UB Health Impact Spring 2022

The School of Public Health and Health Professions recently added two new programs and a minor. All received required New York State Education Department approvals and are ready to welcome students.

SPHHP students lead the way in micro-credential.

Kirk Personius, PhD, PT, associate professor of physical therapy, is beginning work on his project, “T Regulatory Cell Responses in Toxoplasma-infected Muscle.” The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases/National Institutes of Health

It’s always sunny in San Juan, Puerto Rico, which makes the findings of a new study on breast cancer and sun exposure noteworthy.

Ghazala Saleem, EdD, MS, OTR/L, assistant professor, Department of Rehabilitation Science, is the lead or senior author of a number of recent papers related to her work on brain injury and disorders of consciousness.

For Natalie Barnhard and her dream of a gym for people with spinal cord injury, the right puzzle pieces–including expertise from Department of Rehabilitation Science Chair Sue Ann Sisto, PT, MA, PhD, FACRM–fell into place at the right time.

Marianthi Markatou, PhD, professor and associate chair of research and health care informatics in the Department of Biostatistics, has been appointed to the distinguished professor rank by the SUNY Board of Trustees. The rank of distinguished professor is an order above full professorship and the highest rank in the SUNY system.

Meet Biostatistics Professor Jihnhee Yu, who wants data to aid diagnosis and treatment options.

Meet biostatistics PhD candidate Yi Gao.

UB graduate students in public health recently were among researchers collecting and analyzing data on mask-wearing and social distancing.

Not many people can lay claim to being a key player in the development of a scholarly discipline. Florence Clark, PhD, OTR/L ’70, FAOTA, can.

Jessica O’Neill, PhD ’21, MPH ’14, a recent doctoral degree recipient in community health and health behavior at SPHHP, has received a fellowship from the American Association for the Advancement of Science. She has been placed with the U.S. Agency for International Development’s Bureau of Humanitarian Assistance in Washington, D.C. The bureau provides lifesaving humanitarian assistance to the world’s most vulnerable and hardest-to-reach people.

“A girl going to college—why would you want to do that?” asked an uncle. Happily, a favorite high school science teacher’s encouragement counteracted the family skepticism, and UB alumna Alma (Coleman) Scully, EdM ’64, ended up enrolling at Hunter College in New York City, which was then tuition-free.