Dr. Mulcahey is a Professor of Occupational Therapy and Director of the Center for Outcomes and Measurement in Jefferson College of Rehabilitation Sciences (JCRS) at Thomas Jefferson University, Philadelphia, PA. She has over 30 years of experience as a practitioner, educator and researcher, and is a certified health coach, competent coach and life care planner.  Her primary area of research is on the development, validation and utilization of new and existing outcome measures of impairment, physical function, activity, and participation for children, youth and adults with spinal cord injury (SCI), and other chronic conditions. She served as Principal Investigator for a seminal multi-center study on the psychometric properties of the International Neurological Classification of Spinal Cord Injury in children, which subsequently lead to evidence-informed guidelines on evaluation of the neurological consequence of SCI in children, and the first study aimed at establishing imaging biomarkers of pediatric SCI. Engaging and working collaboratively with others, Dr. Mulcahey has developed and validated IRT-based child and parent reported outcome measures, conducted psychometric studies to establish lower age guidelines for outcome instruments used in SCI clinical trials, established pediatric recommendations for the NINDS SCI CDE and International SCI basic data sets, and developed and validated estimates to allow linking between pediatric and adult patient reported outcome scores. Dr. Mulcahey is currently studying the feasibility and outcomes of coaching caregivers of children with SCI and developing an IRT-based clinical trial outcomes assessment. 

Dr. Mulcahey has published over 180 peer-reviewed manuscripts and 24 chapters, and served as editor for nine books/special journal issues. She has received research funding from the National Institutes of Health, Craig H. Neilsen Foundation, Rick Hansen Institute and the Shriners Hospitals for Children. Dr. Mulcahey is past-president of the American Spinal Injury Association (2015-2017) and past-vice president of the Pediatric Spine Foundation (2015-2020) current chair of the Board of Governance of the Steel Assembly for Pediatric SCI\D, associate editor for Topics in SCI Rehabilitation,  and editorial board member of Spinal Cord and the Physical Therapy Journal. Dr. Mulcahey is a member of the Academy of Research. 

Dr. Janet Poole is Professor and Division Chief of the Occupational Therapy Graduate Program at the University of New Mexico. Dr. Poole’s research has primarily focused on the impact of systemic sclerosis (SSc, scleroderma) on participation in daily life. She and a colleague developed TOSS (Taking Charge Of Systemic Sclerosis), the only comprehensive self-management program for people with systemic sclerosis. The development and evaluation of the effectiveness of this internet program was funded by the Patient Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI). This program has received much acclaim nationally and internationally, leading to collaborations with other health professionals in Europe to develop similar culturally relevant programs for people with SSc. Dr. Poole also created a brochure with hand and face exercises for people with SSc that is available on the Scleroderma Foundation website; she was honored with the Foundation’s Volunteer of the Year award in 2011. Dr. Poole just concluded her term as President of the Association of Rheumatology Professionals (ARP), and currently, as Immediate Past President, is the Chair of the ARP Membership and Nominations Committee. The ARP honored Dr. Poole with the Distinguished Lecturer Award in 2018; the Master Clinician Award in 2012 and the Distinguished Educator Award in 2011. Dr. Poole is a Fellow of the American Occupational Therapy Association and was elected to the AOTF Academy of Research in 2008.

Dr. Douglene Jackson is an occupational therapist (OT) with over 20+ years of experience in the rehabilitation field, primarily with individuals with neurodevelopmental disabilities across the lifespan in schools, hospitals, clinics, and community-based settings. She holds a PhD in Special Education in Early Childhood, a Master’s in Occupational Therapy degree, a Bachelor’s degree in Rehabilitation Services with a concentration in counseling, a Diploma in Massage Therapy, and various professional certifications, including assistive technology, telehealth, and sensory integration. Dr. Jackson owns and operates GIFTS Institute, LLC and provides consultation, professional development, individual and group therapy, and advocacy. She has worked in academia and is an experienced researcher, having written grants and awarded funding, with her research interests including health and educational disparities, early childhood, telehealth, and assistive technology. Dr. Jackson has served in leadership roles with the American Occupational Therapy Association, Florida Occupational Therapy Association, and South Florida Black Occupational Therapy Caucus, as well as volunteered with other boards.

