Research
Across Baylor University’s Robbins College of Health and Human Sciences, our faculty and students are engaged in transformational research inspired by our calling as Christians to serve others. With a focus on health, quality of life, and human flourishing, Robbins College research is conducted in the lab, in the classroom, and out in the communities we serve.
Signature Research Initiatives
Learn MoreInspired by our Christian mission, we seek to enhance health, quality of life, and human flourishing for all individuals and communities.
Examining and modifying the environmental, psychological, and social determinants that influence behavior and health.
Understanding, preventing, and treating chronic diseases and conditions.
Investigating and improving access to care and opportunities for healthy living.
Optimizing function and independence for those who experience injury, illness, disability, or developmental delay.
Research News
More NewsFollowing the launch of Baylor University’s Strategic Plan, Baylor in Deeds, the institution’s schools and colleges promptly began work on their own unit-level plans. In Robbins College of Health and Human Sciences, strategic focus had already commenced through the development of the College’s Signature Research Initiatives the year prior. Using this collaborative work as a foundation—along with input from College-wide surveys, departmental conversations, stakeholder discussions, and leadership deliberations—the Robbins College of Health and Human Sciences 2024-2030 Strategic Plan was born.
In 2024, Department of Physical Therapy faculty Shane Koppenhaver, PT, PhD, Clinical Professor and Associate Chair, and Laurel Proulx, PT, DPT, PhD, Clinical Assistant Professor, received a four-year $2.5 million grant award from the Department of Defense to test a novel intervention for female service members suffering from debilitating chronic pelvic pain. The potential outcomes of this research could include better access to care and rapid yet effective treatment, expediting service members’ return to duty.
Congratulations to the 2024-2025 Robbins College of Health and Human Sciences internal seed funding award recipients! In addition to the Robbins College Research Program, this year saw the introduction of two new internal funding programs: the Pedagogical Scholarship Award Program and the Dr. Mike and Mrs. Micki Maris Endowed Seed Fund for Student Research.
Jessica Feda, PT, DPT, DSc, Clinical Assistant Professor in the Department of Physical Therapy in Baylor University’s Robbins College of Health and Human Sciences, has received a $200,000, two-year Paris Patla Manual Therapy Research Grant from the Foundation for Physical Therapy Research to study how to best identify patients with neck pain likely to benefit from cervical spinal manipulation.