R. J. Garrick, PhD, is leaving the Northwestern University Prosthetic-Orthotics Center (NUPOC) on July 16, after a 17-year tenure as communications and knowledge translation specialist.
During her career, Garrick photographed, developed, wrote, and disseminated print, digital, and in-person information about NUPOC’s research and education programs, activities, people, and events. She is credited with proposing the Dudley S. Childress Fund for Research and Education to honor the biomechanics and rehabilitation engineering pioneer and support the advancement of science to improve the lives of people with physical disabilities. Â
During NUPOC’s transition from a certificate program to the Master of Prosthetics and Orthotics degree, Garrick worked with John Michael, CPO, to help codify student behavior in the anatomy lab and cadaver memorial observances.
She also established the NUPOC Gallery based on remarks by physician, prosthetist, and artist Yeongchi Wu, MD, that O&P fabrication shared similarities with sculpture. Since 2016, the NUPOC Gallery has featured 22 exhibits.
Garrick developed NUPOC seminars, science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) programs, and special events. She wrote, edited, and published Capabilities (2005-2013), the quarterly newsletter for the Rehabilitation Engineering Research Center for Prosthetics and Orthotics, managed the NUPOC website, and in 2020, developed and launched NUPOC News, a digital O&P publication.
