Editor’s note: In the December 2014 issue, we ran a story on the ACR members honored with awards during the ACR/ARHP Annual Meeting in Boston in November. Here, we continue the awards coverage with the ARHP honorees.
Afton Hassett, PsyD
Associate research scientist, Department of Anesthesiology, University of Michigan Medical School, Ann Arbor, Mich.
Background: Dr. Hassett calls her interest in science “quite accidental.”
“I was training in clinical psychology as a doctoral student and just starting to see patients with depression and other psychiatric conditions,” she says. “Interestingly, two of my patients also had rheumatic conditions (fibromyalgia and osteoarthritis), and I observed that their emotional and physical symptoms seemed to vary together. When pain would worsen, mood would worsen, but more interestingly, when mood would worsen, pain would worsen, too. It wasn’t clear why this should be, but I was intrigued.”
Dr. Hassett received her doctorate from Alliant International University in San Diego in 2000. She holds an appointment as an adjunct associate professor of medicine at UMDNJ-Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, where she worked until 2010 and researched the role of psychological and affective factors in chronic pain conditions, such as fibromyalgia, rheumatoid arthritis (RA), lupus and post-Lyme disease syndrome. She joined the University of Michigan Health System’s Chronic Pain and Fatigue Research Center in 2010, and has since worked more on targeting resilience factors.
Question (Q): What has motivated your interest in rheumatic diseases?
Answer (A): Over the last 12 years or so, I have been studying pain in rheumatic diseases because it is the cardinal symptom in most conditions and can have a devastating effect on people’s lives. I hope to develop and deploy engaging and rewarding interventions to improve patient quality of life.
Despite bad circumstances, disease, disability & loss, many people fight, survive & thrive. This is a remarkable fact & worthy of study
Q: Where do you see the treatment of arthritis and other chronic pain conditions in five or 10 years?
A: I hope that we will have many more options to help our patients better manage their pain and other aspects of their illness. Ideally, there will be breakthroughs in medications and the delivery and dissemination of innovative patient self-management programs.
Q: What about your focus on targeting resilience factors appeals to you?
A: People are inherently resilient. Despite bad circumstances, disease, disability and loss, many people fight, survive and thrive. This is a remarkable fact and worthy of study. Psychology has spent far too much time focusing on what is wrong with people. It seems advisable to focus on what is right instead—learn about these processes and teach related skills to enhance resilience. Moreover, living the good life—having a high quality of life—should not be reserved for only healthy individuals. My research is centered on fostering strengths and increasing happiness in people with rheumatic illness despite the pain.
Q: As a psychologist, it must be fascinating tying the role of psychological and affective factors in chronic pain conditions. What made you want to tie the two together?
A: Neuro-imaging studies may offer the best evidence of why tying the two together is important. Pain processing and emotional processing share many of the same brain structures and neurochemistry. The two are tightly bound. If we can enhance positive emotions, not only might we make a patient’s life more rewarding, but we might even make the pain better.
ARHP Addie Thomas Service Award
Linda Ehrlich-Jones, PhD, RN
Clinical research scientist, Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago
Background: Arthritis wasn’t always going to be the focus of Dr. Ehrlich-Jones’s career. In fact, she wanted to delve into orthopedics when she went for her Master of Science degree in medical surgical nursing at Loyola University of Chicago.
“They didn’t have a mentor for me,” she says. “But they said, ‘Oh, we have this person who does rheumatology.’ And I said, ‘Sure, no problem.’ I actually found I liked it much better. Rheumatology is very much like detective work. There are so many different diseases, and they’re very similar. You have to figure out what’s going on.”
Dr. Ehrlich-Jones has been on the case a while. She earned that master’s from Loyola in 1987 and completed her doctoral studies in nursing sciences at the University of Illinois at Chicago in 2001. She has been at the Rehabilitation Institute since 2004.
Her work with the ARHP dates back to 1987 and she has held several positions with the organization, including as president in 2009–10. She has also been involved with the Arthritis Foundation since 1987. Her current work focuses on changing behavior in people with rheumatic diseases to encourage more physical activity.
Aside from detective work, one of her favorite parts of working with arthritis patients is that the specialty encourages long-term relationships. “It provides an opportunity to work with patients for a long period of time,” Dr. Ehrlich-Jones says. “I enjoy that a lot, working with people and helping them through that situation over many years, through the ups and downs.”
Q: What does it signify to you to be honored by your colleagues and peers?
A: It’s very heartwarming to think I’m being recognized for everything that I’ve done over the past 27 years. I didn’t do what I did for the past 27 years for that recognition, but it is very rewarding to me to be noted.
