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Jennifer Audette, MS, PT
Wakefield, Rhode Island

Biographical Statement
For nearly all my life I have lived in Rhode Island. I live in Wakefield with my husband, Michael, and my three daughters, Castine (16), Gwen (15), and Camille (10). Right now we are in the process of renovating a beautiful 150 year old Victorian house that we purchased in the fall. When I'm not working at the University or in school I love to spend time with my family and friends, travel, garden, and read.

I have been very lucky in my career and have had the opportunity to experience many aspects of our profession. As a new grad I worked at a day treatment center / school for children with developmental disabilities and with adolescents and adults who had had traumatic brain injuries. I worked in the public school system while I was in graduate school. After I received my Masters degree I went to work on the island of Nantucket - off the coast of Massachusetts - at a small community hospital where, from time-to-time we also provided services to the public schools, the skilled nursing facility and in patients' homes. I was later hired as the Director of Rehabilitation at a 400 bed hospital in Rhode Island where I supervised a large staff of physical therapists, occupation therapists, speech pathologists, audiologists, and other rehab service providers. After nine years at the hospital I was able to move into academia where I couldn't be happier. I love the stimulation and dynamic nature of the university setting and working with students. In the four years that I have been in my current position I have been able to develop and carry out an international service-learning experience course where I travel with students to a small town in the highlands of Guatemala to work at a center for children with disabilities. As part of that initiative - and due to my own personal interests - I have been seeking to learn more and more about international and global health issues and how they can be integrated into teaching and physical therapist education.

Candidate Statement
In recent years my attention and interests have centered around issues that are at the heart of the CCISIG. I have been an active attendee at CSM presentations and have made an effort to meet and connect with people who share my interests. I think the CCISIG members are passionate about international health issues, service-learning, and integrating those topics into practice and teaching. I too am passionate about thinking more broadly about healthcare issues, our profession, the education of physical therapy students, and our own lives.

I practice what I preach. I am intimately involved with several cross cultural and international efforts. I go to great lengths to integrate relevant topics into the traditional curriculum in creative and interesting ways, I travel internationally with students on an annual basis to as part of a service-learning course which I developed, I am focusing my dissertation research around international service-learning in physical therapy education, I have done volunteer work in China, in the fall I will make my second service trip to Suriname with Health Volunteers Overseas as a curricular consultant, and I am currently teaching a distance course for the physical therapy program in Suriname.

Although my life is very full I can't seem to stop getting involved in the things that I am passionate about and want to learn more about. The CCISIG Programming Chair is one of those things. I would appreciate the opportunity to serve the Cross Cultural and International Special Interest Group as the Programming Chair.

Jill Schiff Boissonnault, PT, PhD
Middleton, WI

Biographical Statement
Dr. Jill Schiff Boissonnault received her B.S. in Physical Therapy from the University of Illinois in 1976, her Masters in Orthopedic Physical Therapy from Northwestern University in 1986, and her PhD from the University of Wisconsin, Madison, in Curriculum and Instruction with a minor in Women's Studies in 2003. She was Treasurer of the OB/GYN Section (Now the Section on Women's Health) of the APTA from1983-1989 and Vice President from 1995-1999. Jill was awarded the Section's service award, the Elizabeth Noble Award, in 2000 and in 2006, the WI PT Association Mentor of the year award and the American PT association's Lucy Blair Service Award. She is immediate past President and Founder of the International Organization of Physical Therapists in Women's Health, a sub-group of the World Confederation of Physical Therapy. She has authored numerous professional articles and textbook chapters and consults in the area of women's health PT. Dr. Boissonnault teaches six seminars in professional issues, a service learning course, coordinates a research practicum, and co-teaches a palpatory anatomy course in the physical therapy program at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. She offers seminars in ethics to meet licensure requirements in the state of Wisconsin and presents continuing education seminars on management of musculoskeletal dysfunction in the obstetric client.

Candidate Statement
I am honored to run as a candidate for Program Chair of the CCISIG. I have been a member for a relatively short time, but have found the work and interests of the SIG to mirror mine in many ways; I teach in the areas of cultural competency and health care disparities. My background in women's studies and women's health have led me down a path of work into issues of diversity; largely about gender, but also regarding the many areas of diversity represented by our patient population. I have successfully lobbied for inclusion of a service-learning course in our revised DPT curriculum and look forward UW-Madison's first foray into international service learning beginning in 2009.

