“I am very honored to have been nominated for, and to have received, the ARP Lifetime Achievement Award this year,” says Dr. Poole. “The ARP has provided me with many leadership and networking opportunities, including being the president of the ARP. It has been exciting for me to be a member of an interprofessional organization and to participate in such a variety of committees and taskforces. With an interest in a rare rheumatic disease, scleroderma, the ARP/ACR was the go-to place for me. I got so much inspiration and support from attending and networking at the annual scientific meetings. I have developed lifelong friends and collaborations from volunteering and being a part of the ARP/ACR. Thank you so much.”
Dr. Poole received her Bachelor of Science in occupational therapy from Colorado State University, Fort Collins, her master’s from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and her doctorate from the University of Pittsburgh.
Dr. Poole began working with people with arthritis early in her career as an occupational therapist at the University of Virginia, Charlottesville. Her clinical interest and dedication to people who have scleroderma was fostered by Thomas Medsger, MD, and Virginia Steen, MD, at the University of Pittsburgh and supported by other rheumatologists and people with scleroderma.
As an occupational therapist, Dr. Poole is invested in the impact of scleroderma on daily life activities and recognized the role of occupational therapy services in the non-pharmacological management of scleroderma. She developed educational materials on hand and face exercises, designed an internet self-management program (i.e., Taking Charge of Systemic Sclerosis: TOSS) and two virtual group education programs: FAME-iSS to support people with scleroderma to manage fatigue and Making it Work Systemic Sclerosis (MiW-SS) to keep people with scleroderma in the workforce. She has tried to ensure these programs are easily accessible to patients and shares information at patient conferences.
Dr. Poole was recognized by the Scleroderma Foundation with the National Volunteer of the Year Award in 2011 and the Doctor of the Year Award in 2023. She was also named a fellow of the American Occupational Therapy Association and inducted into the Academy of Research for the American Occupational Therapy Foundation, where she also serves as vice chair. Dr. Poole has a history of productive research projects and funding with the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute, the Rheumatology Research Foundation, the National Institute of Nursing Research and the National Scleroderma Foundation, resulting in numerous publications and national and international presentations, often involving her students.
