Meet the newest faculty to join the RHSC Program:
- Taru Manyanga, PhD (PT) (Affiliate Assistant Professor, Physical Therapy based at UNBC)
- Stephanie Glegg, PhD (OT) (Assistant Professor, Occupational Science & Occupational Therapy)
- Julia Henderson, PhD (OT) (Assistant Professor, Occupational Science & Occupational Therapy)
As part of the continuing expansion of the Departments of Physical Therapy and Occupational Science & Occupational Therapy, Taru, Stephanie and Julia join us to bring Rehabilitation Science graduate education across British Columbia that will further improve the health and wellbeing of communities throughout BC and beyond. All three are now accepting graduate students in their respective research interests. Welcome!
Taru Manyanga
Dr Taru Manyanga is a registered physical therapist and an affiliate Assistant Professor in the Department of Physical Therapy. Taru has practiced physical therapy in many Canadian jurisdictions and is based at the University of Northern British Columbia (Division of Medical Sciences) in the Master of Physical Therapy-North program. Taru did his physical therapy training and MSc (Community Health Sciences) at the University of Manitoba before completing a PhD in Epidemiology at the University of Ottawa.
Dr. Manyanga is interested in the surveillance of movement behaviors among healthy and clinical populations, using context-specific measurement instruments, especially in rural/remote and resource-limited settings. The overall goal of Taru’s research is to combine clinical physical therapy and epidemiological/population health approaches in developing and implementing lifestyle behavior interventions to promote active healthy living across the life-course. His research also focuses on global/international comparisons of movement behaviors among children and adolescents.
Taru enjoys being outdoors, exploring nature, reading and engaging in social debates about various issues of our time.
Stephanie Glegg
Stephanie Glegg is an Assistant Professor of Research in the Department of Occupational Science & Occupational Therapy, and a graduate of the RHSC PhD program.
Stephanie’s research as an implementation scientist examines the barriers and facilitators of change in health care, and tests the effectiveness of various strategies to target them. Her use of social network analysis also allows for the mixed methods study of social factors on knowledge translation. She applies theory and best practices in implementation science across contexts, from technology adoption in pediatric rehabilitation, to the scale-up of harm reduction approaches to address the toxic drug poisoning crisis.
If she could clone herself, her analogue would be a pastry chef. In typical over-achiever style, Stephanie also moonlights as a professional musician.
Julia Henderson
Dr. Julia Henderson is a new Assistant Professor in the Department of Occupational Science and Occupational Therapy with a background as an OT and a professional actor. She recently completed a three-year Postdoctoral Fellowship with Concordia University’s Ageing+Communication+Technologies Project.
Dr. Henderson’s research focusses on redressing ageism in North American culture. She uses qualitative and mostly arts-based methods to work with older adults on projects that range from collaborative creative engagement with people with lived experience of dementia, to older adult activism, to developing creative accessibility strategies for older adult performers. Dr. Henderson is also Vice Chair of the North American Network in Aging Studies and Creative Accessibilities Facilitator with Western Gold Theatre, a professional senior theatre company in Vancouver, BC.
In her spare time, Julia enjoys engaging in visual art projects, dancing (especially Bollywood), and spending time with her family and many pets.