Lisa Stehno-Bittel, PT’83, PhD
2012 Distinguished Health Professions Alumna
As an accomplished researcher, Lisa Stehno-Bittel, Ph.D., has been
a visionary chair of the Department of Physical Therapy & Rehabilitation Science at the University of Kansas School of Health Professions.
A native of Hays, Kan., Stehno-Bittel graduated from the University of Kansas with a bachelor’s degree in physical therapy. She went on to earn a doctorate in physiology from the University of Missouri-Columbia, then moved to Rochester, Minn., for post-doctoral training in pharmacology at the Mayo School of Medicine. She joined the KU Physical Therapy & Rehabilitation Science faculty in 1995, and was instrumental in moving the department from a primarily clinical program to a department balanced by a clinical doctorate program, a post-professional doctoral program and a growing Ph.D. program.
An international expert in the area of diabetes research, Stehno-Bittel has done pioneering work aimed at finding a cure for diabetes through transplantation of insulin-producing pancreatic islets. In European clinical trials, the procedure allowed patients with diabetes to maintain normal blood glucose levels. Recently, she entered the area of tissue bioengineering with the goal of creating artificial islets for transplantation. Towards that goal, she co-founded the biotech company, Likarda. One of two founding members of the KU Diabetes Institute, Stehno-Bittel is now the institute’s scientific director. She has published more than 50 original research articles, including articles in the journal, Science. Her published work has been cited more than 1,300 times. She has been an invited speaker across the U.S. and in South America, Europe and the Middle East.
Stehno-Bittel has launched the career of more than 20 individuals with faculty appointments across the country. Since she became chair of Physical Therapy & Rehabilitation Science in 2006, all of the department’s faculty have Ph.D. credentials or are in the dissertation phase of Ph.D. studies. The DPT program continues to rise in the U.S. News & World Report rankings, currently listed as 24th overall and 9th among public institutions.
For her contributions to the field of diabetes research and for building an exemplary program in Physical Therapy & Rehabilitation Science, the KU Health Professions Alumni Association is proud to name Lisa Stehno-Bittel as its 2012 Distinguished Health Professions Alumna Award winner.
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