We really find it’s important for us as healthcare professionals to be good role models for our patients.
Q: What does ARHP mean for people? What does it provide?
A: We’re a multidisciplinary group. We meet a lot of other people; we network with a lot of other people. We develop collaborations and projects together. There’s a lot of education that the organization provides, like the Annual Meeting. We also do things online. We give the health professional the opportunity for growth in education, but also growth in learning leadership roles. For me, I feel like it was a big learning experience moving up the ranks through the leadership of this organization.
Q: You’ve worked on studies about behavioral changes and patients becoming more physically active. How important is that, both for patients and for your colleagues, to recommend?
A: It is really difficult for patients. You’re having pain and the healthcare professional tells you, ‘Go out and be active.’ But it is so important. We try to be good advocates and do things ourselves. We test out our equipment, our pedometers. We’ve been wearing Fitbits lately, testing out smartphone applications. We really find it’s important for us as healthcare professionals to be good role models for our patients.
ARHP Ann Kunkel Advocacy Award
Nancy Baker, ScD, MPH, OTR/L
Associate professor, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh
Background: 2014 worked out nicely for Dr. Baker. In September, she packed up her day job and headed to Atlanta for a one-year sabbatical at the Centers for Disease Control (CDC). Then, at the Annual Meeting two months later, she earned a national award for advocacy.
“This is a very good year,” she says, “and it’s a great opportunity for me to improve my skills, and hopefully that will improve my ability to advocate for people with arthritis.”
Dr. Baker has been an occupational therapist specializing in industrial rehabilitation since 1990 and has focused mostly on treating and advocating for workers with work-related musculoskeletal disorders (WMSD) and completing ergonomic job assessments. Her research has focused on practical methods to improve working conditions, particularly related to computer use. She’s been in the Department of Occupational Therapy at the University of Pittsburgh since 2001. She has been a member of ARHP since 2004 and has presented workshops and papers at every ACR/ARHP Annual Meeting since 2007.
“I see so many people with problems with arthritis and the lack of recognition for arthritis as an important chronic disease that the recognition of that advocacy work and the ability to continue to do that advocacy work is very important to me,” she says. “It’s just really nice to have advocacy recognized and to be part of that big picture.”
Q: What about advocacy can be frustrating? What about it appeals to you?
A: It’s mainly the people I get to work with, both the practitioners and the people with arthritis, [that appeals to me]. Particularly the people with arthritis are inspiring, and they help me to continue moving forward with efforts to try and make things more available for them and to make it easier for them to access and do the things that they want to do. I think arthritis—and I’m preaching to the choir here—is vastly under-recognized as an important disease, and so keeping the people in mind really helps move the advocacy forward.
I see myself more as a person who just provides information as needed. So winding up in an advocacy role is something of a surprise to me.
Q: Did you see yourself in this position 30 years ago?
A: No, not at all. I don’t see myself as a natural advocate. I see myself more as a person who just provides information as needed. So winding up in an advocacy role is something of a surprise to me.
Q: You are a faculty mentor for the U.S. Bone and Joint Initative (USBJI). What led you to accept their invitation?
A: It’s one of the natural outputs of people who are not only in advocacy but who are interested in academia. We have a natural desire to provide information to people to help them move ahead and to provide them with the support that they need to succeed and help them develop their own capabilities. And advocacy, if you’re going to help people move ahead, you can’t just speak for them, you have to teach them how to speak for themselves—and that includes developing other people who can do that, who can assist on different levels.
ARHP Distinguished Clinician Award
Marie Westby, PT, PhD
Physical therapy teaching supervisor, Mary Pack Arthritis Centre; Clinical Associate Professor, Department of Physical Therapy, University of British Columbia
Background: As origin stories go, a bus ride to her first ARHP meeting is a pretty good one for Dr. Westby. It was 1990 and the entire treatment program staff at her first job with The Arthritis Society’s British Columbia and Yukon Division chartered a bus to drive to the ACR/ARHP meeting in Seattle.
“It was a wonderful team-bonding experience, and my first international conference,” she says. “I found the sessions, speakers and research being done so interesting and inspiring and by the end of the trip, I knew I had found my calling!”
In 2004, after 16 years of clinical practice, Dr. Westby returned to the University of British Columbia to pursue her doctorate in rehabilitation sciences. More recently, she returned to academia for a postdoctoral fellowship in the school of Public Health at the University of Alberta. She has focused her research on addressing care gaps for patients with arthritis.
Q: What do you tell students about the future of the specialty?
