Thanks to your support and careful stewardship through 2021, we were able to increase funding levels in 2022. We awarded $325,500 in scholarship and fellowship funding to 22 promising physical therapist researchers. We also awarded $460,000 to fund seven physical therapy research grants!
Established in 1979 to meet an urgent need for evidence and understanding in the physical therapy profession, the Foundation has invested over $20 million in research and researchers dedicated to finding new and innovative therapies and treatments to help physical therapists improve outcomes for the patients they serve every day.
I am excited to share our 2022 Annual Report with you, so you can see all the meaningful ways we are working to advance the profession by supporting emerging research and researchers.
Through strategic investments in 2022, we awarded $325,500 in scholarship and fellowship funding to 22 promising physical therapist researchers. We also awarded $460,000 to fund seven physical therapy research grants. The Foundation continued support of the Center on Health Services Training and Research, known as CoHSTAR, directing $250,000 to continue advancements in this important area of research. We also committed $125,000 over five years in an annual $25,000 matching sponsorship to support a new rehabilitation research program to develop a diverse research workforce that can help tackle the nation's many existing health inequities. We continue to engage future leaders in physical therapy through our Marquette Challenge, a grassroots, student-led fundraiser that supports our mission, held on 79 university and college campuses across the country.
The Foundation's future is strong thanks to donors and volunteers like you. I am truly grateful for your continued support over the years and look forward to working together to build a brighter future for physical therapy. Thank you!
Wishing you good health and hope,
In 2022, the Foundation continued funding CoHSTAR with a $250,000 investment. The grant establishing CoHSTAR was awarded in 2015 and will be funded through 2025.
CoHSTAR trains physical therapists to conduct health services and health policy research, expanding the number of researchers specializing in this area of research. The initial investment in CoHSTAR led to a $5.5 million grant to create the Learning Health Systems Rehabilitation Research Network. CoHSTAR researchers have generated 304 peer-reviewed publications and 260 research abstracts presentations. CoHSTAR has funded 15 pilot studies and awarded 21 fellowships to train physical therapists across the country in health services research.
Funding for CoHSTAR was made possible with a $1 million gift from the American Physical Therapy Association, gifts from APTA components, and donations from physical therapists, foundations, and corporations. More than 150 donors made the grant possible.
A high school student and parkour athlete in Miami, Florida combined his interests in parkour and physical therapy to create a fundraising event to benefit the Foundation for Physical Therapy Research. Using a JustGiving page he has raised over $3000 for physical therapy research. Learn how you can fundraise to support physical therapy research.
The Foundation thanked 2022 Service Awardees for their commitment and contributions to the profession. Helene Fearon, PT, FAPTA; Sheila Schindler-Ivens, PT, PhD; Randy Roesch, PT, DPT, MBA, FAPTA; and Fran Welk, PT, DPT, MED, received the 2022 Robert C. Bartlett Trustee Recognition Service Award. The American Academy of Orthopaedic Manual Physical Therapists received the 2022 Premier Partner in Research Award. Connie Hauser, PT, DPT, received the 2022 Charles M. Magistro Distinguished Service Award. Charlene “Billie” Nelson, PT, MA, FAPTA, posthumously received the 2022 Spirit of Philanthropy Award.
APTA Acute Care, an Academy of the American Physical Therapy Association, pledged a major gift of $273,715 to the Foundation to support research grants and scholarships related to and relevant to acute care physical therapy. This pledge builds on a 2017 donation that has already yielded two $40,000 Acute Care Research Grants. Through this investment, the $40,000 Acute Care Research Grant and a $7,500 Promotion of Doctoral Studies, or PODS I, Scholarship will be offered every year for the next five years.
DON JACKSON, PT, MS
Treasurer
"It is an honor for me to steward the Foundation’s investments in the profession as we continue to grow. It’s thanks to the generosity of our donors that we are able to fund the most promising research. For a complete financial statement, follow the link below."
Bokkyu Kim, of SUNY Upstate Medical University, will apply the $40,000 Jayne Snyder Research Grant he received towards his project titled: “Effects of transcranial photobiomodulation on corticospinal excitability in non-disabled adults and chronic stroke survivors.”
Funded by the Mildred Wood Endowment Fund
Funded through the APTA Supporting the Profession Fund
Funded by the APTA Geriatrics Fund
Funded through the APTA supporting the profession fund
Recipient of the Viva J. Erickson Award, funded through the Viva J. Erickson Endowment Fund
Funded through the Neurology Endowment Fund
Funded by the Pediatric Physical Therapy Endowment Fund
Recipient of the Charlene Mae Nelson Award, funded through the Charlene Mae Nelson Endowment Fund
Recipient of the Florence Kendall Award, funded through the Florence Kendall Endowment Fund
Funded through a generous donation from PhysicalTherapy.com
Recipient of the Patricia Leahy Award, funded by the Academy of Neurology Endowment Fund
Supported through the APTA Academy of Cardiovascular and Pulmonary Physical Therapy
Supported through the APTA PODS Fund
Recipient of the Karen St. John Award, supported through the General Research Fund
Supported through the APTA PODS Fund
Recipient of the Marquette Challenge Award
Supported through the APTA PODS Fund
Supported through the APTA Scholarship Fund
Supported through the APTA PODS Fund
Recipient of the Phoebe Rhomberger Award
Supported by the Phoebe Rhomberger Fund
Supported by the APTA Geriatrics Fund
Recipient of the Mary Lou Barnes Award
Supported through the Mary Lou Barnes Neurology Endowment Fund
The top three schools for the 2021-2022 Challenge were VCU ($23,053.72), the University of Delaware ($20,050.04), and the University of Miami ($17,344.30). PT and PTA contributions have added up to significant funding for physical therapy research. Thousands of students from hundreds of schools have participated in raising more than $4.6 million for their future profession. Seventy-nine schools participated this year, overcoming many COVID-19-related restrictions to hold creative events across the U.S. and raising a collective $170,221.98.
Research guides how PTs and PTAs deliver care, how students learn, and how professionals are paid for services. In the past 32 years, students have made a big difference in sowing the seeds for critically needed physical therapy research.
Special thanks to our Marquette Challenge title sponsor, HPSO/CNA and Awards Ceremony contributing sponsors, APTA Academy of Leadership and Innovation, APTA Acute Care, APTA Hand & Upper Extremity, APTA Kentucky, APTA Home Health, APTA New York, California Physical Therapy Fund, and Rehab Essentials.
*As of May 2023