
   physical activity and cumulative plantar
   tissue stress among subjects with and without
   diabetes mellitus and a history of
   recurrent plantar ulcers. VIII EMED
   Scientific Meeting, Kananaskis, Canada,
   Aug 2002.

"The Novel award carries a $10,000 prize and is considered to be one of the most prestigious awards in biomechanics," says Michael Mueller, PT, PhD, a conference attendee and Dr Maluf's advisor at Washington University St Louis School of Medicine, a 1987 and 1991 Foundation recipient, and a former member of the Foundation's Scientific Review Committee. "Katrina did an outstanding job presenting her work and fielding challenging questions from an international panel of judges. Congratulations to Katrina Maluf for this great accomplishment!"

Recently, she began a postdoctoral fellowship to work with Roger Enoka, PhD, in the Department of Kinesiology and Applied Physiology at the University of Colorado in Boulder. Dr Maluf's postdoctoral research focuses on the mechanisms of neuromuscular fatigue, and her long-term research interest is how fatigue influences multijoint movement and the risk of musculoskeletal injury.

The following is a list of Dr Maluf's peer-reviewed publications:

Articles:

   Mueller MJ, Maluf KS. Tissue adaptation
   to physical stress: a proposed "physical
   stress theory" to guide physical therapist
   practice, education, and research. Phys.
   Ther. 2002;82:383-403.

   Maluf KS. A lesson from John Hughlings
   Jackson (Guest Editorial). J Orthop Sports
   Phys Ther. 2002; 32:84-85.

Conference abstracts:

   Maluf KS, Mueller MJ, Hastings MK,
   Henry JD, Johnson JE. Effect of tendon
   Achilles lengthening on gait characteristics
   in patients with diabetes mellitus. APTA
   Combined Sections Meeting, San Antonio,
   TX, February 2001. J Orthop Sports Phys
   Ther. 2001; 31 :A3-A4.

   Maluf KS, Mueller MJ, Hastings MK,
   Henry JD, Johnson JE. Effect of tendon
   Achilles lengthening on ambulatory plantar
   loads in patients with diabetes mellitus.
   APTA Combined Sections Meeting,
   Boston, MA. February 2002. J Orthop
   Sports Phys Ther. 2002;32:A33-A34.

   Mueller MJ, Maluf KS., et al. Effect of tendon
   Achilles lengthening on forefoot plantar
   pressures, ankle motion, and plantar
   flexor power during walking in subjects
   with diabetes and peripheral neuropathy:
   a prospective controlled clinical trial. VIII
   EMED Scientific Meeting, Kananaskis,
   Canada, July 2002.