Congratulations to Gerti Motavalli, Teresa Briedwell, and Cheryl Caldwell!

 APTA Missouri is extremely proud to introduce the winners of the 2020 Outstanding Service Awards:

Gerti Motavalli, PT - Outstanding Service in the Area of Patient Care

Nominated by: Dana Martin, PT, DSc

Letters of support state: “…she is innately driven to provide the best practice for her patients and their families on a daily basis, demonstrating excellence in all that she does.”

“Gerti continues to go above and beyond for her patients using innovation and her clinical expertise to improve patient outcomes.”

“Gerti worked with the father of a child with Spina Bifida to develop a crawling device called The Frog. To date, 170 Frogs have been shipped, most free of cost, to families in 7 countries around the world.”  (An organization called Patient Innovation chose The Frog as one of the world’s three best new innovations designed by caregivers in 2019.)

Teresa Briedwell, PT, DPT - Outstanding Service in the Area of Education

Nominated by: Dana Martin, PT, DSc

Letters of support state: “Never one to shy away from service to others, Teresa serves as an excellent role model for those around her.”
“She is able to translate knowledge to the next generation of practitioners as well as current clinicians.
“She documents evidence of interest in and efforts toward continual improvement in her teaching efforts.”

“She exemplifies the best in what a university teacher should be.”

Cheryl Caldwell, PT DPT - Outstanding Service in the Area of Education

Nominated by Tammy Burlis, PT, DPT, MHS; and Suzy Cornbleet, PT, DPT

Letters of support state: She has been involved in service for 40 plus years, making valuable contributions locally, nationally, and internationally.”

“Cheryl has been and continues to be a servant leader.  She does so by being articulate, unafraid to voice an unpopular or alternative opinion, focused on the
big picture issues and willing to listen…”

“She is highly regarded by the students as an asset to our Program and her mentorship is often sought.”