Anne Bryden PhD, OTR/L is the Director of Clinical Trials and Research for the Institute for Functional Restoration (IFR) of Case Western Reserve University, a non-profit organization with the mission of restoring function to people with spinal cord injury (SCI) and other paralytic disorders. Additionally, she is part-time lecturer in the Occupational Therapy Doctorate Program at Cleveland State University and Staff Scientist in the MetroHealth Center for Rehabilitation Research. Anne received her Bachelor of Science in Occupational Therapy from Cleveland State University, and PhD in Sociology from Case Western Reserve University. Anne has over 25 years of experience specializing in upper limb management of people with tetraplegia. Her research interests include upper extremity assessment, surgical interventions, outcomes measurement, and the social determinants of health and wellness in people with chronic, physical disability. Her current work focuses on the utility of human rights discourse to frame the barriers and limitations experienced by people with disabilities and their support persons in attaining services and technology to improve quality of life.

Teal W. Benevides, PhD, MS, OTR/L, FAOTA is a wife, mother, occupational therapist, and researcher. Dr. Benevides is a tenured Associate Professor in the Institute of Public and Preventive Health at Augusta University. Dr. Benevides is committed to fostering access to services and supports for autistic people and others with intellectual and developmental disabilities through community-engaged approaches and partnerships. Dr. Benevides is a Fellow of the American Occupational Therapy Association and serves on several autism, suicide prevention, and occupational therapy organizations as a board or committee member to advance scientific knowledge translation and promotion of community priorities.

Hazel L. Breland, Ph.D., OTR/L, FAOTA, distinguished herself as a Fellow of the American Occupational Therapy Association (FAOTA, 2016) through her commitment to excellence in OT service and innovations in interprofessional leadership, advocacy, and diversity. The focus of Dr. Breland’s scholarship during her 16-year academic career included interprofessional education and practice, health disparities, community engagement, health promotion, and secondary prevention for persons aging with chronic conditions and underserved populations. Further, she dedicates her time to professional service that prioritizes health equity, mentoring diverse leaders, and addressing societal needs to positively impact and promote independence, equity, justice, and wellness for unrepresented and underserved groups. Dr. Breland’s professional engagement and service include membership in the American Occupational Therapy Association (AOTA; 1998 – present), the Association of Prevention Teaching and Research (APTR; 2015 – present), the Association of Rheumatology Professions (ARP; 2004 – present; 2019 APR President), the National Black Occupational Therapy Caucus (NBOTC; 1998 – present; 2014-2019 NBOTC Vice President), and the South Carolina Association (SCOTA; 2006 – present).

Dr. Talero Cabrejo is an experienced bilingual Occupational Therapist from Colombia with a demonstrated history of working both as a clinician and educator in different settings including acute care; inpatient rehab; skilled nursing; community-based; school-based; post professional education, capacity-building and service-learning projects in Colombia, Guatemala, Cuba, and Ecuador. She is an Assistant Professor and a student mentor in Thomas Jefferson University's Post-Professional Occupational Therapy Doctorate program. Dr. Talero Cabrejo works as a Per Diem clinician at Carondelet St. Mary’s Hospital in Tucson, AZ in the acute care, acute psychiatric, and inpatient rehab units. She is also a published author, a peer reviewer for a variety of Occupational Therapy-related scientific journals, a second alternate Colombian delegate for the WFOT, and part of the editorial committee for the Colombian Occupational Therapy Journal.

Dr. Davies, director of the Brainwaves Research Laboratory at Colorado State University, focuses on understanding the development of neurophysiological mechanisms that underlie cognitive and motor behaviors in children with and without disorders. Davies holds joint appointments in the Departments of Occupational Therapy, Psychology and Human Development and Family Studies, and is a faculty member in the Molecular, Cellular, and Integrated Neuroscience Program. She is a member of three interdisciplinary research teams: one developing brain-computer interfaces, one applying universal design for learning and post-secondary opportunities for college students with disabilities, and one developing and implementing obesity prevention interventions for young children. Davies has served on editorial boards for the American Journal of Occupational Therapy, the Occupational Therapy Journal of Research, and Occupational Therapy in Pediatrics. Davies received her B.S. in occupational therapy from CSU. She earned her M.S. and Ph.D. in neuroscience and developmental psychology from the University of Wyoming.

