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Academy of Research in OT

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July 17, 2024

 

  

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Academy of Research In Occupational Therapy

AOREstablished in 1983, the AOTF Academy of Research in Occupational Therapy recognizes individuals who have made exemplary, distinguished, and sustained contributions toward the science of occupational therapy. Every year, the Academy of Research invites nominations for membership. After consideration of the nominations and supporting materials, the Academy selects individuals to be inducted into this distinguished body of researchers. Normally, inductions occur at the next AOTA Annual Conference and Exposition.  

View Nomination Procedures

 

View Presentations from the 2022 Academy of Research Inductees and 2022 Early & Mid-Career Awardees

View Presentations from the 2021 Academy of Research Inductees and 2021 Early & Mid-Career Awardees

2024 Inductees to the Academy

2024

Lindy Clemson, PhD, MAppSc (Research), BAppSc (OT), Dip OT, FOTARA, Emeritus Professor, Faculty of Medicine & Health Sydney School of Health Sciences, The University of Sydney Sydney, Australia

2024

Professor Emeritus Lindy Clemson is a specialist in public health research on ageing and an occupational therapist with a PhD in epidemiology. She has led research and advocacy internationally for best practice in home evaluation and falls prevention using environmental and enablement strategies. Her research has transformed approaches to fall prevention and provided new approaches and strategies to occupational therapy and medical practitioners and to a lay audience.

This work positively impacts the lives of countless older people around the world. Clemson’s contributions have been recognized by national and international entities, including being elected as an inaugural fellow of the Australian Occupational Therapy Research Academy, reflecting her exemplary, distinguished, and sustained contributions to the science of occupational therapy.

2024

Roberta Gittens Pineda, PhD, OTR/L, CNT, Associate Professor, Mrs. T.H. Chan Division of Occupational Science & Occupational Therapy, Herman Ostrow School of Dentistry, University of Southern California Los Angeles, Calif.

2024

Dr. Roberta Pineda is a tenured Associate Professor and Director of the NICU Laboratory within the Chan Division of Occupational Science and Occupational Therapy at the University of Southern California. She is also a founder and co-chair of the Neonatal Therapy Certification Board. Dr. Pineda’s impactful research program investigates factors that support or impede the function of infants born prematurely with a long-term goal of developing strategies and interventions that can optimize neurodevelopmental outcomes.

Over the past decade, she has received $7 million in grant funding to support the development and implementation of several innovative programs, assessments, and products that have revolutionized key aspects of the NICU environment, including an evidence-based multimodal program that facilitates positive sensory exposures in the NICU, a standardized neonatal feeding outcome measure, a new bottle technology that paces the timing of food intake, and a community-based program that addresses gaps in therapy services associated with the transition from NICU to home, especially among populations with known health disparities.

2024

Ganesh M. Babulal, PhD, OTD, MSCI, MOT, OTR/L, Associate Professor, Department of Neurology, Knight Alzheimer Disease Research Center, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, Missouri

2024

Dr. Ganesh M. Babulal is a tenured Associate Professor in the Department of Neurology at Washington University School of Medicine. Dr. Babulal’s research interests reside in investigating the relationship between cognition and mental health and its impact on instrumental activities of daily living in healthy older adults and those with chronic neurological diseases.

Consistent with these interests, his funded research studies include (1) characterizing functional changes in older adults using biomarkers (structural and functional imaging, cerebrospinal fluid, plasma), (2) predicting a decline in performance and behavior via novel methodologies, (3) identifying reliable noncognitive behavioral markers that predict preclinical disease state, and (4) examining the relationship between mental health and cognitive functioning on brain health.

As his research evolved, its progression grew from structural and social determinants of health (SSDOH) and health disparities while addressing the translational gap. This work has scaled up to now examine how upstream SSDOH factors impact adverse health outcomes in underrepresented, minoritized groups in the United States and vulnerable populations in Low and Middle-Income Countries.

 

 

Members of the Academy of Research

View Full List of Academy of Research Members At-A-Glance. * indicates a deceased member.

Christine Helfrich, PhD, OTR/L, FAOTA
Helene Ross
/ Categories: AOTF Academy of Research

Christine Helfrich, PhD, OTR/L, FAOTA

2013

Dr. Helfrich is an adjunct instructor at Bristol Community College, Fall River, Massachusetts and Co-Investigator Project Team, Boston University, Boston, Massachusetts. Dr. Helfrich describes her research in this way: "My research is community based with vulnerable populations including individuals who are/have been homeless, survivors of domestic violence and their children and individuals with mental illness. Working with these populations I have completed needs assessments, developed interventions and evaluated outcomes."  (Retrieved on June 4, 2015 from https://www.linkedin.com/pub/christine-helfrich/83/b19/1b7.)


Q and A

Identify three words that others have used to describe you.
Innovative. Collaborative. Generous.

How do you hope to make a difference in the world through research?
I would like my work to support occupational therapists to assist individuals, particularly those who are marginalized, to develop the skills they need and a sense of their own competence and worth so that they are free to be themselves and do what is important to them.

What is one piece of advice you have for individuals considering a career in science and research?
Don't be afraid to do what you believe is important, the most motivating words to me are "You won't be able to do it." Focus on an area that you are passionate about, so that when you encounter internal or external barriers, you will be motivated to keep going.

Beside your own areas of inquiry, what is one research priority that you believe is important for the future of occupational science and occupational therapy?
The field needs to continue to educate others about the importance of occupation and that involving human beings needs to be translational and community based even if the tradeoff means smaller sample sizes. We must educate federal funders about the importance of our role in all areas of rehabilitation.

Describe the most important role that mentors played in your professional journey.
They believed in my ideas, encouraged my "non-traditional" applications of occupational therapy and supported my dreams and endeavors.

Identify a favorite occupation that renews you outside of your work.
Supporting my daughter to believe she can become whatever she wants and to be proud of who she is. Travelling and making every day an adventure!

What has been the most surprising or rewarding aspects of a career in science and research?
That my work has been more far reaching than I ever imagined and that it has helped a wide variety of people in a number of ways clinically and has supported the work of occupational therapists in various settings.


Selected References

Chan, DV, Helfrich, CA, Hursh, NC, Sally, Rogers E & Gopal S.  (2014). Measuring community integration using Geographic Information Systems (GIS) and participatory mapping for people who were once homeless. Health and Place, 27, 92-101.

Chang, FH, Coster, WJ & Helfrich CA.  (2013). Community participation measures for people with disabilities: a systematic review of content from an international classification of functioning, disability and health perspective. Archives of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, 94, 771-781.

Helfrich, CA, Simpson, EK &Chan, DV.  (2014). Change patterns of homeless individuals with mental illness: a multiple case study. Community Mental Health Journal, 50, 531-537.  

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