Dr. Batya Engel-Yeger is an esteemed Israeli occupational therapist, investigator, and educator, currently serving as the Dean of Students at the University of Haifa. With a distinguished career in academia, she previously held the position of chairperson of the Department of Occupational Therapy. Dr. Engel-Yeger is known for her dedication to advancing the field of occupational therapy through rigorous research and mentoring of trainees and young faculty.

Her substantial research contributions focus on sensory processing in various populations, including both children and adults. Dr. Engel-Yeger has an impressive track record of securing funding, having obtained numerous competitive internal and external grants to support her work. With 118 peer-reviewed publications, she has established herself as a leading figure in her field, collaborating with researchers locally and internationally.

Dr. Engel-Yeger’s commitment to research excellence was recognized with the prestigious 2024 A Jean Ayres Award from the AOTF, highlighting her impactful contributions to occupational therapy and the mentorship of future professionals.

Susan Magasi, PhD, is an associate professor at the University of Illinois at Chicago in the Departments of Occupational Therapy and Disability Studies. Her scholarship focuses on healthcare justice for people with disabilities (including access, quality, and outcomes). 

She is passionate about evidence-informed practice, knowledge translation, and mentoring. She has also served on the AOTF Board.

Dr. Mallinson is an esteemed researcher in the field of occupational therapy, known for her innovative contributions to measuring and improving outcomes for individuals with multiple chronic disabilities. She has developed a highly productive research program focused on designing and implementing person-centered measures that address the needs of diverse rehabilitation populations. Her work emphasizes the psychometric assessment and standardization of functional status measures, applying advanced measurement theory to enhance the reliability and validity of these tools across various rehabilitation settings, including inpatient and community environments.

Throughout her career, Dr. Mallinson has investigated critical questions in rehabilitation, such as the impact of standardized measures on therapy outcomes and the relationship between therapy interventions and patient progress. Her pioneering research has led to new methodologies that incorporate interdisciplinary perspectives, significantly advancing the field.

Dr. Pfeiffer is an associate professor in the Department of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences at Temple University College of Public Health and the director of the Research, Engagement, and Advocacy for Community Participation and Health (REACH) Lab. Her research focuses on the development of interventions and outcome measures to support engagement in meaningful activities in the community for transitional-age youth and young adults with ASD and/or IDD.

In all aspects of her work in the REACH lab, she is committed to engaging stakeholders/community partners in research planning and decision-making. Dr. Pfeiffer teaches research in the post-professional and entry-level Occupational Therapy Doctorate program and mentors PhD students. She continues her clinical practice in the area of pediatrics.

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.

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.

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.