As an army occupational therapist for more than ten years, Major Erik Johnson was instrumental in the care for service members who had sustained devastating physical, cognitive and mental health injuries during combat operations. He was awarded the Bronze Star Medal for his work with brain injuries while deployed to Afghanistan from 2009 to 2011. Leaving the Army after 20 years, Erik now serves as an assistant professor at the University of Mary Hardin-Baylor in Belton, Texas. He also serves as the Chief Medical Officer for Warfighter Engaged. As an occupational therapist, Erik specializes in the use of technology as a therapeutic medium for rehabilitation. He has used video games as a treatment tool for over 14 years and looks for opportunities to advance practice by incorporating them into the mix of traditional approaches. Erik also serves as a consultant to the video game industry as it relates to creating hardware and content that is more accessible for all gamers regardless of physical, mental, or cognitive deficits. He was on the team that worked with Microsoft to develop the Xbox adaptive controller and more recently worked with 343 Industries on their latest instalment of the Halo franchise to ensure proper representation of amputees in the game.

Kathleen Lyons, ScD, OTR/L, is a Professor at MGH Institute of Health Professions. Her research is focused on building the evidence base for occupational therapists working in oncology. She is trained in experimental design, mixed methods and implementation science. Her research program is designed to answer the following question: How can we support people living with cancer to fully participate in meaningful activities, life roles, and society through theory-driven and evidence-based rehabilitation? She designs and tests pragmatic interventions that blend occupational therapy with behavioral therapies. Her research is primarily community-based as she has developed both telehealth and home-based interventions.

Dr. Persch is an Associate Professor in the Occupational Therapy Department at Colorado State University and is Director of the Transition, Employment, and Technology (TET) Lab. The TET Lab is focused on improving the transition to adulthood and employment among those with intellectual and developmental disabilities. This work has been funded by NIH, NIDILRR, SSA, and various state and local organizations. He worked with Dr. Dennis Cleary, MS, OTD, OTR/L, FAOTA and partners in special education and vocational rehabilitation to create the Vocational Fit Assessment (VFA), providing an accurate, person-centered measure of work-related adaptive behavior that informs job placement and customized employment decision-making. Launched in 2016, VocFit.com is a knowledge translation tool designed to implement the VFA using a custom-developed web-app. Over 7 years, the registered userbase of VocFit.com has grown to more than 12,000 employment support professionals across North America and Europe. Dr. Persch teaches pediatrics and program development at CSU. He served as Chairperson for the AOTA Special Interest Sections Council, a nationally-elected leadership position, from 2016-2020. He is an Associate Editor for AOTF's publication, OTJR: Occupational Therapy Journal of Research.

Dr. Pfeiffer is an Associate Professor in the Department of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences in the College of Public Health at Temple University 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 outcomes 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.

Dr. Rachel Proffitt is Associate Professor in the Department of Occupational Therapy at the University of Missouri. Her research focuses on developing, testing, and implementing virtual reality-based interventions for adults and older adults post-stroke. Dr. Proffitt has extensive experience working in an interdisciplinary setting with computer scientists and engineers and was previously the Director of the Game Based Rehab Lab at the Institute for Creative Technologies at the University of Southern California (USC). She has completed a T32 postdoctoral fellowship with an emphasis in rehabilitation clinical trials as well as a KL2 Career Development Award. She is currently translating effective interventions, such as LSVT®BIG, for use with the stroke population and pairing telehealth applications for remote delivery in rural areas. Dr. Proffitt is PI of an NIH R01 to evaluate a sensor system in the homes of rural community-dwelling older adults.

Dr. Reistetter is Professor and Associate Dean for Research in the School of Health Professions at the University of Texas Health Sciences Center in San Antonio (as of January 2019). He is widely recognized for his leadership in health services research within rehabilitation in general, and in occupational therapy specifically. Through Dr. Reistetter’s K12, K01, and subsequently his currently funded Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality R01, he has brought the discussion of how to measure rehabilitation geographic regions to the forefront. Specifically, he is translating methodology from the hospital-centric research conducted at Dartmouth College and implementing these approaches to a rehabilitation context to define rehabilitation geographic services areas. Prior to Dr. Reistetter’s seminal work, any researchers examining geographic variations in rehabilitation quality of care were limited to the hospital-based regions, called Hospital Service Areas, even if they did not adequately reflect the context and environment in which rehabilitation was provided across the country, as this was the accepted approach. Thus, it has been Tim’s work, which has focused on developing and evaluating Rehabilitation Service Areas that has provided health services researchers with the necessary tools to effectively measure variations in service delivery, access, and quality. 

