Research Symposium Honoring Dr. Rebecca L. Craik
We honor Dr. Rebecca Craik, affectionately known to many simply as Beck, on the occasion of her retirement after an exceptional career spanning four decades at Beaver College and Arcadia University.
With her earliest home base as a member of the faculty in the Department of Physical Therapy, and later expanding to the College of Health Sciences as Dean, Beck was a citizen beyond any one department or academic unit. The consummate thought leader, Beck played a crucial role in building what is now one of the top-ranked Physical Therapy (PT) programs in the nation and in elevating the College of Health Sciences to the position of prominence it now holds.
She has devoted her professional energies to creating a culture that is high -functioning, collaborative, student-centered, and research-oriented that combines the depth of academic study with the rigors of cutting-edge professional practice. Dr. Craik is well known and respected across the country as a leader in the pursuit of evidence-based practice and fostering research and its interpretation. There is no doubt about the legacy she has created. Today we will honor that legacy.
Schedule for the Afternoon
1:25pm Welcome Dr. Kate Mangione and President Ajay Nair
1:30pm The Best Things in Life Come in Circles Dr. Edelle Field-Fote
1:45pm Dem Bones, Dem Bones, Dem Foot Bones: Risk of Major Adverse Foot Events in CKD-MBD Syndrome Dr. David R. Sinacore
2:00pm Sing for Your Saunter: Rhythmic Cueing to Enhance Gait in Parkinson’s Dr. Gammon M. Earhart
2:15pm An Innovative Application of Functional Assessment Dr. Alan M. Jette
2:30pm BREAK…enjoy the Tributes Dr. Carol Leiper
2:50pm Systems Thinking and Implementation Science for Rehabilitation Transformation Dr. Jennifer Stevens-Lapsley
3:05pm Musings On Virtual Reality and Serious Games Dr. Judith Deutsch
3:25pm Words Matter Dr. Laurita M. Hack
3:40pm “I see it. Now, I have to wrap my head around it!” Unveiling the control and recovery of walking from pediatric spinal cord injury Dr. Andrea L. Behrman
3:55pm BREAK Special Announcement Dr. Kate Mangione
4:05pm Why is translation of recovery-supportive neuroplasticity so difficult? Dr. Carolee J. Winstein
4:20pm Presentation by Dr. Anthony Delitto
Meet our Speakers
Andrea L. Behrman PhD, PT, FAPTA
Title: I see it. Now, I have to wrap my head around it!” Unveiling the control and recovery of walking from pediatric spinal cord injury.
Behrman is a Professor in the Department of Neurological Surgery, University of Louisville, and the Kentucky Spinal Cord Injury Research Center (KSCIRC) and Director of Kosair for Kids Center for Pediatric NeuroRecovery, Louisville, KY. Her research focus is to develop and test therapeutic interventions promoting recovery after SCI in children and adolescents employing activity-dependent neuroplasticity and knowledge of the neurobiology of walking, postural and motor control. Committed to the translation of evidence into practice, she leads an out-patient clinical program (embedded in Frazier Rehab Institute) delivering restorative therapies to ‘pediatrics’ with SCI and in parallel a pediatric neurorecovery research program advancing the science for clinical decision-making and recovery after pediatric-onset SCI. Her work has been funded by NIH, the Department of Defense, the Craig H. Neilsen Foundation, the NIH National Center for Neuromodulation for Rehabilitation, a Coulter Translational Award, the National Institutes of Health REACH, the Kentucky Spinal Cord and Head Injury Research Board, KY Network for Innovation and Commercialization, Jewish Heritage Foundation for Excellence, and Kosair for Kids. Dr. Behrman launched her academic career as a faculty member with the PT program of then Beaver College, now Arcadia University (1987-1991), before embarking on her graduate studies at the University of Florida (UF). She was a faculty member at UF’s DPT program and Rehab Science PhD program from 1995-2012 before venturing to the University of Louisville. Dr. Behrman is a graduate of Furman University (BS), Duke University (MS, Physical Therapy), and the University of Florida (PhD).
