RESEARCHER PROFILES
PFC Salutes Scholarship Recipients
The Physiotherapy Foundation of Canada salutes the many talented and brilliant researchers who are committed to advancing the practice of physiotherapy. PFC dedicates this page to acknowledging the special accomplishments of some of its funded researchers.
To promote research as part of the career path of a physiotherapist, the Physiotherapy Foundation of Canada awards scholarships to individuals wishing to pursue a career in research. PFC acknowledges the significant and remarkable accomplishments of some of its past recipients of the Ann Collins Whitmore Memorial Scholarship. We hope that by honouring our awardees in this way for their accomplishments that we can provoke others to follow with their own acts of leadership and innovation.
Jennifer Capell, PT
Jennifer Cappell has had a passion for working with people from diverse cultures for many years. It was her work with patients (mainly children) with neurological disorders in India and Honduras that led Jennifer to pursue further education to improve her ability to best serve clients of other cultures.
In 2005, with the assistance of an Ann Collins Whitmore Memorial Award, Jennifer returned to graduate work at the University of British Columbia and, as part of her master’s work, she explored the factors that allow a physiotherapist to provide culturally competent care. Following her MSc degree, Jennifer moved to Harvard University in 2007 where she completed a second master’s degree in Public Health. She immediately set off to apply her newly learned skills at an HIV Center in Malawi, working with their home-based care team to design and implement a simple but effective monitoring and evaluation system to track their progress and impact.
Jennifer is now working for a Boston-based international health organization supporting projects in Sudan and Uganda, assisting Ministries of Health and field-based health teams to design, implement, and utilize data from monitoring and evaluation systems. In the future, she looks forward to moving back to Vancouver where she wants to continue working in international public health.
Dr. Tania Lam
Graduating from the PT program at Queens University, Tania entered the neuroscience graduate program at the University of Alberta. In 2001, she received an Ann Collins Whitmore Memorial Award for her doctoral work on short-term adjustments of infants to walking with loads and without weights. Tania went on to do post doctoral training at the University of Zurich and she is now an Associate Professor at the University of British Columbia where she is a member of the brain research center and the School of Human Kinetics.
She is doing research on the neural control and adaptability of human walking. Tania explains her motivation for this work in the following way: “One of the most pressing questions after someone has had a stroke or spinal cord injury is "will I be able to walk again?" My work aims to improve understanding of the neural control of human walking and the mechanisms involved in adapting walking to environmental demands. This understanding will, in turn, inform our efforts in the development and advancement of gait rehabilitation interventions for people who had a neurological injury, such as a stroke or spinal cord injury.” One of her current research projects is the study of a robot that will facilitate walking in clients who are unable to walk unaided.
Dr. Michelle Ploughman
After 16 years as a physiotherapist, Michelle Ploughman returned to school with the help of an Ann Collins Whitmore Scholarship in 2003. A few years later she had finished her Master's degree at Memorial University and with additional funding from another granting organization, proceeded with her doctoral research. Noting that this award “allowed me to take the time from work and do research that was meaningful to my patients, she focused on examining the effects of endurance exercise on brain neurochemicals that promote rewiring after stroke, obtaining her doctorate with distinction under the direction of Dr Dale Corbett, the holder of a prestigious senior Canada Research Chair in Stroke and Neuroplasticity.
Michelle has now published her doctoral work and is in postdoctoral training in Clinical Epidemiology at Memorial University under the guidance of Dr. Marshall Godwin. Her current focus is on investigating the health and lifestyle factors that may influence healthy aging in patients with Multiple Sclerosis. Michelle’s creative talents have recently been recognized again; just this year she has been has been appointed to the new position of Clinical Scientist with the Eastern Health Authority. Her work with Eastern Health focuses on rehabilitation, chronic disease and aging. The position was created to foster clinical research, innovation and evidence–based practice within the authority and is funded jointly by Research and Strategic Planning and the Rehabilitation Program. Michelle is also a member of PFC’s Scientific Awards Committee. PFC is proud to have helped this dynamic healthcare professional contribute to the future of rehabilitation science.