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Alumni Awards & Recognition

A Call for Nominations.

Alumni Awards & Recognition

A Call for Nominations.

Purple lights interspersed across a dark background

Alumni Awards & Recognition

A Call for Nominations.

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The School of Physical Therapy Alumni of Distinction Award

Recognizes an alum who demonstrates significant impact in one or more of the following areas:

  • Professional achievement
    • The recipient is dedicated to their chosen profession and goes above and beyond in their line of work; they are a role model in their profession and this impact reaches groups, individuals, and/or their larger chosen profession
  • Significant contributions to research and/or education
    • The recipient stands out in the field of research as having made compelling and impactful progress towards the advancement of their discipline, and is committed to continuing their learning and education either through everyday practice or higher education
  • Commitment to community and leadership
    • The recipient is a leader who is committed to bettering their community or the Western community, successfully enriching the lives of others through community service and exemplary leadership
Click Here For The Nomination Form

Current Winner

2026 Alumni of Distinction Award Recipient:

Nancy Howes

Nancy Howes is a Physiotherapist who graduated from Western University's School of Physical Therapy in 1995 and has spent her entire career at London Health Sciences Centre (LHSC). She has developed an expertise in physiotherapy for solid organ transplantation, with more than 23 years of experience in this specialized area.

Throughout her career, Nancy has been actively involved in clinical research focused on improving patient outcomes through exercise and rehabilitation. Her research has explored exercise programs for hemodialysis patients, the management of low back pain in liver transplant patients, and the relationship between preoperative fitness and postoperative hospital length of stay in liver transplant recipients.

Nancy has played a key role in the development and implementation of several innovative healthcare programs. These include a hemodialysis exercise program that operated for a decade at University Hospital, the Transplant ONline Exercise (TONE) telerehabilitation program for transplant candidates, a postoperative group exercise program for joint arthroplasty patients, and a collaborative PT/PTA student placement model developed with Fanshawe College and Western University.

A dedicated educator and mentor, Nancy has delivered professional education courses for physiotherapists across Ontario, supervised more than 50 physiotherapy and physiotherapist assistant students, and served as a part-time faculty member at Western University's School of Physical Therapy. Her research and program development has been shared at conferences nationally and internally, including at the World Congress of Physical Therapy meetings in Japan and Amsterdam.  She has also contributed nationally through her involvement with the CAN-RESTORE taskforce and internationally with the American Association for the Study of Liver Disease, working to advance rehabilitation and fitness guidelines for solid organ transplant candidates and recipients.

Nancy has broadened her perspective through experience in underserved healthcare settings, including work with the Weeneebayko Area Health Authority in Northern Ontario and volunteer service with Operation Walk in Antigua, Guatemala. She has also contributed to the profession as a peer reviewer for Physiotherapy Theory & Practice.

Her scholarly contributions include multiple publications on exercise and transplantation in leading journals such as Transplantation, Transplant Proceedings, and the Journal of Hepatology. Her work has been recognized through numerous awards and distinctions, including the Clinical Outreach Award from Western University's School of Physical Therapy (2023), the Innovation in Education Award from LHSC (2023), and multiple awards for excellence in clinical teaching, research, and innovation.

Nancy's career reflects a longstanding commitment to advancing transplant rehabilitation, clinical education, research, and patient-centered innovation. While she is thrilled with this award, she wants to acknowledge her colleagues at LHSC and Western University for their assistance every step of the way.

Past Winners

Alumni of Distinction Award: Chandra Farrer

Chandra is a graduate of the Western University School of Physical Therapy class of 1998. Chandra has worked clinically as a physiotherapist and completed her Advanced Clinician Practitioner in Arthritis Care certification to work in the capacity of an Advanced Practice Physiotherapist in rheumatology.

She currently works as the Quality Manager at Women’s College Hospital (WCH) and is the Associate Director at the Centre for Quality Improvement and Patient Safety (CQuIPS). She completed a Masters in Quality Improvement and Patient Safety and holds a clinical lecturer status in the Department of Physical Therapy at the University of Toronto. Her quality improvement projects include: evaluation of rheumatology models of care, referral management, electronic patient record utilization and optimization, and improving communication for patient safety. Chandra has worked with the Ontario Rheumatology Association, advocating for models of care to leverage health human resources to provide equitable access to care in Northern Ontario.

Inquiries

Please direct any of your questions pertaining to the Alumni Awards and Recognition program to: alumni@uwo.ca

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