Faculty and Staff News
Ruth Benedict, DrPH., OTR received a promotion to Associate Professor with tenure. Congratulations to Ruth for her outstanding work! Ruth's work is aimed at reducing health disparities in the US. Her public health service work raises national attention to policy making and service delivery issues regarding the allocation of resources for children with unmet needs. The promotion recognizes her accomplishments as a scholar and teacher and affirms the significant contributions of her work to serving the field of occupational therapy and the special needs of children.
Dr. Benedict received a two-year grant from the Cerebral Palsy International Research Foundation for $100,000.00. The UCPREF grant will support an interdisciplinary, comprehensive research study of the effects of Intrathecal Baclofen Pump (ITB) placement and subsequent therapy on the health, function and well-being of children or young adults with cerebral palsy and their caregivers. Specifically, the team will assess changes in physiologic state, energy expenditure and well-being of the pump recipient and caregiver; performance on and satisfaction with self-identified goals for treatment; muscle activity; or the quality, speed or accuracy of upper extremity movement; and function and participation. Findings of this study will inform the debate on the use of ITB treatment and will extend our knowledge of its effects at the impairment level to understanding the impact on health, well-being and participation of persons with cerebral palsy and their caregivers.
Ruth Benedict, DrPH., OTR received an award for the 2006-2007 year from the UW Graduate School Research Competition entitled “Policies and programs to assure quality assistive technology services and community integration for children and youth with disabilities and special health care needs." Dr. Benedict is a co-investigator on a collaborative project funded by the Centers for Disease Control entitled “Building capacity for population based surveillance of autism spectrum disorders and other developmental disabilities: Wisconsin surveillance of autism and other developmental disabilities (WisADDS)”. As a part of this project, she is leading a three site effort to develop surveillance methods for determining the prevalence of functional levels among children with cerebral palsy.
Beth Larson, Ph.D., OTR studies well-being of caregivers of children with disabilities and college students using mixed-methods designs and analyses. Recent findings of these strands of research can be found in diverse journals such as Occupation, Participation and Health: OTJR, Ecological Psychology and Journal of Adolescent Research. She is currently planning studies examining multiple dimensions of well-being including biological markers of health. She also presented her research at several international forums this year. In addition, she was awarded two podcasting grants which have been used to develop Spanish-speaking skills for therapists working with families. These language lessons are focused on occupational therapy evaluation and concepts and can be downloaded to ipods or other computer devices. Dr. Larson continues to remain active in the Society for the Study of Occupation: USA serving on the research committee. The upcoming SSO:USA meeting in St. Louis has an excellent slate of speakers.
Julia Wilbarger, Ph.D., OTR recently received a $18,000 grant for 2006-2007 from the Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation entitled Sensory Responsiveness in Autism to examine sensory processing capacities in individuals with neurodevelopmental disorders. Dr. Wilbarger is continuing to conduct several research projects to understand the underlying neuropsychological processes that influence how people with neurodevelopmental disorders respond to the alerting and affective dimensions of environmental stimuli. Her research incorporates the collection of both psychophysiological and neuropsychological data.
New Faces
Leslie Vaughan, PhD, OTR/L Assistant Professor
BFA Sculpture, Minor Piano Performance; Carnegie Mellon
MS Occupational Therapy; University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Ph.D. Cognitive Psychology; UNC-Chapel Hill
Clinical Specialty: Geriatrics, Pediatrics, Cognitive Assessment
Research Specialty: Aging and Executive Function
Years of Experience: Clinical Experience (4 years)
Courses Currently teaching: Assessment of Occupational Participation
Favorite Teaching Experience: Cognitive Science-group and problem-based learning environments
Favorite Research Experience: collaborating with other researchers who have complementary and multidisciplinary interests.
Favorite Service Experience: volunteering for an adaptive water sports program