Research Awards and Recognition

College of Health Grant Recipients
The Center for Rehabilitation Research Grant Recipients

• Division of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation
  
  Jeffrey P. Rosenbluth, M.D. Assistant Professor
  Project: "TRAILS: Therapeutic Recreation and Independent Leisure Services"
  Funding Agency: Craig H. Neilsen Foundation
  Amount of Grant: $100,000 for 1 year
  The ultimate goal of TRAILS is to enable people with spinal cord injuries to lead active and independent lifestyles. The program is designed for an individual’s entire social support system (family members, peers, and caregivers) by connecting them with others who are in similar situations, in addition to resources and agencies. TRAILS is divided into fi ve components: recreation, spinal cord injury forum, virtual outreach, volunteers and peer support, and transportation. This grant, awarded through the Brain Institute at the U, is earmarked specifi cally to support the spinal cord injury forum and virtual outreach components.



• Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders
  
  Julie Wambaugh, Ph.D. Associate Professor
  Project: "Word-retrieval Treatment for Aphasia:Facilitation of Generalization"
  Funding Agency: Rehabilitation Research and Development Service, U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs
  Amount of Grant: $647,000 over 3 years
  This project will examine the effects of a semantically oriented treatment on word retrieval in individuals with aphasia. The investigations are designed to further the development of semantic feature training, so that it may serve not only as a mechanism for improving disrupted lexical semantic processing, but also as a compensatory strategy during word-retrieval failures. The study also will address the issue of exemplar typicality by examining the effects of training typical versus atypical individuals who have different types of aphasia.



• Department of Exercise and Sport Science
  
  Maria Newton, Ph.D. Assistant Professor
  Project: "Caring about Physical Activity"
  Pilot Study: Leaders in educational psychology long have advocated integrating caring into academic settings. This project is studying the impact of perceptions of a caring context on the motivation, well-being, and pro-social tendencies of underserved youth in physical activity settings. Newton and colleagues in Memphis, Tenn., surveyed 300 children who participated in the National Youth Sports Program (NYSP) in Utah and Tennessee to determine their perceptions of caring by NYSP leaders as well as their peers. Leaders in the Salt Lake City program were trained specifi cally in caring, while those in Memphis received traditional training. Preliminary fi ndings suggest perceptions of caring are positively related to enjoyment, empathy, and pro-social behavior, and are negatively linked to antisocial behavior.



• Division of Physical Therapy
  
  Paul LaStayo, Ph.D., P.T. Associate Professor
  Project: "High-force, Low-cost Resistance Training in Individuals with Multiple Sclerosis"
  Funding Agency: National Multiple Sclerosis Society
  Amount of Grant: $44,000 for 1 year
  Many individuals with multiple sclerosis (MS)experience balance and mobility impairments, which place them at an increased risk for falls. Fatigue and inactivity accelerate a downward spiral, whereby muscle-wasting and weakness become amplified and fatigue/inactivity is exacerbated. Eccentric exercise will be tested as a countermeasure for these impairments and as an intervention to improve MS patients’ quality of life. Co-investigators are: Heather Hayes, D.P.T., physical therapist; Eduard Gappmeier, Ph.D., P.T., associate professor; and Lee Dibble, Ph.D., P.T., associate clinical professor.