A: I tell them rheumatology will challenge them, use all of their clinical reasoning and problem-solving skills, enable them to apply a variety of treatment approaches and be very rewarding. I like to remind them that no matter what clinical setting they choose to work in, and many choose private practice, they will encounter people of all ages with arthritis and they will need to be able to screen for it, manage it and know the ‘why, when, how and who’ to refer patients to, including other health professionals and community resources.
I tell [students] rheumatology will challenge them, use all of their clinical reasoning & problem-solving skills, enable them to apply a variety of treatment approaches & be very rewarding.
Q: What would you say to rheumatologists about the role of PT in the care of arthritic patients?
A: The rheumatologists I work with for the most part understand the valuable role physical therapy plays in the overall management of people with arthritis. Even with the newer drugs available … for some forms of arthritis that can prevent the joint damage and disability we saw 20 years ago, we still see patients who are in pain, have restricted joint motion, have altered their way of walking and moving, and are becoming less active and deconditioned. Physical therapists can help with all of these areas while also addressing many of the extra-articular, systemic and co-morbid conditions associated with arthritis
Q: People are so busy these days. Why have you taken the time to serve on ARHP committees and task forces? What do you get out of that?
A: I’ve gained so much from being a member of the ARHP over the years, and I love the work they do. So it is only natural to want to be part of that, to provide the perspective of a physical therapist in some of the committees and task forces, as well as ensure the needs of Canadian members of the ARHP are represented. But probably the biggest draw for me is the people—both the ARHP staff and fellow committee members.
ARHP Distinguished Educator Award
Janet Poole, PhD, OTR/L
Professor, Occupational Therapy Graduate Program, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque
Background: Compassionate and dedicated mentors steered Dr. Poole to an occupational therapy career with a focus on rheumatology. She’s been helping rheumatology patients, and most notably those afflicted with scleroderma, for more than 30 years. It was at her first faculty position, at the University of Pittsburgh, where she developed her interest in scleroderma.
“Drs. Thomas Medsger and Virginia Steen at the [University of Pittsburgh] were instrumental in developing my interest in scleroderma,” she says. “As an occupational therapist, I was asked to come to scleroderma clinic and evaluate people’s hand function and follow them over time. Drs. Medsger and Steen and their patients taught me about scleroderma and how the disease affected the patients. They helped me see the role of occupational therapy. They encouraged me to join ARHP and were supportive of my clinical and research ideas.”
Dr. Poole received her bachelor’s degree in Occupational Therapy from Colorado State University, her Master’s degree from the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill and her PhD from the University of Pittsburgh. At UNM, she teaches the rheumatology content to undergraduate and graduate occupational therapy students.
She has designed hand and face exercise programs and self-management programs for people with scleroderma delivered in person, and by telephone and Internet.
An active member of ARHP since 1984 and past board member, she was recognized in 2011 with the National Volunteer of the Year Award by the Scleroderma Foundation for her “accessibility as an educator and resource for persons with scleroderma and health professionals.”
Q: What is the most fulfilling part of your job?
A: I get to do everything: teach occupational therapy students, do research and provide service to professional and patient organizations.
Refer your patients to occupational therapists.
Q: Your award is for a career dedicated to teaching. What does that mean to you?
A: I am honored. I enjoy teaching and feel like a proud parent when my students graduate, pass the national exam and become occupational therapists. It is especially rewarding when I hear about the excellent programs they develop as therapists, and when they begin to supervise the next generation of therapists in clinical experiences.
Q: What moment stands out the most with regard to your career in education?
A: September 2013: the UNM Occupational Therapy Program had its 20-year reunion. I am proud to say that I taught every one of our graduates—and I knew them all by name.
Q: You’ve been involved with the ARHP in a variety of volunteer capacities and committees. What has that meant to you professionally and personally?
A: Professionally, through ARHP, I have had the opportunity to be part of an interdisciplinary group of professionals, which gives me a broader perspective. ARHP and ACR have been important for networking with rheumatologists and health professionals with expertise in scleroderma. Personally, I have developed long-term friendships.
Q: What advice do you have for the next generation of rheumatologists?
A: Refer your patients to occupational therapists.
ARHP Distinguished Scholar Award
Dorothy Dunlop, PhD
Professor of medicine-rheumatology, Center for Healthcare Studies, Institute for Public Health and Medicine and Preventive Medicine, Northwestern University, Chicago
Background: Industry or medicine? It was a toss-up for Dr. Dunlop. She might have had a long and distinguished career working for companies like FedEx or Southwest Airlines after teaching statistics at Northwestern, earning her PhD in industrial engineering in 1990 and authoring a statistics textbook. But something just didn’t click—that is, until she ventured into the “ultimately more compelling” world of medical research.
“My dissertation actually was done during the era that the AIDS epidemic started,” she says. “I’ve had different opportunities and perspectives than the person traditionally trained to be involved in medical research.”
