The College of Health Professions prepares students for careers in the healthcare field. Through its professional, technical, clinical and academic programs, the college serves as an advocate for change and improvement in the field of healthcare services. The college also serves as a catalyst to expand and improve public perceptions of healthcare in the community.

Dr. Rodney E. Rohde, TXST University Distinguished Professor, CLS Chair, Associate Director for the Translational Health Research Center and Past President of TACLS, was surprised at the 2021 ASCLS, AGT SAFMLS Joint Annual Meeting with the Robin H. Mendelson Memorial Award for his global efforts in #MedicalLaboratory, #PublicHealth and #ScienceCommunication of the #SARSCoV2 / #COVID19 #pandemic.The Mendelson Memorial Award represents international level service.

Dr. Ruth B. Welborn became Dean of the College of Health Professions (CHP) in 2003. Under her leadership, undergraduate and graduate programs have been expanded. Dean Welborn holds the rank of Professor of Health Administration. She earned her Diploma in Nursing from Jewish Hospital School of Nursing in St. Louis, MO, a BSN from the University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston, Master's from UT-San Antonio, and Ph.D. from Texas AM.

Before becoming Dean, Dr. Welborn served in a variety of leadership positions at Texas State, including the Chair of the Depts. of Allied Health Sciences and Health Administration, Associate Dean of the CHP and Interim Dean.

She is a strong believer in giving back to the community through service and has served on the Board of Trustees for the San Marcos Academy; Board of Directors and the Women's Council for Central Texas Medical Center; San Marcos Main Street Advisory Board; San Marcos-Hays County Emergency Medical Services Board; Habitat for Humanity; Palmer Drug Abuse Program; the City of San Marcos Human Development Commission, and many others.

In June 2021, Dean Welborn had the honor of presenting the first scholarship to Katharine Heinemann, a Health Administration student in the College of Health Professions.

An interdisciplinary research team at Texas State University has been awarded in-kind hardware and cloud computing services from Advanced Micro Devices’ (AMD) HPC Fund for COVID-19 research.

Texas State’s proposal was led by Larry Fulton, School of Health Administration, and included faculty from the Ingram School of Engineering, the Department of Computer Science and the Department of Psychology.Public collaboration and support from Ted Lehr, data architect for the city of Austin, was included in the proposal.

Read the rest of the AMD funding for COVID-19 research here.

Story by Piper Blake

Arianna Apodaca is the recipient of the 2021 LBJ Outstanding Senior Student Award presented annually by the Texas State University Alumni Association.

This award is named in honor of Distinguished Alumnus and 36th President of the United States, Lyndon B. Johnson, and recognizes graduating seniors who have shown outstanding leadership, character, campus and community involvement, and academic success.

Throughout Apodaca’s undergraduate career, she maintained her high GPA while battling aggressive breast cancer twice. During her sophomore and junior years at Texas State, she underwent numerous surgeries and many rounds of chemotherapy and radiation. Her experience with cancer led her to pursue a degree in radiation therapy and raise awareness for early detection of breast cancer. Ever dedicated, Apodaca completed the clinical rotations for her degree at the hospital where she was receiving her cancer treatments, enabling her to continue her studies without taking time off.

Apodaca has spoken about early detection and her cancer journey at San Marcos High School, as well as local news, webshows, and podcasts. While at Texas State, she served as the Vice President of the Pre-Radiation Therapy Organization, and the Social Media Coordinator for Be the Match. She was also a member of the student organizations Black Women United and Men Against Violence.

She graduated in May 2021 with a bachelor of science in radiation therapy and will pursue a career treating cancer patients with firsthand knowledge of the challenges they face when undergoing chemotherapy and radiation.

Congratulations to the Radiation Therapy Program for adding 1,529 new marrow donor registrants to the national marrow donor registry at their recent marrow drive at the University of Texas at Rio Grande Valley with Be The Match.

This year's forum was a great success, featuring an increase in outstanding entries. Thank you, and congratulations to all participants for making this event a showcase of the dedication and skill found throughout all departments in the College of Health Professions. View a list of the Research Forum winning entries here.

The 7th Annual Scroll Ceremony was held on Friday, September 10, 2021. Students starting the professional phase of their degree took an oath to accept duties and responsibilities that embody their chosen profession.

The CHP 2021-2022 Fall Gathering was held on August 20, 2021. This was the kickoff to CHP's new academic year, and a time to recognize the many faculty accomplishments during the 2020-2021 academic year. Click here for a list of all award winners.

President Trauth presents Dr. Rodney E. Rohde, CLS Professor and Chair, with the Everette Swinney Faculty Teaching Award. Also shown is Dr. Alex White, Faculty Senate Chair.

Congratulations to Dr. Rodney E. Rohde on becoming a Fellow of the Association of Clinical Scientists. This is a designation bestowed by the Association of Clinical Scientists upon qualified members. Fellows must be doctoral scientists who are experts in the education of and/or application of laboratory methods for elucidating, diagnosis, and treatment of human diseases. The title, FACSc, denotes that the clinical scientists have ongoing specialized professional activities related to clinical expertise, research or teaching experiences, and/or significant advocacy efforts in the field of clinical laboratory science. Thus, this is a title distinction that may be used behind their signature. Dr. Rohde now joins this very selective group of only ~200 Fellows nationally. For more information, please visit http://www.clinicalscience.org/index.html.

Each year, one outstanding graduate and doctoral student from the Graduate College is selected to represent the College of Health Professions. This year, based upon their outstanding accomplishments, Donna Ponchak was selected as the graduate student from the St. David's School of Nursing, and Lindsay Iuen was selected as the doctoral student from the Department of Physical Therapy.

Dr. Ruth B. Welborn presented Dr. Gerald D. Redwine with a plaque in recognition of his presentation,
"African American Roots and Diabetes Reduction Through Focused Permeated Learning"