Oct. 7, 2021
Alumna Claire Willard receives Excellence in Mentoring Award
Sept. 25, 2021 Coming from Clinton, Mo. — a town of less than 10,000 people — to Mizzou was a big adjustment at first for Claire Willard (CSD ’04). But after her freshman year, she made two friends who would ultimately influence her choice of what to major in, putting her on the trajectory of becoming a speech-language pathologist. Now, Willard serves as the Coordinator of Speech-Language Services for Columbia Public Schools, where part of her role includes helping the Department of Speech, Language and Hearing Sciences place master’s students in their school-setting outplacements. …
Aug. 27, 2021
Anastasia Harris named Outstanding Young Alumna
The School of Health Professions is pleased to announce Anastasia Harris as one of our 2021 Outstanding Young Alumni award winners. This award recognizes alumni who demonstrate success in their chosen careers and qualities of innovation and creativity. Harris is a devoted Mizzou Tiger who is currently using her Health Sciences degree to jumpstart her career in Chicago. Anastasia Harris, MPH, CHES Degree: BHS ’15 (Health Science) with a minor in Women’s and Gender Studies, MPH Job title: Data Management Strategy and Governance Advisor Employer: Cigna/ Evernorth Current city: Chicago Working with data…
July 7, 2021
Speech, Language & Hearing Sciences alumna crowned Miss Pennsylvania
July 7, 2021 While many students change their career aspirations several times throughout high school and college, Meghan Sinisi, who graduated in May 2021 with an MHS in Speech, Language & Hearing Sciences, always knew she wanted to work to benefit the autism community. Now that she’s been crowned Miss Pennsylvania, she’ll advocate for people with autism in a more informed way after completing the Speech-Pathology program in the Mizzou School of Health Professions. Sinisi first heard about Mizzou from her undergraduate college mentor, who relocated to Columbia and knew that Mizzou had the Thompson Center for Autism…
Dec. 16, 2020
Mizzou student goes from intern to executive director
Plenty of Mizzou grads use an internship to launch their career, though likely few have made the jump from unpaid intern to head of an organization in eight months. But Nicole Cope, who is graduating this week with her master’s of public health, is doing just that. Cope is set to become executive director of the Missouri Immunization Coalition, a nonprofit raising vaccine awareness. It’s a new beginning for Cope, who is also retiring from the Army Medical Corps after a decorated 23-year career, having earned the rank of master sergeant.
Nov. 19, 2020
Daring to Care – Social Work alumna supports students
Tiffany Le, a graduate student in occupational therapy, was nervous at first. Like other students seeking financial assistance from the Care Team at Mizzou, she would be sitting down for a one-on-one meeting with the team’s coordinator, Nicole Logue, MSW ’16. “Will she judge me?” Le wondered. “Will she understand why I desperately need this?” Due in part to regional stay-at-home orders, dozens of students found themselves out of work and grappling with such fears as they sought emergency funding. As the nation began to realize the scope of the crisis, Mizzou’s Care Team took stock locally.
Nov. 18, 2020
SSW alumnus Stan Remer wins Social Work Pioneer award
Nov. 18, 2020 School of Social Work alumnus Stan Remer was recently named a Social Work Pioneer by the National Association of Social Workers (NASW) foundation. According to the website, “NASW Pioneers are social workers who have explored new territories and built outposts for human services on many frontiers. Some are well known, while others are less famous outside their immediate colleagues, and the region where they live and work. But each one has made an important contribution to the social work profession, and to social policies through service, teaching, writing, research, program development, administration, or…
Oct. 6, 2020
Where Empathy Meets Inspiration: Going the Distance
Early in her career, pediatric physical therapist Kelsey Okruch helped a 3-year-old patient with spina bifida learn to walk using an assistive piece of equipment called a gait trainer. “I had to physically move his legs when we started,” says Okruch, BHS ’08, DPT ’10, manager of MU Health Care’s Children’s Therapy Center. As the child gained strength and confidence, he was able to move his legs on his own. He also gained distance. A hospital receptionist stuck tape to the wall to mark his progress, moving it a little farther every week. Eventually, the tape and the boy traveled…
Oct. 6, 2020
Where Empathy Meets Inspiration: Get with the Program
Get with the Program Prior to March, Singapore had been recognized for controlling COVID-19 better than most other countries, but then the virus boomeranged back with a vengeance. If there’s a silver lining, it’s that people in Singapore — and indeed the world over — now understand the role of respiratory therapists (RTs) in intensive care. “Before the pandemic, no one really knew about what we do,” says Ivan Lee, BHS ’12, who was the first Singaporean to graduate from MU’s respiratory therapy program. Helping patients in respiratory failure breathe using a ventilator, “We are there to make a difference…
Oct. 6, 2020
Where Empathy Meets Inspiration: Custom Fitness
Phil’s story is typical. He came to The Fitness Co. in Columbia with a common problem he hoped to correct with exercise. At 39, his lower back bothered him so badly that he stopped riding bikes with his kids. Phil’s body is not typical. Every person’s physiology is unique, says Jeff Carr, Phil’s personal trainer and FitCo’s owner. Carr, BHS ’11, M Ed ’15, spent their first session finding out how Phil’s body performed various movements. Phil works as an HVAC installer, and years of squatting and crawling in cramped attic spaces had taken their toll on…
Oct. 6, 2020
Where Empathy Meets Inspiration: Santa’s Helpers
Santa’s Helpers Many of the children Rachel Hughes works with as a pediatric physical therapist can’t play with off-the-shelf electronic toys. “A lot of them have significant motor impairments and can’t push a button to activate the toys,” says Hughes, DPT ’19. The MU Health Care Children’s Therapy Center — where Hughes has worked since she was a student — bought adapted versions of popular toys, which can cost up to five times more than the originals. Knowing the price tag, Hughes was dismayed when one of the adapted toys broke. As she took the toy apart to see…