LINC Common IPE Initiative

The LINC Common IPE Initiative is dedicated to understanding and advancing IPE activities that take place in classroom settings, including online, as part of formal curricula. This team’s signature program is the LINC Common IPE Experience, which launched in Fall 2020. To date, over 5,500 students at the UT San Antonio Health Science Center have participated. The LINC Common IPE Experience is the first of three IPE activities that collectively constitute the health science center-wide LINC Longitudinal IPE Program.

Fiscal Year 2026 Charges

Revise content, implementation processes/procedures and evaluations for the Fall 2025 LINC Common IPE Experience based on student evaluation data collected in Fall 2024.

Modify content for the Fall 2025 LINC Common IPE Experience to maximize inclusivity and relevance for newly integrated students from the School of Public Health and the Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences.

Submit at least one national peer-reviewed poster or podium presentation based on revisions to and/or outcomes from the Fall 2024 LINC Common IPE Experience.

Submit at least one manuscript to a peer-reviewed journal based on revisions to and/or outcomes from the Fall 2024 LINC Common IPE Experience.

Develop and submit at least one extramural grant proposal to support the work of the Initiative.

Fiscal Year 2026 Members

Cynthia WallCynthia L. Wall, Ph.D., M.S.N., APRN, PCNS-BC, CNE
Leader, LINC Common IPE Initiative
Program Director for Undergraduate Studies
School of Nursing
wallc@uthscsa.edu

Cynthia L. Wall, Ph.D., M.S.N., APRN, PCNS-BC, CNE, is an Assistant Professor of Nursing with a Teaching Appointment, and her research program is focused on professional nurse identity formation and interprofessional learning. She was involved in the Quality Enhancement Program for UT Health SA which, led to the Interprofessional focus for UT Health SA. Dr. Wall brings clinical practice experience and formal training in education. She has been involved in interprofessional education and practice for many years. She served last year as a member of the UT Health SA School of Nursing IPE task group and guided the Common IPE Course for the nursing students in their 5th semester. She serves on the UT Health SA Didactic IPE Committee and is actively engaged in the revision and study of the Common IPE Course.

Dr. Wall has a broad background in nursing and as an Advanced Practice Nurse (Clinical Nurse Specialist) developed several interdisciplinary (early career) and interprofessional teams for collaborative team patient-centered care. She was a pioneer in development of the first two hospital-based Interprofessional Pediatric Transport Teams in San Antonio in 1993 and 1996, as well as the first interprofessional Inpatient Pediatric Palliative Care Service in Methodist Children’s Hospital in San Antonio in 2003. She currently serves as a leader on the inaugural UT Health SA, School of Nursing Committee on Interprofessional Education, the UT Health SA LINC Didactic IPE committee and collaborates on the Common IPE Experience.

Aesha AboueishaAesha Aboueisha, M.D.
Assistant Professor of Medicine, Division of Hospital & General Internal Medicine
Long School of Medicine
aboueishaa@uthscsa.edu

Coming Soon!

Bobby Belarmino HeadshotBobby Belarmino, PT, D.P.T., Ph.D., CCS
Assistant Professor, Department of Physical Therapy
School of Health Professions
belarmino@uthscsa.edu

Bobby Belarmino, PT, D.P.T., Ph.D., CCS, is a member of the LINC Didactic Interprofessional Education Initiative representing the School of Health Professions. Dr. Belarmino is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Physical Therapy. He has been a physical therapist for over 28 years now. He received his bachelor’s degree in Physical Therapy at Virgen Milagrosa University Foundation in the Philippines and his master’s degree in Applied Physiology at Columbia University in New York. He completed his Doctor of Physical Therapy at MGH Institute of Health Professions in Boston, Mass., and then completed Ph.D. in Physical Therapy at Texas Woman’s University in Houston, Texas. Dr. Belarmino is a Board Certified Cardiovascular and Pulmonary Clinical Specialist (CCS) from the American Board of Physical Therapy Specialty. His research interests are in ICU rehabilitation, reducing hospital readmission in cardiovascular and pulmonary populations and improving frailty in elderly population through rehabilitation interventions.

