Researcher Eric Anson, PT, PhD, to Use Marquette Challenge Grant to Help Those at Risk of Falls

Investigating Fear and Perception at Virtual Heights in Individuals with Fall Risk

Eric Anson, PT, MPT, PhD, an Assistant Professor at the University of Rochester’s Department of Otolaryngology, is the recipient of the $40,000 Pittsburgh-Marquette Challenge Research Grant named in honor of the Marquette Challenge, a student led-fundraising initiative. His project titled “Investigating Fear and Perception at Virtual Heights in Individuals with Fall Risk” will harness virtual reality to improve self-motion perception and fear of falling in older adults and identify mechanisms contributing to those changes.

The Marquette Challenge is a grassroots, student-led fundraising effort that supports the mission of the Foundation for Physical Therapy Research (FPTR). Each year, hundreds of physical therapist (PT) and physical therapist assistant (PTA) students, with the support of their program directors and community, hold fundraising events across the United States. Over the past 30 years, more than 300 schools and thousands of students have participated. These PT and PTA students have raised more than $4.3 million for research. Faculty and students at Marquette University launched the first Challenge in 1989. Now, each year a cohost is selected based on the top fundraising school for the previous year’s Challenge.

Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) will cohost for the 2019-2020 VCU-Marquette Challenge. Students at VCU raised $34,327 during the 2018-2019 Pitt-Marquette Challenge. Learn more at MarquetteChallenge.com.

This project is supported in part by APTA’s Supporting the Profession Fund. Special thanks to the University of Rochester Medical Center media department.

Select Foundation Grants and Scholarships Awarded

2018 Pittsburgh-Marquette Challenge Research Grant

Eric Anson, PT, MPT, PhD, an Assistant Professor at the University of Rochester’s Department of Otolaryngology, is the recipient of the $40,000 Pittsburgh-Marquette Challenge Research Grant named in honor of the Marquette Challenge, a student led-fundraising initiative. His project titled “Investigating Fear and Perception at Virtual Heights in Individuals with Fall Risk” will harness virtual reality to improve self-motion perception and fear of falling in older adults and identify mechanisms contributing to those changes. This project is supported in part by APTA’s Supporting the Profession Fund.

ERIC ANSON, PT, PhD

SELECT PUBLICATIONS

E Anson, E Thompson, SC Karpen, BL Odie, E Seier, J Jeka, PC Panus “Visual biofeedback training reduces quantitative drugs index scores associated with fall risk.”
E Anson, RT Bigelow, S Studenski, N Deshpande, Y Agrawai “Failure on the Foam Eyes Closed Test of Standing Balance Associated With Reduced Semicircular Canal Function in Healthy Older Adults.”