The oncology rehabilitation community lost an outstanding member when Sharon passed away in August, 2021, just before her 80th birthday. Sharon, once named the Colorado PT of the Year and Northwestern Alumnus of the Year, contributed greatly to APTA Oncology’s mission throughout her career, serving as the Awards Chair, presenting at APTA CSM, and teaching nationally on the subject of lymphedema. We thank Sharon for her lifelong dedication to our community and to her patients and we share warm thoughts with her family and friends.

Amy Tible, PT, DPT, MBA, Board-Certified Specialist in Oncologic PT, and Director of of Membership/Communications of our Residency Special Interest Group has been named a 2021 APTA Emerging Leader. We thank Amy for her dedicated work to APTA Oncology and congratulate her on this prestigious award.

APTA Oncology member, Nicole Stout, research assistant professor with the WVU School of Public Health and WVU Cancer Institute, has been appointed to a WHO Development Group on the topic of cancer rehabilitation.

Read the full story.

The Balance and Falls SIG is excited to announce the initiative to screen adult (years 18+) outpatient/community oncology patients for balance impairments and fall risk at cancer centers across the nation. We are collaborating with the PT Day of Service and will be conducting screens between Falls Prevention Awareness Day (September 22, 2021) and PT Day of Service(October 9, 2021). We plan to use the CDC STEADI program to assess fall risk of oncology patients. We are looking for physical therapist volunteers to be team leaders at cancer centers. We plan to reach out to student ambassadors at graduate PT programs to assist with the screenings.

• If you are interested in participating, please sign up here: Oncology Balance Screen Event Sign-up/Interest
• Also join our Facebook Event page to keep up with the latest information on this event!
• Please email Eric Galvez at ericgalvez714@gmail.com for further questions.

This program will provide didactic lectures and live role-play skills practice in patient-clinician communication, relevant to working with older oncology patients and their caregivers. This training is open to any healthcare provider who has an interest in working with older adults with cancer (particularly those who are facing cognitive decline). More information and registration can be found HERE.

Dr. Galantino, APTA Oncology’s representative on the Commission on Cancer, has been advocating for expanded access to telehealth and tele-mental health services. She recently met with One Voice Against Cancer (OVAC) to advocate for increased funding for NIH and the CDC.

We are thrilled to announce the 2021 APTA Oncology Member Awards:

• Student Research Award: Noah Brueckner, SPT; Rachel Kremer, SPT; Michaela Viola, SPT; Madison Wolfe, SPT
• Research Award: Linda Koehler, PT, PhD
• Debbra Flomenhoft : Jeannette “Jet” Lee, PT, PhD, Board-Certified Clinical Specialist in Oncologic Physical Therapy
• The Stephen Gudas Award For Outstanding Publication in Rehabilitation Oncology: Vol 38(2):92-99; Presented ToLisa J. Wood, PhD, RN; Kerri M. Winters-Stone, PhD; Janet A. Kneiss, DPT, PhD; Annie B. Fox, PhD; Rachel K. Walker, PhD, RN: “Women With Clinically Significant Fatigue After Breast Cancer Treatment Report Increased Falls and Perform Poorly on Objective Measures of Physical Fitness and Function”
• Jeri F. Walton Service Award: G. Stephen Morris, PT, PhD and Lynn Tanner, PT
• President’s Award: G. Stephen Morris, PT, PhD

The CoC has shared the list of their top state advocacy priorities for 2021 as well as a summary of 2020 cancer-related federal legislation.

Emma Schaberg O’Brien, SPT, CLT, RYT, Chair of the APTA Oncology Student & New Professional Subcommittee has written a blog post for APTA’s Student Spotlight, highlighting the importance and value of being a student member of APTA Oncology. View the blog post.

APTA Oncology is proud to announce and offers congratulations to its second class of board-certified clinical specialists in oncologic physical therapy.