College of Health Professions Faculty Member, Collaborators Receive National Award from Academy of Pediatric Physical Therapy

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ATLANTA – Alyssa LaForme Fiss, PT, Ph.D., associate professor of physical therapy in Mercer University's College of Health Professions – in collaboration with three research colleagues – co-authored a publication that received the 2016 Toby Long Award from the Academy of Pediatric Physical Therapy, a section within the American Physical Therapy Association (APTA).

The Toby Long Award recognizes the best manuscript published in 2016 in the journal Pediatric Physical Therapy that is not adapted from a thesis or dissertation. The award-winning article was titled “Description of primary and secondary impairments in young children with cerebral palsy.”

The award was presented at the Academy's board meeting at this year's APTA Combined Sections Meeting, held Feb. 15-18 in San Antonio, Texas.

Dr. Fiss joined the College of Health Professions as assistant professor in July 2010 and was promoted to associate professor with tenure in 2015. Prior to joining the faculty at Mercer, she was an assistant professor at Georgia State University.

“We are proud of the high quality research that Dr. Fiss and her colleagues continually engage in to address the needs of children with disabilities,” said Dr. Jeannette Anderson, chair of the Department of Physical Therapy. “Receipt of the 2016 Toby Long Award is further affirmation of this quality.”

Dr. Fiss earned her bachelor's and master's degrees in physical therapy from The Ohio State University and her Doctor of Philosophy in rehabilitation science from the University of Kentucky.

APTA is a national professional organization representing more than 95,000 members with the goal of fostering advancements in physical therapy practice, research and education.

About the College of Health Professions

Mercer University's College of Health Professions is composed of four departments: physical therapy, physician assistant studies, public health and clinical medical psychology. The College offers a doctoral-level physical therapy program, master's-level physician assistant program, bachelor's- and master's-level public health programs, and doctoral-level program in clinical medical psychology. The Department of Physical Therapy offers residencies in orthopaedic, neurologic and cardiovascular/pulmonary physical therapy; a fellowship in orthopaedic manual physical therapy; and an onsite clinic. The Department of Physician Assistant Studies offers an advanced cardiology residency program. Each program is housed in a department that provides students with comprehensive didactic courses taught by an extraordinary faculty and extensive clinical experience enhanced by outstanding service-learning opportunities. For more information, visit chp.mercer.edu.