Do you have any questions about Health Innovation?
Health Innovation
Committed to innovation in education, practice and research
The World Health Organization defines Health Innovation as a means to “develop and deliver new or improved health policies, systems, products and technologies, and services and delivery methods that improve people’s health.” At the UIC Department of Physical Therapy, our education, clinical and community-based practices, and research embody that definition.
Creating a health-focused future requires inventive approaches now. We are taking steps today that will help realize the healthspan model, delivering healthy living medicine effectively.
Innovation in education
Innovative Ideas are encouraged as evidenced by the wide range of skills our faculty provide that go beyond basic physical therapy, and across disciplines. Both students and professionals can stack certificates alongside their degrees to better prepare them for the multi-faceted, ever-changing workplace.
Certificates supplement a degree by providing in-depth coverage of many topics that fall in-between core focus areas. DPT students with certificates are able to demonstrate their commitment to health promotion across the lifespan, making them more desirable to employers.
By spanning disciplines and intersecting with diverse populations, certificates promote more comprehensive wellness. Even the students taking these certificates come from various health-focused fields of study.
Innovation in practice
Innovative Practices immerse UIC students and faculty in unique clinical settings, and out in the community – right where people live, work, and study.
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Residency in Physical Therapy
Credentials in specialty fields like orthopedics or sports can be achieved in one year. In a general setting, the same level of proficiency could take three years to develop.
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Health and Wellness Academy
UIC students from nutrition, education, physical therapy, psychology, and more work with Chicago youth to help them become ambassadors of health and wellness.
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Technology Initiatives in Action
Visual technology improves communication, research, and record keeping. See a video about students from multiple health disciplines developing innovative apps for the clinic, research and health.
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Faculty Practice - 7x participation
Cohesive interdisciplinary support for cardiac rehab patients result in seven times more participation than the nationwide average.
Innovation in research
Our department values research innovation. With nearly 1,000 peer-reviewed articles, in 88 publications, we enjoy the top publication rate of DPT programs in the country.
According to Academic Analytics, out of 149 institutions and 241 departments, UIC’s department of physical therapy program ranks #1 in articles per faculty (>54) and overall scholarly research index, and #2 in citations per faculty (>946). In 2020, UIC’s Department of Physical Therapy research was cited worldwide over 3,000 times.
Features common to all of our labs:
- We collaborate internationally, and are cited worldwide.
- Our annual grant expenditures have risen 45% over the past several years to over $1.65m.
- Since lab supervisors are also DPT instructors, DPT students hear firsthand about breakthrough findings that they are likely to use in the field.
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Slipping and Tripping
This Cognitive Motor Balance Rehabilitation team makes people fall (safely, of course) -- to discover ways to better build their stability. Lab members help individuals with neurological disorders, especially stroke survivors, prevent falling.
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Lowering Cardiovascular Risk
The EXErcise, Research, and Technology (EXERT) Vascular Laboratory concentrates on health-related research across several disciplines using translational approaches that are both cellular and integrative in scope.
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Zapping the Brain to Boost Recovery
In this Brain Plasticity lab, researchers are discovering how brain stimulation improves stroke survivors' functional recovery substantially more than PT alone. This lab’s mission is to optimize recovery of function by developing clinically implementable interventions that enhance brain plasticity to enable patients to recover faster.
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Developed more than 50 Patents
By evaluating a person's balance while standing or walking, researchers in the Knecht Movement Science Lab understand how the brain controls movements -- crucial in targeting rehabilitation efforts. Lab members have received over 50 patents for new rehabilitation technologies and methods.
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Enabling Healthy Living via Wearables
The Healthy Living Technology Lab is developing a telehealth and telerehab platform to enable the next generation of ubiquitous health services. Our goal is to improve access to healthcare, increase adherence, empower patients, and assist healthcare professionals.
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Conducting Clinical Research
One of the many functions of the Faculty Practice is conducting research in a clinical setting.
Coming soon:
ICOMPASS laboratory—Imaging bone and body COMPosition AcrosS the heathSpan. The ICOMPASS lab is a musculoskeletal imaging center that is focused on collecting measures for research and clinical services in the conduct of bone mass, density and structural assessment, body composition, and healthy aging. Housed in the lab is the DXA (dual energy x-ray absorptiometry) which specifically allows for the assessment of fracture (including atypical fractures) and osteoporosis risk based on lumbar spine, hip geometry measures. Among other things, the DXA plays an integral role in intervention studies of diet and exercise, and in lifestyle-behavioral research focused on health promotion across the lifespan.
In this brand new lab, Dr. Laddu’s team will examine the “obesity paradox” including: fat patterning, body composition, and cardio-metabolic disease to discover ways to live longer and healthfully.
Innovative publications
Selected articles
- A tale of two pandemics: How will COVID-19 and global trends in physical inactivity and sedentary behavior affect one another?
- Physical activity for immunity protection: Inoculating populations with healthy living medicine in preparation for the next pandemic
- Infographic: The need for a global healthy living medicine strategy
- Merging precision and healthy living medicine: Individualizing the path to a healthier lifestyle
- The Importance of School-based Healthy Living Initiatives: Introducing the Health and Wellness Concept
- Enhancing Participation in Cardiac Rehabilitation: A Question of Proximity and Integration of Outpatient Services
- Let Us Talk About Moving: Reframing the Exercise and Physical Activity Discussion
- Public Park Spaces as a Platform to Promote Healthy Living: Introducing a HealthPark Concept
- Who will deliver comprehensive healthy lifestyle interventions to combat non-communicable disease? Introducing the healthy lifestyle practitioner discipline
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