April 22, 2014

Gail Wells stepped down from her position as Administrative Coordinator for the Department of Creative Arts Therapies after sixteen years of service. In 1982, Wells’ first job with Drexel University was in the Department of AV and Communications in the Medical School; she was hired as the Creative Arts Therapies Department’s Administrative Coordinator in 1998. The College of Nursing and Health Professions wishes her health and happiness in her retirement.

Tiffany Huang (MS, June 2014 expected) was awarded a mini-grant by the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics Foundation, as a member of the Kids Eat Right campaign. Kids Eat Right is a member-driven public education platform designed to ensure that sound nutrition recommendations are part of childhood obesity prevention. As a recipient of the mini-grant, Huang will give two presentations to youth and adults participating in health education workshops at the Stephen and Sandra Sheller 11^th Street Family Health Services Center.

Clare Milner, PhD, an associate professor in the College of Nursing and Health Professions’ Department of Physical Therapy and Rehabilitation Sciences, published an article entitled “Changing step width alters lower extremity biomechanics during running” in the journal Gait & Posture. Trey Brindle, MS, a doctoral student in the Rehabilitation Sciences Program, was the primary author of the study. The objective of the study was to determine the biomechanical response of the lower extremity joints to step width changes during running. The authors concluded that step width influences lower extremity biomechanics in healthy runners, particularly in the frontal plane. This work paves the way for the development of studies to reduce overuse injury in runners, whose incidence has been related to abnormal biomechanics in the front plane.

Students Amanda Hall, Danielle Spearman, and Zakiyyah Muhsin-Fall were awarded Drexel’s Falkenstein Scholarship for this academic year. Professor Faulkenstein was a cherished faculty member in our Nurse Practitioner Program who passed away in 2010 and the scholarship fund was set up in her honor. The scholarship is awarded to Nurse Practitioner students who demonstrate high academic achievement and need for financial support.