School of Health Professions

The systematic review of students and faculty in the Department of Occupational Therapy (OT) on Dry Needling in OT Practice was featured in February 2021 by the American Occupational Therapy Association (AOTA) work. Led and mentored by OT faculty Drs. Claudia Hilton and April Cowan, students Rachel Bynum, Olivia Garcia, Emily Herbst, Mary Kossa and Katrina Liou completed the the systematic review as part of the requirements for their research courses.

On Saturday May 15, 2021, Texas A&M University at Galveston handed off its first undergraduate student to the University of Texas Medical Branch (UTMB). Chris Prevost ‘21 co-enrolled in both institutions during his senior year and was the first student to complete a minor in Clinical Laboratory Sciences (CLS).

The Department of Respiratory Care in the School of Health Professions has received approval from the Commission on Accreditation for Respiratory Care (CoARC) for a change in degree awarded from a Bachelor’s degree to a Master of Science degree in Respiratory Care.

The School of Health Professions and Dean Brown are honored to announce that Drs. Carolyn Utsey, chair of the Department of Physical Therapy and Kenneth Ottenbacher, chair of the Division of Rehabilitation Sciences have decided to retire after over 30 and 25 years of exceptional contributions to UTMB.

The Department of Physical Therapy is excited to announce that they have been granted approval to add a new Hybrid DPT program to our Accredited programs by the Commission on Accreditation in Physical Therapy Education (CAPTE).

With our deepest appreciation we are announcing that Vicki Freeman, PhD, MASCP, MLS (ASCP)cm SCcm, FAACC has stepped down as Chair of the Clinical Laboratory Sciences Department effective August 31, 2020.

The University of Texas System Board of Regents named Dr. Patricia Fingerhut as a 2020 Regents’ Outstanding Teaching Award recipient. Dr. Fingerhut was honored with the prestigious award in the form of a medallion and certificate along with mention on the UT System web site and statewide media.

The Department of Clinical Laboratory Sciences in the UTMB School of Health Professions has been awarded a $3,250,000.00 grant from The Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) from 2020 to 2025 for students pursuing a degree in Clinical Laboratory Sciences.

With the rapid escalation of the COVID-19 in our region and for the health and safety of all, the UTMB School of Health Professions decided to go virtual in 2020. The SHP Causeway FunD Run/Walk (5K) event is now a virtual race where you can walk, jog, run your 5K or 1K anywhere, anytime!

The Office of Academic and Student Affairs has redesigned the "school-specific" website that is a resource dedicated to sharing announcements and guidance with our School of Health Professions Community, Prospective Students, Current Students, Faculty, and Staff about Coronavirus (COVID-19).

Douglas Paddon-Jones, PhD, FACSM has been awarded $2,009,742 from the National Institute on Aging for his project, "Sex-specific determinants of early-phase recovery from skeletal muscle disuse."

The School of Health Professions held its commencement Aug. 16 at the Moody Gardens Convention Center in Galveston. A total of 252 graduates received degrees in 10 different degree programs.

For more than five decades, UTMB's School of Health Professions has educated generations of health care professionals who have become leaders in their fields and changed the world through life-altering care and research.

Since arriving at UTMB, Dr. David A. Brown said he has been impressed by the caliber of work being done in education and in research, citing the SHP's current NIH funding ranking of 11th nationally and the prevalence of translational research with potential to make a direct impact on patient care.

UTMB's SHP Occupational Therapy department is excited to announce that the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board (THECB) has approved UTMB's transition from its long-standing master's degree program (MOT) to a doctoral-level (OTD) degree. The OTD program will begin admitting students in Fall 2019 having received candidacy status from the American Council for Occupational Therapy Education (ACOTE).

Dr. Elizabeth Lyons is an Associate Professor in the department of Nutrition and Metabolism at UTMB. She came to UTMB in 2011 and spent her first three years here in the Institute for Translational Sciences. She has received external research funding from the National Cancer Institute, the American Cancer Society, and the American Heart Association. She has also published over 40 articles in peer-reviewed journals.

Dr. Carolyn Utsey, a professor and chair of the Department of Physical Therapy at UTMB, was honored with the prestigious Minnie Stevens Piper Foundation award and received a $5,000 grant from the foundation. The Piper Professor Awards were first introduced in 1958 and honor effective and dedicated professors from two-and four-year colleges and universities in Texas.

Congratulations to our Academy of Master Teachers' April Educator of the Month, Dr. Laurie Farroni. She is an Assistant Professor of Instruction and Director of Clinical Education, UTMB Department of Physical Therapy, in the School of Health Professions.

Dr. Amol Karmarkar is an Associate Professor in the division of Rehabilitation Sciences at UTMB. He joined Rehabilitation Sciences at UTMB in December 2009 as a post-doctoral fellow after completing his doctoral training and a post-doctoral fellowship at the University of Pittsburgh and VA Pittsburgh Healthcare System. Dr. Karmarkar is also a co-director of the Techniques and Methods Development core for a NIH-funded Center for Large Data Research and Data Sharing in Rehabilitation (CLDR).