$4.6 million helps train occupational, physical therapists

​The Program in Physical Therapy at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis has received a five-year, $4.6 million grant to continue an interdisciplinary training program for occupational and physical therapists that began in 2007.

Michael J. Mueller, PhD, professor of physical therapy, is principal investigator of the Washington University-based multi-center grant, called the Comprehensive Opportunities for Rehabilitation Research Training (CORRT).

Mueller

Supported by the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), CORRT helps new physical and occupational therapists acquire the necessary skills to become independent researchers studying rehabilitation approaches.

Successful applicants train with at least two senior mentors: a physical or occupational therapist and another researcher from a different discipline. Twenty WUSTL faculty from diverse areas are available to serve as mentors along with more than 40 other researchers from partner sites across the country.

“We’re very excited about the program’s progress,” says Mueller. “So far, six of the 17 scholars have earned individual grants from the NIH. We look forward to the continued success of our scholars with the ultimate goal of helping them launch research that will improve the lives of people with disabilities.”

The new funding allows the program to develop a communication network, headed by Carolyn Baum, PhD, director of the Program in Occupational Therapy, and add three new training sites for scholars: Boston University, Colorado State University and the University of Colorado, Denver. Current sites include Emory University, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, University of Delaware, University of Iowa and the University of Pittsburgh.

For more information or to apply, contact Alisa Cooperstein at acooperstein@wustl.edu or Mueller at muellerm@wustl.edu.


Washington University School of Medicine’s 2,100 employed and volunteer faculty physicians also are the medical staff of Barnes-Jewish and St. Louis Children’s hospitals. The School of Medicine is one of the leading medical research, teaching and patient care institutions in the nation, currently ranked sixth in the nation by U.S. News & World Report. Through its affiliations with Barnes-Jewish and St. Louis Children’s hospitals, the School of Medicine is linked to BJC HealthCare.