The College of Public Health and Health Professions recognized 14 graduates at the Outstanding Alumni Awards ceremony held during alumni reunion on September 8.
Sharon Brandenburger-Shasby, Ed.D., OTR/L, FAOTA, bachelor’s in occupational therapy ’68, recently retired after 50 years as a clinician, researcher and faculty member. She served on the faculty at the Medical University of South Carolina and is a faculty emeritus at Eastern Kentucky University.
Barbara Connolly, P.T., D.P.T., Ed.D., C/NDT, FAPTA, bachelor’s in physical therapy ’70, is a professor emeritus at the University of Tennessee, where she served as chair of the physical therapy department for 24 years. She is immediate past president of the Foundation for Physical Therapy and the International Organization of Physical Therapists in Pediatrics.
Ying He, Ph.D., doctorate in biostatistics ’14, is an assistant professor in the department of mathematics at Clarkson University. Her main research interests include adaptive clinical trial designs, multiple testing and statistical modeling.
Zhulin He, Ph.D., doctorate in biostatistics ’12, is a research assistant professor at the Center for Survey Statistics and Methodology and the department of statistics at Iowa State University, where she has worked on several national surveys and consulting projects, such as the National Resources Inventory.
Adam Hirsh, Ph.D., doctorate in clinical psychology ’08, is an associate professor in the department of psychology and director of the Pain Research Laboratory at Indiana University – Purdue University Indianapolis. His laboratory conducts research on the biopsychosocial aspects of pain and functioning in humans.
Shirish Lala, M.H.S., OTR/L, master’s in occupational therapy ’08, is an associate professor and academic clinical coordinator for Daytona State College’s occupational therapy assistant program. He has been actively involved with the National Board for Certification in Occupational Therapy as a volunteer for certification exam validation and item development.
Zach Lowenstein, M.P.H., master’s in public health with a concentration in environmental health ’13, is a member of the Office of Wastewater Management at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency where he primarily works on issues related to septic systems. He promotes the annual “SepticSmart Week” campaign to educate homeowners on properly maintaining their septic system.
Chelsea Lutz, M.P.H., CPH, master’s in public health with a concentration in epidemiology ’16, is a member of the Epidemiology and Prevention Branch at the National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases’ Influenza Division, where she works on influenza seasonal forecasting and vaccine introduction modeling.
Leslie Morey, Ph.D., doctorate in clinical psychology ’81, is the George T. and Gladys H. Abell Professor of Psychology at Texas A&M University, and a recognized expert in psychodiagnostic assessment and psychiatric classification. His research has included the development of assessments that are among the most widely used psychodiagnostic measures in the world.
Ali Parrish, P.T., D.P.T., doctorate in physical therapy ’15, is an outpatient pediatric physical therapist at Orlando Health. She has been an active team member for program planning with NICU, pediatric ICU and cardiac ICU graduates in the neonatal developmental clinic.
Anastasia Raymer, Ph.D., CCC-SLP, master’s (’82) and doctorate (’93) in speech pathology, is a professor and chair of the department of communication disorders & special education at Old Dominion University. Her research has examined means to optimize rehabilitation outcomes for impairments of communication and limb praxis in individuals recovering from stroke.
Chaz Rhone, M.P.H., CIC, master’s in public health with a concentration in epidemiology ’07, has worked in the public and private sector as an epidemiologist and infection preventionist. As an epidemiologist with the Florida Department of Health, he led a statewide health care-associated infection prevention collaborative.
Amy Rodriguez, Ph.D., doctorate in rehabilitation science ’10, is a research health scientist in the Center for Visual and Neurocognitive Rehabilitation at the Atlanta VA Medical Center. Her research focuses on the development of neuroplasticity-based interventions to improve language function in aging and aphasia.
Jesse Schold, Ph.D., MStat, M.Ed., doctorate in health services research ’07, is a full staff member in the department of quantitative health sciences at the Cleveland Clinic. His primary research interests are in organ transplantation and he has served as the clinic’s director of outcomes research in kidney transplantation.
