2010 GOLDEN APPLE Honorees

Judith Canfield-Henry, PT, MSEd, EdD

Dr. Canfield-Henry has been extremely active in developing curricula for HVO physical therapy programs in Haiti, Tanzania, Vietnam, Suriname, and Bhutan. Most recently, her focus has been on developing the curriculum for the Rehabilitation Technician Training Program in Haiti, where no training existed in rehabilitation. Her work, with the Hôpital Albert Schweitzer, has been instrumental in training rehabilitation technicians to work in their communities, a situation that has become more crucial than ever, as a result of the January earthquake.

In addition to her curricula development and teaching, Dr. Canfield-Henry has served as a program director for Tanzania and as a member of HVO's Physical Therapy Steering Committee. Her dedication and leadership skills have led her to be a frequent presenter on her work with HVO at numerous national and international conferences. Most importantly, she has enthusiastically mentored physical therapists with limited experience in curriculum development and teaching. Her work assisting these volunteers has truly exemplified HVO's mission of educating health care providers to improve health care for future generations. She has been a member of HVO since 1996.

Dr. Canfield-Henry retired in 1998 as an Associate Professor in the Physical Therapy Department at Chapman University in Orange, California. Since 1999, she has worked as a part-time physical therapist with Red Lodge Physical Therapy, Beartooth Hospital and Health Center in Montana. She serves as Vice President for the International Society of Educators in Physiotherapy and is Past President in the Section on Education of the American Physical Therapy Association.

Shaun Cleaver, PT, MSc

Mr. Cleaver has served as a repeat and long-term volunteer in Haiti, most recently with the Rehabilitation Technician Training Program. His involvement in Haiti began in 2003 as a clinical teacher in an HVO program based in the capital of Port-au-Prince. During this initial commitment he was able to build organizational contacts and learn about the country, including the local Kreyol language. This experience created a platform for further engagement. The country and the needs fascinated him so he returned in 2008 to live in Haiti and serve as Coordinator of Rehabilitation Services for the project at Hôpital Albert Schweitzer. Mr. Cleaver served as the interface between the program, the Haitian government, local Disabled Persons' Organizations, and the hospital staff as, together, they worked to improve and expand rehabilitation services. His commitment, his understanding of the language and culture, and his strong skills established an excellent foundation for the local personnel to continue the program after his departure in 2009.

After the January 2010 earthquake, Mr. Cleaver put aside his plans to complete his PhD and returned to Haiti. He has accepted a position with the hospital and is in the process of helping to establish organized and coordinated rehabilitation for the thousands injured in Haiti. It will be an enormous task but with Mr. Cleaver's knowledge of the language, governmental affairs, and disabled persons' organizations, he will make a difference in Haiti's future.

In addition to Mr. Cleaver's work with HVO, he has been quite active in the Canadian Physiotherapy Association and is the former chair of their International Health Division.

Denise English, PT

Ms. English has been the driving force behind the development of the Rehabilitation Technician Training Program at the Hôpital Albert Schweitzer in Deschapelles, Haiti. Having worked on development projects in Haiti since 1988, Ms. English observed the need for training programs that would develop local human resources and enable Haitian rehabilitation workers to work in their communities. Once envisioned, she, along with a team of volunteer US and Canadian university rehabilitation educators and clinicians, set about developing the curriculum and recruiting teachers. She has served as the Program Director for the project and has been closely involved in the selection and training of students as well as the coordinator for all aspects of the project. She and another HVO teacher were starting the training for a new group of students when Haiti's earthquake struck in January. They continued the training sessions and demonstrated hands-on care for the students as they assisted the patients who poured into the area.

This is the second time Ms. English has received the Golden Apple Award for her work in Haiti, as she was one of the first recipients in 2006. She currently works as a physical therapist in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. She serves on HVO's Physical Therapy Steering Committee, and is a member of the American Physical Therapy Association's Health Policy Administration Section and the Cross Cultural and International Special Interest Group. She is also a member of the Pennsylvania Physical Therapy Association, the Haiti Solidarity Group of the Thomas Merton Center in Pittsburgh, and is a board member of Friends of Haiti.

