The UTMB School of Health Professions (SHP) Department of Physical Therapy and Rehabilitation Sciences had a strong presence at the American Physical Therapy Association (APTA) Combines Sections Meeting (CSM) in February.
We are incredibly proud of our faculty and students for their outstanding scholarship, innovation, and leadership showcased at CSM 2026.
Day 1 Poster Presentations and Recognitions:
1) Steady or Not? An Interprofessional Fall Needs Prevention Assessment of Older African Americans
Sharon Dunnivan-Mitchell, PT, DPT, DHSc; Karen Aranha, OT, PhD; Georgy Jacob, SPT; Trevor Wilson, SPT; Kati Foskey, OTS; Gillian Burleson, OTS; Lauren Ponce De Leon, OTS; Victoria Lee, OTS
Social Responsibility Award by the APTA Academy of Leadership and Innovation
2) Type 2 Diabetes and Dementia: Impact of Social Determinants on Health Outcomes: A Retrospective Cohort Study Using TriNetX Electronic Health Records
Mandeep Kaur Sandhu; Memrie Ferguson; Botnar Kostiantyn; Carole Tucker, Departments of Physical Therapy & Rehabilitation and Pharmacology & Toxicology
Social Responsibility Award by the APTA Academy of Leadership and Innovation
3) Transforming Distance Learning: Virtual Global Health Collaborations That Actually Work
E. Cottos, PT, DPT; J. Walrath, PT, DPT; C. Tucker, PT, PhD
4) Learning to Heal: Physical Therapy Students’ Experiences in Interprofessional Care for Vulnerable Populations
J. Smith, PT, DPT; E. Cottos, PT, DPT; R. Welsh, PT, OTR, PhD; S.G. Klappa, PT, MPT, PhD; L. Farroni, FT, DPT
Social Responsibility Award by the APTA Academy of Leadership and Innovation
5) Transforming DPT Clinical Education: Scaling Acute Care Experiences through PDSA-Driven 2:1 Partnerships
Laura Oppermann, PT, DPT; Ryan Pontiff, PT, DPT, PhD; Jeanne Smith, PT, DPT
6) An Exploratory Study: Can Cortical Priming Enhance Locomotor Skill Learning in Persons with Chronic Stroke? Morrisette, SPT; Robinson, SPT; Tran, SPT; Locha, MS; Cherry, DPT; Dunnivan-Mitchell, DPT, DHSc; Chang, PT, PhD; Tseng, PT, PhD
7) Maximizing Paretic Leg Propulsion Using a Visual Feedback System with an End-Effector Robot
Mansoo Ko, PT, PhD; David A. Brown, PT, PhD, FAPTA, FASAHP. Department of Physical Therapy and Rehabilitation Sciences, The University of Texas Medical Branch and RWTH Aachen University, Aachen, Germany
8) Dynamic Ultrasound Assessment of Patellar Tendon: Contracted vs Resting State Analysis Across Multiple Knee Angles
Ferguson; Brightwell; McGaugh; Humphrey; Scott; Adnan; Gatley; Muery; Nicholas