The College of Health Science and Public Health at Eastern Washington University was founded in 2014 with the mission to graduate health care professionals in their chosen disciplines who are professionally, intellectually, and ethically prepared to meet the health care and wellness challenges and leadership demands of society. This is an invigorating time for students, researchers, and practitioners in health fields in our region. Each year, the College graduates approximately 200 students, including more than 140 in direct clinical care roles. Spokane continues to grow as a regional hub for health care services, research, and innovation, which provides a rich setting for education and collaboration across health disciplines.
About the College
The College of Health Science and Public Health is home to several nationally-accredited undergraduate and graduate programs.
Dean Laureen O’Hanlon
Laureen O’Hanlon, PhD, joined Eastern Washington University in 2015 as the founding Dean of the College of Health Science and Public Health (CHSPH). Dean O’Hanlon has served as the Interim Associate Dean and Administrator in Charge of the College of Engineering and Computer Science at California State University-Sacramento.
Dean O’Hanlon has made community service an integral part of her professional life for more than a decade and has received service, research, and creativity awards from such entities as the California Speech-Language-Hearing Association and the National Institute of Health. She served as a speech-language pathologist at Woodland Memorial Hospital and Sutter Medical Center in Sacramento and worked as editor-in-chief of the magazine published by the California Speech-Language-Hearing Association. Dean O’Hanlon also has extensive experience in fundraising and development; her efforts have resulted in notable increases in gifting for her department and her college at CSU-Sacramento.
Dean O’Hanlon holds a PhD in Speech-Language Pathology from the University of Kansas, a Master of Arts in Speech-Language Pathology from San Diego State University, and a Bachelor of Arts in Communication Disorders, also from San Diego State.
Research
- Pediatric audiology
- Causes of stuttering
- Treatment outcome measures in neurogenic communication disorders
- Effects of the environment on communication of individuals with neurogenic disorders (e.g., aphasia, dementia)
- Application of the International Classification of Functioning, Disability, and Health in communication disorders
- Phonological treatment
- Periodontal debridement
- Dental endosopy
- Advanced local anesthesia techniques
- Use of articaine for profound anesthesia
- Advanced clinical instrumentation
- Stress reduction
- Degree completion programming
- Dental teams
- Professionalism
- Drug court
- Equine assisted psychotherapy
- Peer mentoring
- Autism spectrum disorders
- Congenital heart disease
- Visual perception
- Self-efficacy and exercise adherence in patients with cardiopulmonary disease
- Utilization, validation, and development of functional outcome measures
- Determinants of functional outcomes in rehabilitation populations
- The role of professionalism and leadership in physical therapy practice
- Diagnostic and clinical use of electrical stimulation in rehabilitation
- Collaboration of interdisciplinary education • Health related quality of life
- Multidisciplinary mentoring of students on humanitarian clinical teams
- Human systems adaptations to constraints of movement
- Models of physical therapy intervention for children with developmental delay
- Physical exposure assessment
- Work-related musculoskeletal disorders of the upper extremity and spine
- Electromyography evaluation of skeletal muscle
- Clinical motion capture including electrogoniometry and 3D video analysis
- Occupational epidemiology
- Foot and ankle dysfunction
- Construction and agricultural musculoskeletal disorders
Research opportunities are a valuable part of CHSPH curriculum at EWU. The following examples show the different types of research that have taken place over the past several years in the College of Health Science and Public Health.