Southwest Educational Development Laboratory
Volume 3, Number 3, 1999
The NCDDR congratulates each of the following NIDRR grantees and staff members. All grantees are encouraged to contact the NCDDR with information to share in future issues of The Research Exchange.
Director of NIDRR, was invited to represent the U.S. and to be one of three plenary speakers at the TIDE III Congress
in Helsinki, Finland on June 23-25, 1998. TIDE (Technology Initiative for the Integration of Disabled and Elderly people) is a group of applied research projects in Assistive Technology funded by the
European Union. Her speech on Disability's New Paradigm: Implications for Assistive Technology and Universal Design is available on the NCDDR Web site. the Director of the National Institute
of Disability and Rehabilitation Research also visited an independent living center in Helsinki and discussed the social network in Finland, especially the range of options for assistance, such as Personal
Assistance Services.
NIDRR has also been honored in other venues:
The RRTC on Secondary Conditions of Spinal Cord Injury of the University of Alabama at Birmingham's Spain Rehabilitation
Center, received the AMA International Health and Medical Film Festival Finalist Award in 1997. The American Medical Association
conferred the award for excellence in the film "Reproductive Health for Women with Spinal Cord Injury: Part 1, The Gynecological Examination." Dr. Amie Jackson, Medical Director and Principal
Investigator, and Ms. Barbara Key, Director of Training, worked on the training project. For additional information on these items, please contact Barbara Key at (205) 934-3283 or
by e-mail to key@sun.rehabm.uab.edu .
Dr. Robert Friedman, Principal Investigator of the RTC for Children's Mental Health, University of South Florida, is
participating in the development of the Report of the Surgeon General on Mental Health. The Report was commissioned on September 30, 1997. For additional information, contact CDR Patricia
A. Rye, JD, MSW, Managing Editor, Center for Mental Health Services, SAMHSA, 5600 Fishers Lane, Room 15-105, Rockville, MD 20857. You may also contact Jane Willis, the RTC's Coordinator of Outreach
and Training Programs, at (813) 974-8429 or by e-mail at willis@fmhi.usf.edu .
Ms. Jessica A. Jonikas, Managing Director of the National RTC on Psychiatric Disability, University of Illinois at
Chicago, was competitively elected to the Board of Directors of the [ www.isiegelagency.com/iapsrs.htm Inactive Link 10/02] International Association of Psychosocial Rehabilitation Services (IAPSRS).
Ms. Jonikas is serving a two-year term that began in June, 1998. Dr. Judith Cook is the Director of the National RTC. For additional information please contact Ms. Jonikas at (312)
422-8180 ext. 18 or by e-mail to jonikas@psych.uic.edu .
Mike Ruef, PhD, a Doctoral Fellow with the [www.lsi.ukans.edu/beach Inactive Link 10/02]RTC on Policies Affecting Families With Children With Disabilities, received the 1998
Dissertation of the Year from the School of Education, University of Kansas, for The Perspective of Five Stakeholder Groups on the Challenging Behavior of Individuals with Mental Retardation and/or
Autism. An article from this dissertation is published in the premier issue of the Journal of Positive Behavior Intervention. Drs. Ann and Rud Turnbull are the Co-Principal Investigators
of the project. For further information, please contact Dr. Ruef at (785) 864-7600.
Dr. Marianne Farkas, Co-Principal Investigator of the RTC in Rehabilitation for Persons with Long-Term Mental Illness
(Boston University/Sargent College), received the James Beard Award from the International Association of Psychosocial Rehabilitation Services (IAPSRS) in June, 1998 for promoting programs in psychosocial
rehabilitation. For additional information, please contact Dr. Farkas at (617) 353-3549 or by e-mail to mfarkas@bu.edu .
