Featured News

Every day College of Health Professions students, alumni, faculty and staff do extraordinary things. Read more about our latest achievements below.

Transfusion Services Summer Scholars gives students a hands-on look at lifesaving lab careers

For one week in July, high school and college students from across the country stepped into the fast-paced, high-stakes world of transfusion medicine at Virginia Commonwealth University.

Transfusion Services Summer Scholars in the labTransfusion Services Summer Scholars in the lab

VCU experts warn of rising online and sports gambling risks for today’s youth

What once required a trip to a casino or racetrack now lives on a smartphone – a shift that is reshaping how young people encounter gambling and raising new concerns for educators across Virginia.

Two people reaching towards each other, holding hands. Their faces are not visible.Two people reaching towards each other, holding hands. Their faces are not visible.

VCU to host statewide MLS Spring Symposium, connecting students and lab professionals

VCU’s Department of Medical Laboratory Sciences will host this year’s American Society for Clinical Laboratory Science Virginia Spring Symposium, bringing together MLS students, educators and professionals from across the state for learning, collaboration and connection.

Medical laboratory science student holds up a petri dish for inspectionMedical laboratory science student holds up a petri dish for inspection

Rewriting the story of heart disease, one immune cell at a time

When most people think about heart disease, they picture clogged arteries and “bad” cholesterol. Michael Lacy thinks about the immune system.

Michael LacyMichael Lacy

Training the next generation of counselors – and serving Virginia in the process

Each year, thousands of Virginians gain access to vital mental-health and rehabilitation services they might not otherwise receive, thanks to VCU’s Department of Rehabilitation Counseling.

Rehabilitation Counseling students in classRehabilitation Counseling students in class

Deans do research, too: College of Health Professions’ Darragh continues work on pediatric stroke rehabilitation trial

Infants and toddlers in intensive therapy are at the center of a groundbreaking national stroke study that has the potential to shape pediatric rehabilitation for children with perinatal arterial ischemic stroke.

Dean Amy Darragh with a CHP alumDean Amy Darragh with a CHP alum

VCU innovators create device to mimic real blood flow to surgical training simulations

Recent invention disclosure highlights a pump that could benefit physicians, military medics, educators and, ultimately, patients.

Peter Pidcoe, Ph.D., a physical therapist and biomedical engineer with appointments in the College of Health Professions, College of Engineering and the School of Medicine, works with Susan Haynes, surgical simulation administrator in the Department of Surgery. Haynes said, “Peter has helped us bring surgical practice closer to the reality of the operating room.” (Kelley & Co.)Peter Pidcoe, Ph.D., a physical therapist and biomedical engineer with appointments in the College of Health Professions, College of Engineering and the School of Medicine, works with Susan Haynes, surgical simulation administrator in the Department of Surgery. Haynes said, “Peter has helped us bring surgical practice closer to the reality of the operating room.” (Kelley & Co.)

Same class. New stories. 40 years later.

On a beautiful fall weekend, October 18–21, 2025, former Virginia Commonwealth University occupational therapy classmates—most of whom had not seen one another since graduation—returned to Richmond to celebrate the 40th anniversary of earning their Master of Science degree in Occupational Therapy.

OT Class reunion at Lewis Ginter Botanical GardenOT Class reunion at Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden

VCU OT leads hands-on lymphedema training for practitioners across Virginia

Nearly 1 in 30 people worldwide live with lymphedema, a chronic and often debilitating condition that can complicate daily activities and increase risks for infection. Yet few occupational and physical therapists receive specialized training to identify and address it early.

Christine McNichols sharing information about lymphedemaChristine McNichols sharing information about lymphedema

OT researcher earns pilot grant to uncover how the brain adapts movement

When Brooke Dexheimer, Ph.D., OTD, OTR/L, joined VCU Occupational Therapy, she built her research program around a deceptively simple question: How do we learn to move? Her newest grant – a $75,000 pilot award from the VCU Parkinson’s and Movement Disorders Center – takes that question deeper than ever before, quite literally.

Brooke DexheimerBrooke Dexheimer