February 2024 Dean's Message

Dear alumni and friends,

Happy New Year! We look forward to a year of growth, discovery and continued success.

Please join me in recognizing the achievements of our faculty and staff who were acknowledged for their hard work and dedication to the college, community and their professions during the 2023 CHP Faculty and Staff Awards Ceremony.  

Help us celebrate the following accomplishments:

• The College of Health Professions is ranked No. 3 in National Institutes of Health (NIH) grant funding among schools of health professions.
• Zoher Kapasi, PT, Ph.D., MBA, was elected treasurer of the American Physical Therapy Association (APTA).
• Megan Donaldson, PT, Ph.D., was elected the new president of the American Academy of Orthopaedic Manual Physical Therapists (AAOMPT).
• Sara Kraft, PT, DPT, NCS, was appointed as the new division director for the Division of Physical Therapy.
• Jul Laura, OTR/L, received the South Carolina Health Care Hero Award from the SC Business Journal in December for her quick action in detecting a potential second stroke during a telehealth session. where she promptly dialed 911 and stayed connected until EMS arrived.
• Sabrina Horvath, Ph.D., CCC-SLP, recently published an article titled, "Assessing receptive verb knowledge in late talkers and autistic children: Advances and cautionary tales" (Horvath & Arunachalam, 2023), in the Journal of Neurodevelopmental Disorders.
• Our Department of Healthcare Leadership & Management (DHLM) had an incredible showing at the Society for Education and the Advancement of Research in Connected Health (SEARCH) Conference in November with multiple posters and presentations:
  • Brinton, D., Dooley, M., Simpson, K., McElligott, J. and Harvey, J. (2023, Nov. 7-9).  1-Year cost of anxiety/depression treatment: Telehealth vs. face-to-face in nationwide cohort. Presentation at the SEARCH National Telehealth Research Symposium. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. 
  • Dooley, M., (2023, Nov. 7-9). Comparison of TDABC-Estimated Visit Cost for Telehealth with Centralized Support vs In-Person Visits. Poster at the SEARCH National Telehealth Research Symposium. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. 
  • Harvey, J., McElligott, J., Simpson, K., Maldonado, L., Johnson, J., Brinton, D., Ebling, S., Kruis, R. and Wen, J. (2023, Nov. 7-9). Difference in Telehealth Utilization by State and Type of Parity Law. Presentation at the SEARCH National Telehealth Research Symposium. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. (Awarded the 2023 Reviewers Award, as special recognition for the abstract receiving the highest scores during the review process.)
  • James, A., Jurdi, Z., Kruis, R., McElligott, J., Simpson, K. and Harvey, J., (2023, Nov. 7-9). Pediatric Patient Telehealth Experiences: A Comparison to In-Person in 2020 and 2022. Poster at the SEARCH National Telehealth Research Symposium. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. 
  • Wiley, K., Harvey, J., Warr, P., Wen, J. and Williams, D. (2023, Nov. 7-9). The Quest to Measure and Compare Telehealth Utilization and Changes Across US Hospitals. Poster at the Society for Telehealth Education and the Advancement of Research in Connected Health (SEARCH) National Telehealth Research Symposium. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
• Kazley, A., and Norman, L. (2024, March 10-15). AI Use in Health Informatics Education. Presentation at the AUHAP 19th Academic forum HIMSS, Orlando, Florida.

Our team is growing! Welcome to the following new faculty and staff members:

• Katie Whitlock – administrative coordinator, Office of the Dean
• Katie Hyman – assistant director of development
• Christelle Reyes – administrative coordinator, Office of the Dean
• Janet Horn, Ph.D., CCC-SLP – research associate in the Department of Healthcare Leadership & Management
• Elinor Borgert, MS, Ph.D.– assistant professor in the Department of Healthcare Leadership & Management
• Codi Cammer – administrative coordinator, Department of Health Sciences and Research
• Max Cutty – graduate research assistant under the supervision of Sara Knox, PT, DPT, Ph.D.
• E’lise Nissen and Chelsea Dyer – instructional designers

With your support and engagement, we continue to advance our mission to improve the health of our communities by developing and inspiring health scientists and leaders.

I am excited about the journey that awaits us in 2024. Thank you for continuing to make us proud.