Favorite Quote: “Why are you resisting the flow of circumstances?, said Becky to me just after I shared that I was going to decline Beaver College’s invitation to join the PT faculty (1987). My head spun in response to Becky’s question and the rest is history!
Anthony Delitto, PT, PhD, FAPTA
Tony Delitto is Professor of Physical Therapy and Dean, School of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences, University of Pittsburgh. He received his BS in Physical Therapy from SUNY Buffalo, NY, his MHS in Physical Therapy and his PhD from Washington University, St. Louis, MO. Delitto has authored or co-authored over 140 peer-reviewed research papers. He actively treats people with painful musculoskeletal disorders and his current research is focused on implementing classification and treatment effectiveness studies into quality improvement initiatives. He is also conducting trials in exercise interventions for people with Parkinson’s disease. He was awarded one of the first large pragmatic trials from the Patient Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI), a multi-site, $11+million grant (the TARGET study) to investigate innovative ways to reduce the transition of acute low back pain by having physical therapists partner with primary care and deliver psychologically informed physical therapy to patients with acute low back pain who are at risk for persistent pain. His awards include: Golden Pen Award, APTA, 1992; 6-time winner of the Steven J Rose Award for Excellence in Research, APTA Section on Orthopaedics (1993, 1994, 1996, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2015); Marian Williams Award for Research in Physical Therapy, APTA, 1997; Catherine Worthingham Fellow of the APTA, 2000, the Lucy Blair Award (2007), and the Helen Hislop Award (2014). He delivered the John HP Maley (2001) and Mary McMillan Lectureships (2008).
Favorite Quote with Beck: She called herself a “Jack of all trades, but master on none.” Did you know that this phrase is commonly misquoted? Shakespeare’s full quote actually reads: “A jack of all trades is a master of none, but often times better than a master of one.” So, Becky, when you used the quote to self-deprecate, you were actually bragging.
Favorite Memory of Beck: My favorite memories will always date back to first meeting her in 1979 at Krusen Researh Center, part of Moss Rehab, in Philadelphia, where she mentored me through my initial research exposure. All I can say is that I defined the term “raw.” Suffice to say that I can never forget the patience she demonstrated as she mentored me through the 6-week experience that sealed my fate as a PT researcher.
Judith Deutsch, PT, PhD, FAPTA
Title: Musings on Virtual Reality and Serious Games
Dr. Deutsch is Professor and Director of the Research in Virtual Environments and Rehabilitation Sciences (Rivers) Lab in the Doctoral Programs in Physical Therapy at Rutgers University. Her current research includes the development and testing of virtual reality and serious games to improve functional mobility and fitness of individuals with neurologic health conditions. She contributes to the transfer of the technology and knowledge translation aimed at facilitating adoption and evidence-based practice of these technologies.
Gammon M. Earhart, PT, PhD, FAPTA
Title: Sing for Your Saunter: Rhythmic Cueing to Enhance Gait in Parkinson’s
Earhart is a two-time graduate of Arcadia University. She earned an undergraduate degree in psychobiology followed by a master’s degree in physical therapy at Arcadia. Gammon subsequently earned her PhD in Movement Science from Washington University in St. Louis (WashU), completed a postdoctoral fellowship at Oregon Health & Science University, and then returned to WashU for her first and only faculty position. She is still at WashU where she serves as Associate Dean and Director of Physical Therapy and is Professor of Physical Therapy, Neuroscience & Neurology. Her research focuses on how the human nervous system controls movement, with a particular emphasis on neurorehabilitation in Parkinson disease.
Favorite Memory with Beck: I distinctly remember sitting in Becky’s office as she spontaneously picked up the phone and called Paul Stein to tell him she had someone sitting next to her that she thought he should meet. Then she put me on the phone with him, and a whole new world opened up to me, a world in which I could pursue fascinating research that would combine my love of neuroscience with my love of turtles. I did not know it at the time, but Becky was introducing me to my future PhD mentor and changing the course of my career and my life.
