University Times

John A. Horton III, assistant professor of physical medicine and rehabilitation and director of spinal cord injury services at UPMC Rehabilitation Hospital, has won the 1999 Ernest Bors Award from the American Paraplegia Society for research involving the management of urinary tract infections in spinal cord injured patients.

Nearly 75 percent of spinal cord injured patients experience urinary tract infections (UTIs). Proper and non-delayed treatment of UTIs is essential in avoiding severe consequences, such as permanent renal impairment. Horton's research focused on the crucial step of properly collecting and storing urine samples for accurate urinalysis necessary before treatment.

The Ernest Bors Award, established by the editorial board of the American Paraplegia Society, is given to a student, resident or post-doctoral fellow for original research in the field of spinal cord impairment.

Horton's study was published in the April 1998 issue of the Journal of Spinal Cord Injury Medicine.

Horton recently became one of the first 80 physicians nationwide to have earned subspecialty certification in spinal cord injury medicine by the American Board of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation.

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Catherine V. Palmer, assistant professor of communication science and disorders at the School of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences, has won the SHRH inaugural Dean's Distinguished Teaching Award. The award recognizes outstanding performance and contributions to teaching.

Palmer received a plaque and $2,500 to enhance her teaching efforts.

Palmer also is an assistant professor in the School of Medicine and director of the Center for Audiology in the otolaryngology department at Eye & Ear Institute.

Her research has focused on hearing aid and sound amplification technology for people with hearing loss.

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Rolland G. Paulston, professor emeritus of policy studies in the School of Education, has been named an honorary fellow by the Comparative and International Education Society.

The honorary fellows award recognizes scholars who have made the most marked contributions to growth in the field. In presenting the award, former CIES President Noel McGinn, quoted from letters of support: "Over three turbulent decades, Rolland Paulston has consistently demonstrated an unmatched ability to spot emergent issues in the field, to identify and explore the fundamental research questions associated with those issues, to generate provocative new theory and, most importantly, to open up new terrain for wider scholarly attention."

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Lynda J. Davidson, assistant dean and doctoral program coordinator in the School of Nursing since 1996, has been named associate dean of the nursing school.

Davidson will continue to serve as an assistant professor.