Stark promoted with tenure

We are pleased to announce that at the Washington University in St. Louis Board of Trustees meeting on Dec. 1, Susy Stark, PhD, OTR/L, FAOTA, was promoted to associate professor with tenure, effective Jan. 1, 2018.

Dr. Stark was one of the first U.S. clinician scientists to empirically demonstrate how home modifications significantly improve function among community-dwelling older adults with chronic conditions and that home modification interventions could be effectively delivered using innovative community-based models of care. In a Phase II clinical trial, she established the feasibility of home modifications and demonstrated a six-month delay in a high-risk, underserved population. Her lab was the first to identify preclinical Alzheimer’s disease (AD) as a risk for falling.

In a prospective cohort study, she demonstrated that cognitively-healthy older adults with abnormal amyloid beta protein deposition in their brains (a biomarker of preclinical AD) have a higher risk of falling than older adults without the presence of the biomarker. This previously unknown risk for falls has significant implications for both understanding the clinical course of preclinical AD (previously assumed to be clinically silent) as well as the science of fall prevention. Her work has demonstrated efficacy and effectiveness of compensation strategies to improve function and reduce the risk of falling in older adults with chronic neurologic conditions.

We are proud to have Dr. Stark on our faculty and congratulate her on this accomplishment. We are also happy for the Program and the profession that her work has reached this level of recognition.