Mr. Ken Galea'i and the RRTC of the Pacific, San Diego State University, participated in the Association
of Pacific Island Legislatures (APIL), 17th General Assembly on May 28, 1998. Mr. Galea'i was asked to be a staff consultant, and the APIL passed a resolution based on the findings of the
RRTC's research. Dr. Fred McFarlane is the Principal Investigator of the RRTC. For additional information, please contact Ken Galea'i or Fred McFarlane at (619) 594-4220 or
by e-mail: fmcfarla@mail.sdsu.edu
Rowland Hazard, M.D., a Project Director at the http://salus.med.uvm.edu/~backtalk/ [dead link 9/2002] Vermont RERC for Low Back Pain, Vermont Back Research Center at the University
of Vermont, and Steven Reinecke, M.S., a Center Project Director from 1988 to 1993, were awarded a patent in Europe in June, 1997, for a new backrest for people with chronic or disabling low back
pain. A U.S. patent was granted in 1991 for the device, which is based on the principle of continuous passive motion (CPM). Commercially known as The
BackCyclerCPM, the device was designed and tested with funding from NIDRR. Commercial production and distribution have been assumed by Ergomedics, Inc., of Colchester, Vermont, (802) 655-2225.
For more information, please contact the Information Office at the Vermont Back Research Center, (800) 527-7320 or send an e-mail query to backtalk@salus.med.uvm.edu
.
Staff members from the RERC on Accessible and Universal Design in Housing at North Carolina State University received the
1998 Pin Dot Award sponsored by the Pin Dot Corporation at the RESNA Conference in June, 1998. The award was for the best paper published
this past year in RESNA's Assistive Technology Journal. "An Analysis of the Effects of Ramp Slope on People with Mobility Impairments," was written by Jon Sanford, Molly Story,
and Mike Jones and appeared in Volume 9.1/1997 of Assistive Technology Journal.
In April, 1998, the late Ron Mace and Mary Story of the RERC staff also received
the 1997-98 Faculty Research Award from the School of Design, NCSU. The award for overall excellence in design research was for their work on developing the Principles of Universal Design under
a NIDRR-funded Research and Development project. Contact Mr. Larry Trachtman, Principal Investigator, at (919) 515-3082 or trachtman@ncsu.edu
for additional information.
The Maryland Technology Assistance Program (MD TAP) headed by Mr. Paul Rasinski, Executive Director, received the Print
Media Award from the Maryland Governor's Committee on Employment for Individuals with Disabilities on April 24, 1998. The recognition was for the program's newsletter Tapping Technology. For
more information, please contact Louise Calderan at (410) 485-9486 or by e-mail to bankston@clark.net
Pennsylvania's Initiative on Assistive Technology (PIAT) headed by Dr. Diane Bryen, Principal Investigator,
received the Provider Recognition Award in October 1997 from the Special Kids Networks, PA Department of Health. The award is given "in recognition of outstanding services that help children
with special health care needs and their families make connections that improve their lives."
PIAT also received one of five Development Grant 1998 awards from the National Council on the Aging/Pfizer Innovations in Caregiving Program. The $25,000 award will fund a train-the-trainers program which goes hand-in-hand with Pennsylvania's state-funded AT Lending Library. Through the lending library, trainers can borrow equipment for their demonstrations to caregivers of older Pennsylvanians. For additional information, please contact Amy Goldman, Project Director, at (215) 204-3862 or by e-mail to piat@astro.ocis.temple.edu .
Mr. Kenneth Knorr, Principal Investigator of the Virginia Assistive Technology System, received
a recognition award from the Virginia Council on Assistive Technology in 1998. The award is for Mr. Knorr's "dedicated work in the successful passage of Virginia's Lemon Law." For futher information
please contact Mr. Joey Wallace at (804) 662-9990 or by e-mail to wallacjf@drsmail.state.va.us .
Dr. Stanley Ducharme, Co-Director of the Special Projects and Demonstrations for Spinal Cord
Injuries, New England Regional Spinal Cord Injury System of the Boston University School of Medicine, was elected President of the American
Association of Spinal Cord Injury Psychologists and Social Workers in June, 1998. Dr. Ducharme will hold the position for a one-year term that ends in September, 1999. For additional information please
contact Dr. Ducharme at (617) 638-7358 or by e-mail to ducharme@bu.edu .
Dr. Paul R. Meyer, Jr., Principal Investigator of the Midwest Regional Spinal Cord Injury Care System at Northwestern University,
received the Lifetime Achievement Award from the American Spinal Injury Association (ASIA) on April 20, 1998 for a lifetime
of superior work in the field of spinal cord injury. For additional information, contact ASIA at (312) 908-1242.
