Two New Faculty Members, Two Paths to SOHP
By Office of Communications & Marketing | Aug 14, 2026
As the School of Health Professions (SOHP) celebrates its 60th anniversary, the arrival of two new faculty members offers a fitting link between the School’s history and its future. One returns to the place where her career began. The other brings new research and clinical perspectives that broaden the ways SOHP students can apply their disciplines in healthcare.
Hiba Aslam, B.S., RDMS, Clinical Assistant Professor in the Diagnostic Medical Sonography Program, returns to Downstate as both a faculty member and SOHP alumna. Professor Aslam graduated
magna cum laude with a Bachelor of Science in Diagnostic Medical Imaging before building
clinical experience across several areas of diagnostic sonography.
A Registered Diagnostic Medical Sonographer with credentials in echocardiography and obstetrics and gynecology, Professor Aslam also brings experience in abdominal, breast, cardiac, and vascular sonography. She now brings that clinical perspective back to the program where she began her own career.
For DMS students, Professor Aslam provides a direct connection between a Downstate education and the realities of clinical practice. She knows the program as a former student and can draw on her professional experience as she prepares students for their own clinical careers.
SOHP also welcomes Emma Walker, Ph.D., to the Behavior Analysis Program. Dr. Walker recently earned her Ph.D. in Behavior
Analysis from the University of South Florida. Her clinical and academic experience
includes early intervention, autism services, caregiver training, and interdisciplinary
work in healthcare settings.
Dr. Walker’s research explores the application of behavior analysis in medical and healthcare environments. Her interests include synchronous reinforcement and physical activity, student mentorship, work with underserved populations, and the extension of behavior-analytic approaches to new settings.
For students, Dr. Walker offers another way to see where their education can lead, particularly as behavior analysis becomes increasingly connected to healthcare, research, and interdisciplinary practice.
The appointments create a meaningful bookend to SOHP’s 60th anniversary. Professor Aslam represents the continuum from student to alumna, clinician, and now faculty member, while Dr. Walker represents the new scholarship, applications, and collaborations entering the School. Together, their paths connect SOHP’s history of preparing health professionals with its continued evolution within Downstate’s academic health sciences environment.
At 60, that connection between where SOHP has been, who it has prepared, and where it is going feels especially timely. Welcome home, Professor Aslam, and welcome to Downstate, Dr. Walker.