I have been impressed with the knowledge and insight of many of the members of the SIG; I learn from the listserv, from publications, posters and APTA conference presentations. Because I have been involved in APTA section work, international work on behalf of the WCPT and the WCPT special interest group in women's health, I believe I have an understanding of programming needs and issues that face PT's in general. My experience in teaching at the UW-Madison prepares me to assist the SIG in selecting and finding appropriate speakers to enhance the skills of our membership in international and cultural realms.

I look forward to continued involvement with the CCISIG and hope that I can be of service in the role as Program Chair. Thank you so much for this potential opportunity to grow!

Mary J. Geyer, PT, PhD
Pittsburgh, PA

Biographical Statement
As a PT, Dr. Geyer has provided wound and lymphedema management services in various settings for over 15 years. Before arriving at Chatham, she served as Director of Edema and Wound Management Services and Research for the VA Pittsburgh Healthcare System and was a successful researcher at the University of Pittsburgh. She has conducted seminars and presented at numerous national and international meetings on wound and/or lymphedema management. She also served several years as a representative to and later as a member of the Board of Directors of the National Pressure Ulcer Advisory Panel (NPUAP). She currently serves as Chair of the steering committee of the World Wound Care Alliance, an international volunteer service of the Association for the Advancement of Wound Care.

Her publications and research interests focus on tissue physiological and biomechanical responses to pressure and the efficacy of various clinical interventions for wound and lymphedema management. She was the first recipient of the Benter Global Citizenship Grant from Chatham University to conduct a service learning project in India that provided DPT students with hands-on experiences in the prevention of disability associated with lymphedema from lymphatic filariasis (LF). She has been successful in linking this project to the World Health Organization's efforts to eliminate LF and to the NGDO Partnership that provides the majority of clinical interventions for this disease in resource-poor settings. She continues to provide international training in her respective areas of expertise and to conduct both international and domestic service learning projects for Chatham students.

Candidate Statement
I have always believed that service learning is the most effective method for the development of cultural competence. However, it has only been since I arrived at Chatham three years ago that I have been able to assist in developing sustainable opportunities for students. I have found like-minded, passionate and dedicated individuals in the CC-I-SIG. I want to assist in anyway that I can to raise awareness of and promote the activities of the SIG and section.

Nancy Sharby, PT, DPT, MS
Newton, MA

Biographical Statement
Before coming to academia I was a pediatric physical therapist, and continue to work one day per week at a school for children with autism. My early faculty experience was at the University of Massachusetts, Lowell, 1988-1991, and Newbury College. from 1991-1993. In 1993 I joined the faculty at Northeastern University as an ACCE and worked in this position until 2002. During this time I had the opportunity to meet ACCEs and faculty from across the country and to interact with clinicians in multiple health settings. This experience brought me into contact with people in community and academic settings that allowed me to develop knowledge of their varied skills and talents.

The content areas that I teach in are Psychosocial Aspects of Health Care, Health Education and Promotion, including health disparities and cultural issues in health care. I am co-author of the text Psychosocial Aspects of Health Care, and a book chapter on Universal Instructional Design for Experiential Education. I have an interest in disability as a cross cultural issue and have developed a course around this topic, and have included this in APTA presentations.

Candidate Statement
My many years of experience as a clinician, an ACCE and a faculty member has provided me the opportunity to meet and professionally interact with physical therapists and physical therapist assistants from a wide array of geographic areas, and practice settings. It has also been my good fortune to have taught many students over the past 20 years, to have watched them grow, to mentor some of them, and to watch others become my colleague in APTA activities. It is a pleasure to have known each and everyone of them.

My work with the Cross Cultural SIG began approximately 8 years ago when the SIG merged with another SIG that supported PTs with disabilities. I was also present when the Health Policy Section merged with the Administration section and was able to participate in the blending of these two sections. Over the past 6 years my involvement with educational planning and programming brought me into contact with therapists from across the country and to support them in developing presentations for the SIG. Through this work I was able to develop relationships with therapists from across the country, to learn about their work, and to recognize the many ways that therapists, whether SIG members or not, are contributing to our ability to treat clients with cultural differences in a respectful and meaningful way that provides appropriate and effective care. These experiences will enable me to provide guidance in selecting candidates with the skills necessary to lead the SIG.