News
Sage announces 2009 Broughton Graduate Fellows
December 7th, 2009
Established in 1982 by the late William Broughton in honor of his parents, Henry and Jane Tinkham Broughton, the Broughton Graduate Fellowship in Creative Applied Science is given each year to recognize and support students whose research demonstrates high merit in creativity, originality and potential impact.
The Broughton Fellows will present their research at the Sage Graduate Schools Research Symposium which will be held this year in Troy on Saturday May 1, 2010.
This year's Fall Awards go to:
- Beth Hine and Audrey Hummer for their physical therapy project "Reliability and Validity of the Nintendo Wii Fit." Beth and Audrey worked with their advisor, Dr. Laura Gras, to study the physical therapy benefit of using the Wii Fit, a virtual reality game console, for treatment purposes. They studied subjects at the Sage Colleges, all of where between the ages of 18-25. When compared to the established NeuroCom EquiTest, results showed that the Wii Fit can NOT be labeled a reliable method and suggests that therapists be careful when using it to demonstrate successful therapeutic interventions. This study has been the first in the physical therapy profession to study the usefulness of the Wii Fit as a therapeutic intervention. Their paper been submitted for publication to the Journal of CyberTherapy and Rehabilitation. The team will also be presenting their research at the New York Physical Therapy Association Annual Conference in Saratoga and the American Physical Therapy Association Combined Sections Meeting, in San Diego, CA.
- Christopher Viagrande for his nursing project "A Comparative Analysis of the Rate of Central Line Blood Stream Infections amongst Critical Care Areas." In a collaborative research project with Dr. Kathy Kelly, Christopher has focused on improvements in patient care within hospitals, particularly because central line blood stream infections are expensive to treat and nearly two-thirds of them are, in fact, preventable. Christopher's poster has received national recognition and an award for excellence, and has recently been accepted for a podium presentation at the "Day of Inquiry" at St. Peter's Hospital.
- Erin Landers, Lauren Nardini, Julie Schmidt, Nicole Wasielewski for their occupational therapy project "The relationship of a child's fine motor and object manipulation skills to academic achievement." The team has been working under the advisement of Dr. Martha Frank and in collaboration with The Queensbury Central School District to better understand the factors that contribute to a child's literacy development by asking the question, "How does a child's ability to manipulate objects, including writing tools, relate to their early academic achievement in kindergarten?" Their goal is to assist occupational therapists in creating effective support services in classrooms as children are developing literacy and handwriting skills.
- Mary Elizabeth Platt for her occupational therapy project "The World from an Airplane: A Veteran's Journey Home." Mary Elizabeth is working with her advisor, Dr. Cheryl MacNeil, to create a documentary that sheds light on the versatile lifestyle of a Vietnam War Veteran. Information has been collected through observations of the subject's daily life practices, as well as face-to-face interviews that focus on areas such as wartime experiences, roles and routines, and the difficult task of transitioning from military service to civilian life. Mary Elizabeth hopes that this project will bring about a larger focus on creating effective health care practices when working with veterans and inspire further research regarding the use of occupational therapy in the community reintegration of veterans.
- Brooke Barton and Sarah DiPasquale for their physical therapy project "The Effects of Body Weight Support Treadmill Training on the General Function and Mobility Skills of a 20 month old Female with a Spinal Cord Injury secondary to Arteriovenous Malformation." With Professor Marjane Selleck as a mentor, Brooke and Sarah have been dedicating their time to studying a 20-month old female that was diagnosed with this medical condition, resulting in the loss of some crucial sensory and motor functions. They have studied their subject at her own home, focusing on measurements such as range of motion, muscle strength testing, sensory testing and digital video analysis. Their main goal is looking at objective measures of treatment, specifically treadmill training, to determine if it will improve the subject's functioning and mobility skills. They hope that their project will assist future clinicians to create effective and efficient interventions in treating children with neurological impairments.
