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Academy of Research in OT

About AOTF   >   Awards and Honors   >   Academy of Research in OT
November 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. Usually, inductions occur at the next AOTA Annual Conference and Exposition.  

Nominations submission deadline was October 30, 2024.

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.

Leeanne M. Carey, BAppSC(OT), PhD
Helene Ross
/ Categories: AOTF Academy of Research

Leeanne M. Carey, BAppSC(OT), PhD

2009

Dr. Carey heads the Neurorehabilitation and Recovery research group in the Stroke Division, Florey Institute of Neuroscience and Mental Health and is Professor of Occupational Therapy, School of Allied Health, La Trobe University in Australia. Dr. Carey's research program focuses on stroke rehabilitation and recovery: in particular how the brain adapts and how we might harness that potential in rehabilitation. She uses tools such as MRI to investigate changes in the brain and how this knowledge may be used to better understand recovery and target rehabilitation most optimally to individual stroke survivors. Research includes the impact of depression and cognition on stroke recovery. An important focus has been to translate these discoveries into clinical practice and better outcomes for stroke survivors.  (Retrieved on February 5, 2015 from   http://www.florey.edu.au/about-florey/our-people/staff-directory/39/leeanne-carey.)   

 

Q and A

Identify three words that others have used to describe you.
Visionary, dedicated, collaborative.

How do you hope to make a difference in the world through research?
I hope to harness real world drivers of neural plasticity to help stroke survivors realise their full potential.
I also hope to grow research-clinicians and research capacity in occupational therapy.

What is one piece of advice you have for individuals considering a career in science and research?
Go for it! If you have a question and a passion then seek an active research environment with strong supervisory team and make it happen! The benefits for you, your clients and our profession are immeasurable.

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?
I believe occupational therapists should be leading the way in conducting research that creates the right environment for healing and realising one's full potential.

Describe the most important role that mentors played in your professional journey.
Belief and challenge that help open the door to new perspectives and opportunities.

Identify a favorite occupation that renews you outside of your work.
Spending time with friends, family and colleagues who are also friends.

What has been the most surprising or rewarding aspects of a career in science and research?
Learning something new from each participant and student I work with, and seeing the difference new discoveries can make to the lives of people who have experienced brain injury.

 

Selected References

Carey, LM. (Ed.) (2012). Stroke rehabilitation insights from neuroscience and imaging.  New York: Oxford University Press.

Hubbard, IJ, Carey, LM, Budd, TW & Parsons, MW.   (2014). Reorganizing Therapy: Changing the Clinical Approach to Upper Limb Recovery Post-Stroke.  Occupational Therapy International, 18, 28-35.

Hubbard, IJ, Carey, LM, Budd, TW, Levi, C, McElduff, P, Hudson, S, Bateman, G & Parsons, MW.   (2014). A Randomized Controlled Trial of the Effect of Early Upper-Limb Training on Stroke Recovery and Brain Activation. Neurorehabilitation and Neural Repair, 19, 1545968314562647. [Epub ahead of print]

Pumpa, LU, Cahill, LS & Carey, LM.  (2015 Jan 23). Somatosensory assessment and treatment after stroke: An evidence-practice gap.  Australian Occupational Therapy Journal, doi: 10.1111/1440-1630.12170. [Epub ahead of print]

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