The Orthotics and Prosthetics Foundation for Education and Research named Abby Citterman and Julie Ferrell-Olsen as recipients for its fall 2024 microgrant program.
Citterman earned the grant for “Integrating Digital Technology into Orthotic Fabrication Workflows to Optimize Patient Satisfaction Outcomes.” A first-year O&P resident at Gillette Children’s and a research fellow with the Utah Neuro Robotics Lab, Citterman’s research interests include developing and validating novel rehabilitative technologies for individuals with neuromuscular disabilities. She has a specialized interest in the convergence of engineering, O&P, and design, and bridging the gap between cutting-edge innovation in academia and the most optimal, personalized patient care.
Ferrell-Olsen earned the grant for “Understanding Lower Limb Prosthesis Users’ Lived Experience with Fatigue.”
Ferrell-Olsen is a doctoral candidate at the University of Illinois, Chicago, in the department of Kinesiology and Nutrition. She is a member of the university’s Locomotor and Rehabilitation Lab and her research aims to connect qualitative and biomechanics research, using lived experiences to motivate in-lab studies.
The biannual microgrant program, which is designed to spark scholarly work in O&P, awards one-year grants of $2,000 to support clinically relevant projects that aim to empower health professionals, researchers, students, and residents to pursue activities that may contribute to clinical care in O&P, such as investigator-initiated research, career development opportunities, or quality assurance and/or improvement projects.