Noorpreet Kaur, B.D.S, M.P.H
Clinical Assistant Professor
Department of Comprehensive Dentistry
School of Dentistry
kaurn1@uthscsa.edu

Noorpreet Kaur, B.D.S, M.P.H, is an Assistant Clinical Professor at the UT Health San Antonio School of Dentistry, where her work focuses on interprofessional education, emerging technologies, and oral health systems innovation, and the integration of XR and AI into dental education. She is a core member of the Special Needs Dental Clinic, where she contributes to curriculum design, research, clinical education, and federally funded program development.

Dr. Kaur’s current research explores the use of virtual reality (VR), artificial intelligence (AI), and simulation-based learning to enhance interprofessional clinical training and improve access to care. She is a co-investigator on multiple HRSA-funded initiatives, leading curriculum development and interprofessional training across dentistry and speech-language pathology. She has co-authored national curriculum content and published peer-reviewed presentations and journals on smart content delivery, sensory-adapted care environments, and ChatGPT application in pediatric dentistry.

Dr. Kaur holds an MPH in Global Health Leadership from New York University and a BDS from Kurukshetra University. She currently serves as the Vice President for the Academy of Dentistry for Persons with Disabilities (ADPD) Affiliate Board of the Special Care Dentistry Association (SCDA). She has presented at national and international conferences at ADEA, SCDA, and IMSH, and is committed to advancing collaborative care models and digital innovation in health professions education.

Emmanuel Iyiegbuniwe, Ph.D., MSPH, MBA
Founding Director, Master of Public Health Program
Associate Professor, Department of Environmental & Occupational Health
Kate Marmion School of Public Health
iyiegbuniwe@uthscsa.edu

Emmanuel Iyiegbuniwe, PhD, MSPH, MBA is the Founding Director of the Master of Public Health (MPH) Program and an Associate Professor of Environmental & Occupational Health at the Kate Marmion School of Public Health. He is an industrial hygienist with over 30 years of experience in academia, consulting, and industry. He received both MSPH and PhD degrees in Environmental & Occupational Health Sciences from the School of Public Health, University of Illinois at Chicago, and an MBA from Western Kentucky University. At UTSPHSA, Dr. Iyiegbuniwe provides leadership and administrative operations for the MPH program, program development, academic stewardship, accreditation and compliance, faculty and staff recruitment, and active research and scholarship engagement. He teaches MPH courses, including PHEA 6001:  Concepts in Public Health—From Person to Population.

Previously, Dr. Iyiegbuniwe served as the inaugural Director of the MPH at California State University San Marcos, providing oversight, vision, and leadership for the MPH program. Dr. Iyiegbuniwe has taught undergraduate and graduate courses and conducted research on environmental and occupational health, global health, and community-based participatory research. He has led several international service-learning programs and supported students in study abroad programs in Belize, Malaysia, Ghana, and Vietnam. His research focuses on environmental and occupational health evaluation and assessment of contaminants of significant public health importance including indoor air quality, lead, and noise exposure assessments.

Dr. Iyiegbuniwe is a Thomas Jefferson scholar and a fellow of several associations or organizations, including African Training for Leadership & Advanced Skills, the American Industrial Hygiene Association’s Future Leaders Institute, the Centers for Disease Control & Prevention’s (CDC) Environmental Public Health Leadership Institute, and Japan Studies Institute/American Association of State Colleges and Universities Nippon Foundation Fellowship. He is a member of the American Public Health Association Annual Biomedical Research Conference for Minoritized Scientists. He previously served as the President of the San Diego Chapter of the American Industrial Hygiene Association.

Doug Soltesz, Ph.D
Assistant Professor/Clinical
Department of Radiation Oncology
Graduate School of Biomedical Science
soltesz@uthscsa.edu

Doug Soltesz, Ph.D., is an Assistant Professor of Medical Physics in the Department of Radiation Oncology. He earned his doctorate in Nuclear Physics from Ohio University before transitioning to the field of medical physics. To meet board certification eligibility requirements, he completed the necessary coursework and obtained a Medical Physics Certificate from the University of Victoria in British Columbia, Canada. Following a year of postdoctoral research at the University of Washington in Seattle, he matched into and completed a residency in Therapeutic Medical Physics at the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio. After residency, he was invited to remain at the institution as a faculty member and now serves in his current role as Assistant Professor.