Two papers presented by the Regional Spinal Cord Injury Center of Delaware
Valley at Thomas Jefferson University, headed by Principal Investigator Dr. John F. Ditunno, Jr., received top honors at the 24th Annual Scientific Meeting of the American
Spinal Injury Association (ASIA) held April 20-22, 1998. Acorda Therapeutics conferred only two awards for excellence in research in SCI at the annual meeting. The first paper entitled "Early
Prediction of Upper Extremity Motor Recovery in Tetraplegia: Results of a 10 Year Multicenter Study" was written by John F. Ditunno, Jr., MD; Michelle Cohen, PhD; and Walter Hauk, PhD.
The second paper, "Bladder Smooth Muscle Isoactin Gene Expression in the Rat Model of Spinal Cord Injury," was written by David Rivas, MD; Michael Chancellor, MD; and Patrick Shenot,
MD. For additional information, please contact Mary Call at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital; 132 S. 10th Street, 375 Main Building; Philadelphia, PA 19107.
Dr. Kristjan T. Ragnarsson, Principal Investigator of theMount Sinai Spinal Cord Injury Model System, was named
as one of "The Best Doctors in New York" by New York Magazine in its June 8, 1998 issue. To put together a new list of the city's best doctors, New York teamed up with Castle
Connolly Medical, a research and publishing firm that annually surveys the New York medical community and publishes a popular guide, How to Find the Best Doctors: New York Metro Area. Dr. Ragnarsson
was identified under the "Rehabilitation" heading. The article is available online at New York Magazine's Web site at http://www.nymag.com/This_Week/view.asp?id=1510 . Contact Dr.
Ragnarsson at (212) 241-9654.
Dr. Susanne Bruyere, Principal Investigator for Cornell University's Improving Employment Practices Covered by
Title I of the ADA project received the George N. Wright Distinguished Contribution to Rehabilitation Psychology Award. The University of Wisconsin-Madison Alumni Association of the Rehabilitation
Psychology Department conferred the award in March, 1998 for her lifetime contributions to the field. Dr. Bruyere is also a Co-Principal Investigator for the recently-funded RRTC
for Economic Research on Employment Policy for Persons with Disabilities. For additional information, contact Dr. Bruyere at (607) 255-7727 or by e-mail to smb23@cornell.edu
.
Dr. David Krebs, Principal Investigator of the Quantitative Assessment of Rehabilitation for Patients
with Cerebellar Dysfunction project, Massachusetts General Hospital Corporation, received the Marian Williams Award in June, 1998. The American
Physical Therapy Association presented the award for Dr. Krebs' "sustained and outstanding physical therapy research that made a meaningful contribution to the scientific basis of physical
therapy." For further information please contact Dr. Krebs at (617) 726-8016 or by e-mail to krebs@helix.mgh.harvard.edu .
Dr. Alexis Davis Henry, ScD, ORT/L, Co-Principal Investigator of the Parenting Options Project: A Development Project for Parents
with Psychiatric Disabilities (University of Massachusetts Medical School), received the 1998 Early Career Research Award from the International Association of Psychosocial Rehabilitation
Services (IAPSRS) on June 18, 1998. The award recognizes her outstanding recent efforts and anticipates her future contributions to research, promoting the psychosocial rehabilitation of persons with
severe psychiatric disabilities. For more information, please contact Mary Huggins, Chair, IAPSRS Awards Committee, at (410) 730-7190 or by fax at (410) 730-5965.
Denise Poston, a Doctoral student and Research Assistant with the [www.lsi.ukans.edu/beach Inactive Link 10/02] Rehabilitation Research Training Program at the University of Kansas,
received the 1997-1998 Dahlke Memorial Scholarship from the Department of Education/Special Education for furthering inclusion and quality of life for students with disabilities. Dr. Ann Turnbull
is the Principal Investigator of the project. Please contact Denise Poston at (785) 864-7603 for more information.
Two Predoctoral Fellows from the Rehabilitation Research Training in Physical Therapy project at Texas Women's University were recognized by the American
Physical Therapy Association (APTA) for their research efforts. Dr. Elizabeth J. Protas served as the Principal Investigator of the training project.
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