Mary Jo Geyer, PT, PhD, FCCWS, CLT-LANA, CPed

Dr. Geyer has promoted and stimulated multidisciplinary involvement in wound care and lymphedema at the global level. She has forged relationships with multiple medical disciplines and promoted programs in wound and lymphedema management in India, Peru, Cambodia, and St. Lucia. Additionally, she worked with a World Health Organization (WHO) project to improve wound and lymphedema management in Ghana and served as a consultant to the Lymphatic Filariasis Partnership. She has also served as a consultant with WHO to co-edit a white paper "Wound and Lymphedema Management" which has just been published.

In addition to her work as a volunteer, Dr. Geyer has demonstrated exceptional leadership skills as Chair of the HVO Wound and Lymphedema Management Steering Committee and has helped establish 4 programs involving physicians, nurses, and physical therapists. The educational contributions of these volunteers are key to upgrading the management of wounds and lymphedema. Dr. Geyer has been a member of HVO since 2007.

Dr. Geyer is a physical therapist, a board certified wound and lymphedema therapist and a pedorthist. Her research focuses on the prevention and management of secondary complications from chronic disabling diseases. She is currently an Assistant Professor in the Rehabilitation Science and Technology Department, University of Pittsburgh.

Victoria A. Seligman, MD

Dr. Seligman has volunteered for a number of years at the Sihanouk Hospital Center for Hope in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. There she has worked tirelessly to improve the skills of the physicians. Her warm personality and compassion for others, coupled with her strong medical skills, has earned her the respect among the Khmer staff. Her commitment to expanding educational opportunities for the physicians and her enthusiasm in recruiting other volunteer physicians to participate in the program has led to the development of a strong knowledge base at the hospital.

Inspired by her work with HVO, Dr. Seligman founded an organization, Health for Cambodia, to bring further attention and funds to the educational needs of Cambodian physicians and to support microcredit projects for women with HIV living in the slums of Phnom Penh. Information can be found at: www.healthforcambodia.org

In addition to her overseas volunteer service, Dr. Seligman is the program director for HVO's site in Cambodia and chair of HVO's Internal Medicine Steering Committee. She has been a member of HVO since 2004.

Dr. Seligman currently works as an internist and rheumatologist at the Denver VA Medical Center in Colorado. She is an assistant professor in the Departments of Internal Medicine and Rheumatology at the University of Colorado Denver School of Medicine and an adjunct professor in the Graduate School of International Studies at the University of Denver. Dr. Seligman is a member of the American College of Rheumatology and serves on the advisory board for the Lupus Foundation of Colorado.

Lynne Welch, MSN, EdD, APRN, FNP-BC

Dr. Welch has served as an HVO volunteer nurse educator in Uganda, Tanzania, and Cambodia. In her work in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, she developed a self-study manual on chest tubes for the nurses and worked with them on the principles of teaching. This was in addition to providing nursing lectures twice a day and conducting two management seminars. In Siem Reap, Cambodia she worked with the nursing and medical departments at the Angkor Children's Hospital. There, she provided presentations for the nurses and worked with the physicians on the development of a performance evaluation tool. She mentored staff in both departments and assisted the physicians in developing and writing a research proposal.

In addition to her experience in the four different program sites, Dr. Welch served on HVO's Nursing Education Steering Committee and served as program director for the HVO program in Siem Reap, Cambodia. She has been a member of HVO since 2004.

Her international health care work began shortly after she graduated from college, when she worked with Operation Crossroads Africa in Enugu, Eastern Nigeria. She has participated with many organizations such as the West Virginia Rural Health Partnership, Partners of the Americas, Ebenezer Medical Outreach (for those without health care in Huntington, WV) and she has volunteered her services with local churches on missions to Peru, Honduras, and India. She has also taken nursing students to assist with health care in Brazil and Peru and served on the West Virginia Women's Health Advisory Council 2002 - 2005.

Dr. Welch is a graduate of the University of Connecticut (BSN 1963), the Catholic University of America (MSN 1968), Teachers' College, Columbia University (EdD 1979) and Marshall University (Post Master's 1998). She retired as Dean of the College of Nursing and Health Professions at Marshall University in West Virginia in 2005. She continues to practice as a nurse practitioner part-time, seeing patients in Marshall University's Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Health. She is a member of the American Nurses Association, the American Academy of Nurse Practitioners, the West Virginia Nurses Association, and the Marshall University Alumni Association.