Antoinette Shaw is an occupational therapist who has been practicing since 1990. She has worked in various clinical settings, including subacute, acute, home care, and long-term care. She also worked as an adjunct lab instructor in the OTA program at the Community College of Baltimore County before becoming the program director in October 2021. She received a Bachelor's in Occupational Therapy from Howard University, a post-profession certification in administration from Towson University, and an OTD from Thomas Jefferson University. Antoinette is committed to service and has served in several capacities and on various committees to promote occupational therapy and the development of future leaders, specifically in the area of geriatric rehabilitation.

Dr. Scott Campbell began his tenure as Chief Executive Officer of the Foundation in May 2015.  Prior to joining the Foundation, Dr. Campbell served as a Scientific Advisory Board member for Temptime Corporation and served as Executive Director and CEO of the Foundation for the National Institutes of Health.  He was responsible for overall leadership of the FNIH and was involved with many of the collaborative research projects funded through the FNIH including the Alzheimer's Disease Neuroimaging Initiative (ADNI), the Biomarkers Consortium, the Observational Medical Outcomes Partnership (OMOP), Grand Challenges in Global Health, the US-Russia Scientific Forum and the mHealth Summit.  He also represented the Foundation on the Health Research Alliance and the Institute of Medicine (IOM) Forum on Drug Discovery, Development, and Translation.  

From 2001-2010, Dr. Campbell served as National Vice President of Research Programs at the American Diabetes Association.  In addition to overseeing all research-related programs at the ADA, he also was responsible for helping acquire major donations to the ADA Research Foundation.  He was a trustee on the Board of Trustees, Association for Assessment and Accreditation of Laboratory Animal Care International (AAALAC); member of the IOM Clinical Research Roundtable; and served on the Board of Directors of the Health Research Alliance.  He also represented the ADA on several federally related committees, including the Diabetes Mellitus Interagency Coordinating Committee (DMICC) at the National Institutes of Health.  Before beginning his non-profit scientific administration career, Dr. Campbell spent 16 years in academia with academic appointments at the University of South Dakota, University of Missouri, and Michael Reese Hospital.

Dr. Campbell received his PhD in Basic Biomedical Sciences from the University of South Florida.  He is the author of 40 peer-reviewed articles, 9 invited reviews, and 14 book chapters related to cardiovascular disease.

Bio coming soon! 

Bio coming soon!

Bio coming soon! 

Fred Sammons began his professional life teaching mechanical drawing to high school students. It was after serving in the Army during the Korean War that he earned his occupational therapy degree at Virginia Commonwealth University on the GI Bill. His first job was at the Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago, becoming the director of occupational therapy in 1957. In 1960, Fred joined the staff of the amputee clinic at Northwestern University, and this is where he began to design and build devices to assist individuals with disabilities in their every day activities. With a growing demand for his devices, Fred decided in 1965 to devote all his time to creating, manufacturing, and distributing his inventions, and "the rest is history." Sammons, Inc. grew to a multimillion dollar business, and is now Sammons Preston, an AbilityOne Company. His honorary doctorate in occupational therapy, awarded by the Western Michigan University (WMU) Department of Occupational Therapy, recognizes the many contributions he has made to the profession. Mr. Sammons was named one of the 100 Influential People of Occupational Therapy by AOTA.

Mr. Sammons continues to give to the profession through grants, scholarships, and donations that support research, education, and clinical programs. In his retirement, he has been an active member of AMBUCS, Inc., with whom he collaborates to develop designs for adapted bicycles and tricycles (AmTrykes) for children with disabilities. He expresses great pride in his innovative seating system and in the ways in which he has been able to adapt these bikes to each child’s needs. His love for innovation and technology that help others has been present throughout his life and continues today.

Mr. Sammons' support of the Foundation has been generous, long standing, and diverse including the Fred Sammons and Barbara Rider Endowed Scholarship of the Michigan Occupational Therapy Association, and the Fred Sammons Endowed Scholarship of the Virginia Occupational Therapy Association. AOTF established a new volunteer recognition award in 2017 as a result of a generous endowment for the award from Fred Sammons and Barbara Rider: the Fred Sammons Volunteer Recognition Award. This award will be presented by the AOTF in perpetuity. Mr. Sammons was the inaugural recipient. With the establishment for the endowment for this new volunteer recognition awards, Mr. Sammons becomes the first, and to date only, living million-dollar donor to the Foundation.

In 2017, AOTF created the Fred Sammons Volunteer Recognition Award in honor of Mr. Sammon's devotion to volunteerism. Mr. Sammons was the inaugural recipient.