Our department has had much to celebrate recently, with many of our staff and faculty receiving awards from within the University of Pittsburgh and beyond. Our department is dedicated to creating an environment where not only our students are celebrated for their achievements, but our faculty and staff can also feel proud of the work they are doing to help make Pitt OT the number one program in the country!
SHRS initiated awards to recognize the dedicated staff who support the missions of teaching, research and service.
Joyce Broadwick, administrative assistant to the Doctor of Occupational Therapy and Master of Science in Occupational Therapy programs, was awarded the Student Impact Award. She was recognized for her significant contributions to help students succeed and grow. Every OT applicant and student interacts with Broadwick. She always provides a warm welcome and our students feel supported by her.
Laura Waterstram, Pitt OT’s director of Research Operations received the Research and Scholarly Activity Mission Administration Award for her work to advance research efforts within SHRS. Waterstram’s influence on the distance, depth and quality of research conducted in the Department of Occupational Therapy is felt by students, faculty and staff. She is always available to help problem-solve challenges and support our scientists to maximize the influence of our research activities.
Assistant Professor Angela Caldwell was recently awarded with the Early Career Diversity Award from the Society of Behavioral Medicine’s Child and Family Health Meeting, held in March during the annual conference in Philadelphia. Caldwell received this award based on her innovative research program, which is focused on developing family-centered interventions to minimize disparities in health outcomes. As a first-generation student, she is passionate about empowering and mentoring students from underrepresented backgrounds to build their skills as clinicians or researchers.
In the spring, the University awarded Professor and Associate Dean for Research Elizabeth Skidmore with the Provost’s Award of Excellence in Doctoral Mentoring. This award recognizes outstanding mentoring of graduate students seeking a doctoral research degree. Through a grant from the National Institutes of Health (NIH), Skidmore co-directs the Training in Diversity Education program (TiDe). TiDe trains current clinician scientists in best practices to develop pathways for future researchers, create communities of diverse scientists, and reduce the barriers to diversity and inclusion in rehabilitation research. Skidmore has shared that TiDe has the potential to revolutionize the field by transforming the rehabilitation research culture to one that invests in future generations of underrepresented clinical scientists who will enrich the depth and impact of rehabilitation research.
The Tracey Soska and John Wilds Outreach and Engagement Leadership Award, established in 2020, honors a faculty member or staff engagement professional who serves the University through their outstanding dedication to university-community connections. Assistant Professor Kelsey Voltz-Poremba was recognized for her work in building and promoting the community-based work the school is doing at the SHRS Wellness Pavilion, part of Pitt’s Community Engagement Center in Homewood. Voltz-Poremba has been instrumental in interacting with the community and creating OT-based programming that meets their needs. One example of her programming is Hope for Handwriting––an after-school program that has 100% of their available spots filled, as well as a waitlist for more kids to be able to join.
Congratulations to all our recent awardees!