PHYS THER
Vol. 86, No. 6, June 2006, pp. 899-900
Scholarships, Fellowships, and Grants |
News from Foundation for Physical Therapy
 |
Clinical Research Network (CRN) Update #4: The Project Manager Is Like the Conductor of a Large Orchestra
|
|---|
Skillful project management is necessary to capitalize on the strengths and benefits that a clinical network can provide. The inherent benefits of a research network include the opportunity to conduct several different multi-site randomized clinical trials and the ability to include participants from varying diagnostic groups. A talented project manager is crucial to the effective management of disparate but linked projects. The Foundation's $1.5 million Clinical Research Network (PTClinResNet) is a research study network of four projects designed to address the clinical question of how various muscle strengthening interventions reduce disability at the levels of function and quality of life in patients in four groups with different physical disabilities. The CRN project manager acts as the keystone of the study by efficiently and effectively managing these four different projects.
The CRN project manager has the large task of steering the PTClinResNet through its life cycle, from the proposal phase through the clinical trials and data analysis to the information dissemination stage. The main task of this manager is to ensure that productivity is maximized and the project comes to a successful completion by delicately balancing the competing demands of time, scope, and resources across the network.
Effective communication is critical to a successful network. The CRN project manager acts as the conduit through which crucial information flows efficiently and effectively among:
- the Coordinating Site (USC) and the project teams (STEPS, PEDALS, STOMPS, MUSSEL),
- the project teams and the Data Management Center (DMC),
- the DMC and the Coordinating Site, and
- ) the Coordinating Site and the Foundation for Physical Therapy.
The CRN project manager acts as the glue that holds the infrastructure of the clinical network together. The key skills this talented manager uses to achieve this goal are: exceptional organizational skills, the ability to see the big picture while not forgetting the details, and the ability to prioritize efficiently and effectively—in essence, the project manager is conducting a very large orchestra in the performance of a musical masterpiece.
|
Foundation-Funded Research in This Month's Journal
|
|---|
"Determining Meaningful Changes in Gait Speed After Hip Fracture"— co-authored by Kerstin Palombaro, PT, MS; Rebecca Craik, PT, PhD, FAPTA; Kathleen K Mangione, PT, PhD, GCS; and James Tomlinson, PT, MS—is based, in part, on findings from research done by Mangione for her 2000 Foundation-supported research project "Physical Therapy Interventions to Optimize Physical Performance in Patients After Hip Fracture."
"Descriptive Characteristics as Potential Predictors of Outcomes Following Constraint-Induced Movement Therapy for People After Stroke"—co-authored by Stacy Fritz, PT, PhD; Kathye Light, PT, PhD; Shannon Clifford, PT, MPT; Tara Patterson, MEd; Andrea Behrman, PT, PhD; and Sandra Davis, PT—is based on research findings from Fritz's dissertation work, which was supported by a 2001 Foundation PODS I award.
"Efficacy and Mechanism of Orthotic Devices to Unload Metatarsal Heads in People With Diabetes and a History of Plantar Ulcers," is co-authored by Michael Mueller, PT, PhD, FAPTA; Donovan Lott, PT, MSPT, CSCS; Mary K Hastings, PT, DPT, ATC; Paul Commean, BEE; Kirk E Smith, BS; and Thomas Pilgram, PhD. This article is based on a research project headed by Mueller and funded by the National Institute of Health's National Center of Medical Rehabilitation Research. Mueller is a past Foundation funding recipient and former member of the Foundation's Scientific Review Committee. Lott performed data collection, processing, and analyses for the project while being supported by PODS I (2004) and PODS II (2005) doctoral scholarships.
"Are Models of Disability Useful in Real Cases? Pediatric Case Examples Realized in Research, Clinical Practice, and Education," authored by Suzann Campbell, PT, PhD, FAPTA, is based, in part, on Foundation-funded research done by Campbell for her 1990 project "Development of a Neonatal Motor Scale: The Test of the Infant Motor Performance."
|
Recipients in the News
|
|---|
Irene McEwen, PT, PhD, a 1987 recipient of Foundation funding, was named a Catherine Worthingham Fellow of the APTA at the March APTA Board of Directors' meeting. Effective immediately, McEwen adds the distinction of being a Worthingham Fellow to her long list of impressive credentials.
The Foundation's support assisted McEwen in receiving her PhD in special education from Purdue University in 1989. Her dissertation research, "Effects of Position on Social Communicative Interactions Between Students With Profound Multiple Disabilities and Classroom Staff," was published in Physical Therapy in 1992 and was awarded a Dorothy Briggs Memorial Scientific Inquiry Award in 1993.
McEwen joined the physical therapy faculty at the University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center in 1989, where she is now George Lynn Cross Research Professor, Director of the Lee Mitchener Tolbert Center for Developmental Disabilities, co-founder of the Oklahoma Assistive Technology Center, and director of the postprofessional graduate program. She has continued her research career and is currently conducting projects supported by a $522,000 grant from the Institute for Educational Science, US Department of Education and a 5-year, $1.4 million training grant from the Office of Special Education Programs, US Department of Education. McEwen has served as Physical Therapy's Editor for Case Reports for 11 years.
|
Foundation's First Online Auction
|
|---|
Who will be the lucky bidder for the chance to sail on the America's Cup yacht, to travel through Napa Valley for 4 days, or to own any of the one-of-a-kind items on the Foundation's first online auction?
To make sure it's you, log on to www.PhysicalTherapyFdtn.cmarket.com, and place your bid. The auction, which opened May 31, continues until 3 pm, Wednesday, July 12.
It's easy, it's fun, and it's for a good cause. Proceeds support the Foundation for Physical Therapy's mission to promote the physical therapy profession through doctoral scholarships and research grants.
Copyright © 2006 by the American Physical Therapy Association.
Top
Foundation-Funded Research in...
Recipients in the News