In collaboration with rheumatologist Dr. Rowland (Bing) Chang, the research group has authored more than 50 articles on the role physical activity plays in preserving function for adults with knee osteoarthritis. NIAMS funding combined with an Osteoarthritis Initiative project allowed Dr. Dunlop to use accelerometers to monitor physical activity on more than 2,000 individuals. Currently, she is working to unravel the distinction between a sedentary lifestyle and insufficient physical activity.
“The lightbulb moment was the 2005 study with Dr. Chang,” she says. “We did not expect physical activity to have a stronger link to disability than major suspects like healthcare and disease profiles. The finding was unexpected, and it was also truly an opportunity. Those results changed the direction of what we were doing from broad risk-factor explorations to a focus on physical activity, how to intervene and what opportunities there would be to strategize and develop interventions.”
Q: What advice do you have for the next generation of researchers?
A: Having mentors who will walk with you along the way is certainly a key to being able to successfully establish your own research area. Recognizing where your strengths are and where you need further expertise is key.
Having mentors who will walk with you along the way is certainly a key to being able to successfully establish your own research area.
Q: Based on your experience, what advice do you have for researchers?
A: I think the people who make the most progress are those who realize that they need outside expertise at the beginning of their study, in the design stage. This includes the clinician working in tandem with the methodologist. It makes the project more efficient, often richer and certainly strengthens the validity and the credibility of what is accomplished.
Q: What has ARHP meant to you?
A: A particularly valuable aspect of ARHP, for me, is Arthritis Care & Research. I have learned a great deal as an author, reviewer and being on the editorial board. Having a top-notch journal in which to publish is key. It is a unique rheumatology journal in which public health and epidemiology research is highly valued, along with clinical studies.
Q: What does an award from your peers mean to you?
A: I honestly have to smile. I am honored and greatly value what the award represents. But this is a case where I feel that my research team has done the work and I receive the credit. So, I would say that the true credit goes to this amazing group of people with whom I am sharing my daily life.
ARHP Lifetime Achievement Award
Leigh Callahan, PhD
Mary Link Briggs Distinguished Professor of Medicine, professor of social medicine, associate director of epidemiology and outcomes research, Thurston Arthritis Research Center, University of North Carolina School of Medicine, Chapel Hill, N.C.
Background: Dr. Callahan was an excellent study who enjoyed courses in epidemiology and “the academic and intellectual part” of outcomes research. But it wasn’t until she started working on a long-term, follow-up project of 75 individuals at Vanderbilt University that her interest in arthritis took root.
“What ‘hooked’ me on arthritis was my volunteer work,” she says. “I volunteered and was able to get to know many individuals with arthritis. I was able to see the impact of the disease on their quality of life.”
After earning her bachelor’s degree at UNC and receiving her PhD from Vanderbilt University, she worked as an arthritis epidemiologist at the CDC. She returned to her alma mater and has investigated the role social-economic status has on health outcomes, along with the role physical activity has on quality of life, for nearly 20 years.
She is a former board member of the U.S. Bone and Joint Initiative and received the 2005 Charles B. Harding Award for Distinguished Service for her work with the Arthritis Foundation. An ARHP member since 1983, she is a past president of the organization. She received the ARHP Distinguished Scholar Award in 1994, the STAR Award in 2005 and the Addie Thomas Service Award in 2006. She has served on numerous committees and was a board member of the Rheumatology Research Foundation.
She is the former editor of Arthritis Care & Research and recently was appointed director of the Osteoarthritis Action Alliance.
Do research in an area that you are passionate about, & find good collaborators.
Q: What does a lifetime achievement award from your peers mean to you?
A: Receiving this award makes me feel very humble. I feel very blessed. I have worked with the best of the best in every arena. I feel like getting this award, I should have 50 people around me to share in the honor.
Q: What has ARHP meant to you?
A: I feel like I have grown up with ARHP. I was president when they turned 25, and we’re turning 50 next year. It has been a wonderful organization for friendships, professional development, the journal and the meetings. I haven’t missed a meeting since 1983. ARHP is a part of my life.
Q: What is a key takeaway from your years of research?
A: People pay more attention now to social determinants—health literacy, awareness, etc.—in the clinical environment. Pretty much everybody acknowledges now that education and income have an impact on health outcomes. There also is a huge focus now on just getting people to move. We know there is a life benefit, and we have seen substantial progress in both areas. Not enough progress, but there has been movement.
Q: What is your advice for the next generation of researchers?
A: Do research in an area that you are passionate about, and find good collaborators.
Richard Quinn is a freelance writer in New Jersey.
