A Celebration of Accomplishments

Gall spent a decade applying her clinical expertise to research and presenting workshops at ARHP annual meetings. “In the 1980s, I did aquatic and land exercise programs, including the use of the therapeutic exercise ball for persons with ankylosing spondylitis….The things I did years ago are now widely accepted forms of exercise.” From 1998 to 2000, she taught English to medical professionals as a Peace Corps volunteer in Turkmenistan. “I feel great about being an active volunteer. It’s always been a part of my life,” she says. Gall currently works with joint replacement and spinal surgery patients at New England Baptist Hospital in Boston. She also is working with Dr. Matthew Liang’s research team at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, using the Internet to identify people who might have early-onset rheumatoid arthritis.

Q: Do you consider yourself a pioneer in the field?

A: No, I don’t. In the 1980s, there were older colleagues whom I was envious of because they combined clinical work with research. They were the real pioneers.

Q: What would you tell aspiring clinician–researchers about the benefits of presenting their work at a meeting of their peers?

A: Presenting a workshop, or a poster, introduces you to many people who have your interests, who give you new ideas. It’s not frightening at all. I am more nervous about going to accept this award, on the stage, in the main hall.

Q: What wisdom do you have for those considering a physical therapy career focused on rheumatology?

A: Since most rheumatic diseases are chronic conditions, you’ll develop long-term relationships with the patients you work with and care about. You’ll see them during remissions and disease flares….Every case is different and treatments are changing, so you’ll be learning all the time.

ARHP Ann Kunkel Advocacy Award

Kam McMillan Nola, PharmD, MS
Vice Chair, Department of Pharmacy Practice, Associate Professor of Pharmacy Practice, Lipscomb University, Nashville, Tenn.

Background: Born and raised in a small, rural community in Tennessee, Dr. Nola took a long and winding path to her current position as a pharmacist educator, administrator, and advocate. She received her PharmD degree from the University of Tennessee in 1995 and a master’s degree in pharmaceutical science with a focus in pharmacoeconomics and outcomes research in 1997. Dr. Nola spent eight years as a rheumatology medical science liaison with Immunex Corporation/Amgen Corporation.

Those years in industry, she says, combined with her family’s long history of arthritis and rheumatic disease, led Dr. Nola to a career in rheumatology. “Rheumatology was not an intended focus after pharmacy school,” she says. “But then I took the position with a small biotech company, which made the drug etanercept [Enbrel]. I got to see the hardcore science, and I knew the scientists in the company. I saw how the drug impacted patients on a day-to-day level.