Edelle (Edee) Field-Fote, PT, PhD, FAPTA, FASIA
Title: The Best Things in Life Come in Circle
Edelle (Edee) Field-Fote, PT, PhD, FAPTA, FASIA holds the positions of Director, Shepherd Center Spinal Cord Injury (SCI) Research Program & Hulse Laboratory; Professor, Emory University School of Medicine, Department of Rehabilitation Medicine; and Professor of the Practice, Georgia Institute of Technology, School of Biological Sciences. With a clinical background as a physical therapist, PhD training in a pre-clinical model of SCI, and post-doctoral training in neurophysiology, her 25+ years of SCI research has spanned the breadth of basic and clinical/translational research related to SCI. Dr. Field-Fote leads a research team dedicated to improving motor function in persons with SCI through the development of clinically accessible neuromodulation and neurorehabilitation approaches informed by the latest neuroscience research and guided by outcomes that have meaning for persons with SCI. Dr. Field-Fote has conducted randomized clinical trials with continuous funding from the NIH since 1997, with other trials in her lab funded by the Department of Defense, the National Institute on Independent Living Disability and Rehabilitation Research, and numerous foundations.
Favorite Quote: “The whole universe is based on rhythms. Everything happens in circles, in spirals.” John Hartford, American composer, folklorist, musician, dancer.”
Favorite Memory of Beck: My PhD advisor, Paul Stein, is an outstanding neuroscientist and an enthusiastic champion of physical therapists. In the early 1990’s when I started my PhD studies in his lab, he told me that there as this PT he knew that I had to be sure to meet and get to know. He said she was really outstanding, and her work on interlimb coordination during walking was a highly relevant to the studies I was undertaking on interlimb coordination in turtle scratching. He showed me a textbook he had co-authored, and he turned to the chapter that had been written by this PT. The first author on the chapter was R. Craik! And of course I already knew her because she was the President of the Section on Research (now Academy of Physical Therapy Research), and a huge role model for all of us women PT scientists who were just getting started on our research careers.
Laurita M. Hack, DPT, PhD, MBA, FAPTA
Title: Words Matter
Laurie loves school so much, she just kept getting degrees, a BA, an MS(PT), an MBA, a PhD, and a DPT. She has extensive clinical experience in outpatient, nursing home, and homecare practice, especially in geriatrics. Laurie has taught in the areas of practice management, geriatrics, clinical decision-making, critical inquiry, evidence-based practice, ethics, communications, and health care systems at many schools, including Arcadia. Her research interests include development of clinical expertise, supply and demand of physical therapy personnel, and the impact of changes in the health care system on the practice of physical therapy. She has been very lucky to have a long-term group of research colleagues with whom she has coauthored Expertise in Physical Therapy Practice, Evidence into Practice, and Educating Physical Therapists. She has authored or coauthored over 50 papers and chapters and provided over 200 professional presentations. This research group is now actively including new researchers who are working on questions related to how we can best educate physical therapists to serve their profession and society. Laurie has served the APTA in many chapter, section/, and national positions. She feels quite honored to have been recognized as a Catherine Worthingham Fellow of the APTA and to have received APTA’s Lucy Blair Service Award and the Baethke-Carlin Award for Teaching Excellence. She was APTA’s 2018 Mary McMillan Lecturer. In between this she has spent some time reading mysteries, knitting, and enjoying her family, especially her granddaughters.
Favorite Quote: “Hello, good people.”
Favorite Memory of Beck: Lunches and dinners exploring why in the world we wanted to be department chairs!
Alan M. Jette, PT, MPH, PhD, FAPTA
Title: An Innovative Application of Functional Assessment
Alan Jette’s currently serves as Editor-in-Chief of the journal PTJ and is Professor & Dean Emeritus at Boston University. His scholarship focuses on evaluation of rehabilitation outcomes, the measurement of function, and the prevention and treatment of disability. He served as Dean of Boston University’s Sargent College of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences from 1996-2004, was Professor of Health Policy & Management at the Boston University School of Public Health from 2005-2017, and Professor of Rehabilitation Sciences at the MGH Institute of Health Professions from 2012 to 2021. In 2013, Dr. Jette was elected to the National Academy of Medicine, formerly the Institute of Medicine.
