Academy $5,000 Research Grant Award Recipient Announced

The Academy is delighted to announce the recipient of the 2021 $5,000 Research Grant Award, Andrea Wood, PT, DPT, Board-Certified Women’s Health Clinical Specialist (Fellow/Principal Investigator) and the investigative team, for their project titled “The Impact of Combined Resistance and Aerobic Interval Training on Patient Reported Constipation Outcome Scores in Individuals with Chronic Constipation Who Plateau or are Non-Responders to Biofeedback Therapy: A Call to Treat Beyond the Pelvic Floor.” Chronic constipation (CC) affects many individuals worldwide with need for improved evidence-based management. The following project will seek to support an intervention in those individuals who do not fully respond to the widely accepted intervention of anorectal biofeedback therapy to improve management of CC. The proposed project’s intervention may also help to reduce cardiac associated risks with increasing laxative usage. Additionally, it will demonstrate how pelvic health physical therapists’ impact pelvic health related conditions with knowledge on multiple body systems to help further advance our profession and respect among other medical providers.

Investigators:

• Andrea Wood PT, DPT, Board Certified Women’s Health Clinical Specialist (WCS), PhD Student, Department of Physical Therapy, University of Miami
• Lawrence Cahalin PT, DPT, PhD, Board Certified Cardiopulmonary Clinical Specialist (CCS), Professor of
•  Clinical, Department of Physical Therapy, University of Miami
• Teresa Glynn, PT, DPT, MBA, Vice Chair for Clinical Services & Assistant Professor, Department of Physical Therapy, University of Miami

The Academy recognizes and thanks Intimate Rose for sponsoring the $5,000 award from their initial contribution to the Academy in 2020. “The mission at Intimate Rose is to advance pelvic health worldwide. Intimate Rose combines best-in-class pelvic health devices with detailed educational materials for patients and clinicians. Intimate Rose is committed to furthering evidence-based practice by funding the Academy of Pelvic Health’s research grant, thereby expanding clinician knowledge for optimal patient outcomes.” – Aaron Wilt and Amanda Olson, Intimate Rose

About the Award Recipient, Andrea Wood, PT, DPT, Board-Certified Women’s Health Clinical Specialist 

Andrea Wood has been a clinician practicing pelvic health physical therapy for 8 years and is a Board Certified Women’s Health Clinical Specialist (WCS) through the American Physical Therapy Association. Her primary career goals are to contribute to research to help move the profession forward and increase accessibility to quality pelvic health physical therapy care. She graduated with her Doctorate in Physical Therapy (DPT) from Columbia University in 2013. She practices at The University of Miami, where she decided to pursue her PhD in physical therapy and is currently a second year PhD student. Her research proposal aims to determine the effectiveness of implementing an exercise program targeted at improving cardiopulmonary based measures on patient satisfaction scores in individuals with chronic constipation who are non- responders or plateau in improvements with biofeedback therapy.