Three students at the UNC School of Medicine were awarded the Department of Health Sciences Research Excellence Awards. Each year these awards recognize PhD students in the Department of Health Sciences “who showcase research excellence in their wider academic and professional communities.” Each recipient receives a $1,000 award to support travel expenses to support their scholarly work.
As part of the recognition, the awardees also participated in a research forum on Wednesday, April 16, 2026, where they presented and discussed their work.
This year’s recipients are Mags McAllister, Joel Thompson, and Monica Ridlehoover.
Mags McAllister is a third-year doctoral student whose research focuses on speech and language development in autism through an interactional lens. Her work examines how communication strategies vary across contexts to better understand autistic individuals and improve communication, with a focus on language differences such as repetition and regression.
McAllister earned her undergraduate degree at UNC-Chapel Hill in psychology and neuroscience, with minors in environmental science and music. She has worked across research and clinical settings at UNC and Duke University, contributing to studies involving autistic children and older adults with dementia.
She will use her award funding to attend the International Society for Autism Research (INSAR) annual conference in Prague. She hopes to continue postdoctoral research focused on improving autistic well-being through greater understanding and acceptance.
Joel Thompson is a third-year PhD student in the Human Movement Science program at UNC. His research focuses on axial spondyloarthritis, emphasizing lifestyle medicine approaches such as exercise, nutrition, and sleep to support patient self-management.
Thompson earned his Doctor of Physical Therapy from Elon University and holds degrees from UNC-Chapel Hill and Rutgers University. Before entering research, he spent nearly 20 years working in specialty home infusion pharmacy.
He will use his award funding to attend the SPARTAN annual meeting in Toronto to present his work and gain feedback from leading researchers. He plans to pursue a career in teaching within physical therapy or exercise physiology.
Monica Ridlehoover is a fourth-year doctoral student in the Occupational Science program at UNC. She has been an occupational therapist for nearly 11 years, having graduated from Augusta University’s occupational therapy program in 2015. Her clinical experience spans adult acute care and pediatric outpatient settings. Through her work, she identified a need for greater focus on mental health within occupational therapy, which led her to pursue doctoral training to help bridge this gap.
Ridlehoover’s research uses a mixed-methods approach to examine the sensory experiences of adult survivors of childhood trauma. She studies how sensory differences affect daily occupations for individuals with adverse childhood experiences.
She will use her award funding to attend the American Occupational Therapy Association (AOTA) Annual Conference in Anaheim, California, where she hopes to connect with other occupational therapists and researchers in related areas.
After completing her PhD, Ridlehoover plans to pursue a career in academia as a professor and researcher.
Please join us in congratulating these three