Favorite Beck Memory: I first met Becky on Jules Rothstein’s editorial board and have always admired her commitment to building the evidence base of physical therapy practice.
David R. Sinacore, PT, PhD, FAPTA
Title: Dem Bones, Dem Bones, Dem Foot Bones: Risk of Major Adverse Foot Events in CKD-MBD Syndrome.
Dave Sinacore is Professor and Director of Research in the Department of Physical Therapy, Congdon School of Health Sciences at High Point University, High Point NC. His research and clinical practice focus on musculoskeletal impairments resulting from chronic metabolic diseases including obesity, diabetes mellitus, peripheral neuropathy, chronic kidney disease, physical frailty, sarcopenia and osteoporosis. His clinical practice specialized in diabetic foot impairments and therapeutic interventions to prevent non-traumatic lower extremity amputation.
Favorite Quote: One of John Wooden’s quotes reminds me of Becky because she always gives sage advice. “Talent is God-given…. Be humble.” ‘Fame is Man-given….. Be thankful.” Conceit is Self-given….Be careful.”
Favorite Beck Memory: Early in my career as a clinician physical therapist when I was introduced to Becky, I was struck not only by her passion for physical therapy but also her passion for research in PT. I immediately adopted the same passions as Becky and to this day often use her as one of the shining examples of how physical therapists should promote our profession.
Jennifer Stevens-Lapsley, PT, PhD, FAPTA
Title: Systems Thinking and Implementation Science for Rehabilitation Transformation
Dr. Stevens-Lapsley is a Professor and Director of the Rehabilitation Science PhD Program and is the PT Section Director for Research and Development in the Physical Therapy Program at the University of Colorado. She is also the Associate Director for Research for the Geriatric Research Education and Clinical Center within the Eastern Colorado VA Healthcare System. She is focused on identifying, integrating, and advancing innovative evidence-based medicine solutions for older adult rehabilitation through highly effective research methods and partnerships. Her clinical research has resulted in over 150 publications and over $20 million of research funding.
Favorite Quote: “A mentor is someone who sees more talent and ability within you, than you see in yourself, and helps bring it out of you.” — Bob Proctor
Favorite Memory of Beck: I will never forget having lunch with Becky at Arcadia early in my career, and how she prioritized making so many of us feel valued and appreciated.
Carolee J. Winstein, PhD, PT, FAPTA, FAHA, FASNR
Title: Why is Translation of Recovery-Supportive Neuroplasticity so Difficult?
Dr. Carolee Winstein is Professor Emerita of Biokinesiology and Physical Therapy at the Herman Ostrow School of Dentistry with a joint appointment in the Department of Neurology at the Keck School of Medicine and faculty in the Interdisciplinary Neuroscience Graduate Program at the University of Southern California. Dr. Winstein’s research program from its inception in the early 1990’s until recently has concentrated on the development of non-pharmacologic neurorehabilitation interventions motivated and informed by cutting-edge brain and behavioral sciences to enhance or even accelerate recovery in persons who have damage to the central nervous system. She has conceived and led small scale research projects, medium size phase I and II clinical trials and large scale, phase III pragmatic trials, all in neurorehabilitation. Along with her research program, Dr. Winstein remains committed to mentoring junior scientists in research and career development. She believes that effective mentoring entails a collaboration consisting of structured training and education tailored specifically to the individual.
Favorite Quote: I don’t have a favorite quote because as Maya Angelou famously said: “I have learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.” Becky always made me feel good and that is what reminds me of her.
To Beck: This talk is dedicated to my dear friend and colleague, Dr. Rebecca Craik. I would not be who I have become without the encouragement and support Becky offered from the very beginning and throughout this journey. She has been my touchstone at critical points along my academic career path. Thank you Becky for your encouragement over the years, beginning with my very first poster presentation at SfN in the early 1980’s when I was a graduate student, through our Foundation-funded Clinical Research Network (PTClinResNet), and more recently, while I navigate the retirement phase of my career.
