Dr. Williamson was Associate Clinical Professor in the Rehabilitation Medicine Department, Columbia University, New York, New York and founder and director of the pediatric rehabilitation department, John F. Kennedy (JFK) Medical Center in Edison, New Jersey. His research focused on how children with special needs and their families cope with the challenges of daily activities.

While at the JFK Medical Center, Dr. Williamson directed two projects: (1) the COPING Project, funded by the U.S. Department of Education, offering training and technical assistance to support the provision of family-centered early intervention services that enhance adaptive functioning; and (2) the Social Competence Project, previously funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, a model demonstration program to foster the interpersonal skills of children with disabilities. (Retrieved on October 14, 2015 from http://columbiaot.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/Winter-Spring-2006-2007.pdf and http://products.brookespublishing.com/cw_contributorinfo.aspxContribID=1135&Name=G.+Gordon+Williamson%2C+Ph.D.%2C+OTR.)

REFERENCES

Williamson, GG & Anzalone, ME. (2001). Sensory integration and self-regulation in infants and toddlers: Helping very young children interact with the environment. Washington, DC: Zero to Three.

Williamson, GG & Dorman, WJ. (2003). Promoting social competence. San Antonio, TX: Therapy Skill Builders, The Psychological Corporation, A Harcourt Assessment Company.

Williamson, GG, Zeitlin, S, & Szczepanski, M. (1989). Coping behavior: Implications for disabled infants and toddlers. Infant Mental Health Journal, 10, 3-13.

Zeitlin, S & Williamson, GG. (1990). Coping characteristics of disabled and nondisabled young children. American Journal of Orthopsychiatry, 60, (3), 404-411.

Eggbeer, L., Fenichel, E., Pawl, J. H., Shanok, R. S., & Williamson, G. G. (1994). Training the trainers: Innovative strategies for teaching relationship concepts and skills to infant/family professionals. Infants & Young Children,7(2), 53-61.

Dr. Tamar Weiss is Professor, Department of Occupational Therapy, Faculty of Social Welfare and Health Sciences, University of Haifa, Mount Carmel, Haifa, Israel and Head of the Laboratory for Innovations in Rehabilitation Technology. Her research interests are in the areas of rehabilitation technology, ergonomics, biomechanics and distance learning. (Retrieved on October 14, 2015 from http://hw2.haifa.ac.il/index.php/en/component/content/article/116-occupational-therapy/occupa-staff/academicstaffripui/251-tamarweisscv.)

REFERENCES

Danial-Saad, A, Kuflik, T, Weiss, PL & Schreuer N. (2015). Effectiveness of a Clinical Decision Support System for Pointing Device Prescription. American Journal of Occupational Therapy, 69, 6902280010p1-7.

Gal, E, Lamash, L, Bauminger-Zviely, N, Zancanaro, M & Weiss, PL. (2015). Using multitouch collaboration technology to enhance social interaction of children with high-functioning autism. Physical and Occupational Therapy in Pediatrics, 30, 1-12. [Epub ahead of print]

Josman, N, Kizony, R, Hof, E, Goldenberg, K, Weiss, PL & Klinger E. (2014). Using the virtual action planning supermarket for evaluating executive functions in people with stroke. Journal of Stroke and Cerebrovascular Diseases, 23, 879-887.

Weiss, P. L. T., Tirosh, E., & Fehlings, D. (2014). Role of virtual reality for cerebral palsy management. Journal of child neurology, 0883073814533007.

Dr. Katz is Director of the Research Institute for Health and Medical Professions and Professor Emeritus, The Hebrew University, Jerusalem, Israel.  She was the founder of the Israel Journal of Occupational Therapy and editor from 1991-1997.  (Retrieved on May 27, 2015 from http://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=iw&u=http://www.ono.ac.il/academics/ono-faculty-members/faculty-of-health-professions/full-time-faculty-members/prof-noomi-katz/%3Flang%3Den&prev=search.)
 
Dr. Katz's research interests are in the areas of cognition and occupation, relationships to health and quality of life.  Cognitive rehabilitation, evaluation and intervention of individuals with neurological deficits and disabilities.  Metacognition, awareness to abilities/disabilities and executive functions/dysfunctions implications for daily activities.  Neuronal and behavioral recovery after right hemisphere stroke with unilateral spatial neglect (USN).  Effectiveness of treatment methods, Cross-cultural cognitive performance, comparisons of different cultural groups, implications for learning and daily performance."  (Retrieved on June 9, 2015 from http://www.huji.ac.il/dataj/controller/ihoker/MOP-STAFF_LINK?sno=8205746&Save_t=.)

In 1997, Dr. Katz was the recipient of the first Award of Excellence Lectureship from the Israeli Society of Occupational Therapy.  

REFERENCES

Jacoby, M, Averbuch, S, Sacher, Y, Katz, N, Weiss, PL & Kizony, R.  (2013). Effectiveness of executive functions training within a virtual supermarket for adults with traumatic brain injury: a pilot study. IEEE Transactions on Neural Systems and Rehabilitation Engineering, 21, 182-190.

Katz, N, Dejak, I & Gal, E.  (2015 Mar 3). Work performance evaluation and QoL of adults with high functioning autism spectrum disorders (HFASD). Work, [Epub ahead of print] PubMed PMID: 25735411.

Waldman-Levi, A, Bundy, A, & Katz, N. (2015). Playfulness and interaction: An exploratory study of past and current exposure to domestic violence. OTJR: Occupation, Participation and Health, 35, 89-84.

Dr. Velozo is Division Director and Professor, Division of Occupational Therapy, Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, South Carolina. His research interests include traumatic brain injury, stroke and patient/proxy reported outcome measure. He was formerly a Professor and Associate Chair in the Department of Occupational Therapy at the University of Florida. He was also a Research Health Scientist at the Rehabilitation Outcomes Research Center, the Research Enhancement Awards program and the North Florida/South Georgia Veterans Health Center. Dr. Velozo has a long track record of funded research in the functional cognition -- TBI area. (Retrieved on October 18 from http://academicdepartments.musc.edu/chp/directory/faculty/velozo.htm.)

REFERENCES

Classen, S, Velozo, CA, Winter, SM, Bédard, M & Wang, Y. (2015). Psychometrics of the Fitness-to-Drive Screening Measure. OTJR: Occupation, Participation and Health, 35, (1), 42-52.

Li, CY, Waid-Ebbs, J, Velozo, CA & Heaton SC. (2015). Factor structure and item level psychometrics of the Social Problem Solving Inventory - Revised: Short Form in traumatic brain injury. Neuropsychological Rehabilitation, 2015 Jun 8:1-18. [Epub ahead of print]

Velozo, CA, Warren, M, Hicks, E & Berger KA. (2013). Generating clinical outputs for self-reports of visual functioning. Optometry and Vision Science, 90, 765-775.

Velozo, C., Moorhouse, M., Ardolino, E., Lorenz, D., Suter, S., Basso, D. M., & Behrman, A. L. (2015). Validity of the Neuromuscular Recovery Scale: A Measurement Model Approach. Archives of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation. 96(8), 1385-96.

Velozo, C. A., Seel, R. T., Magasi, S., Heinemann, A. W., & Romero, S. (2012).Improving measurement methods in rehabilitation: core concepts and recommendations for scale development. Archives of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, 93(8), S154-S163.

Dr. Josman is Professor, academic head of the occupational therapy program in Mivchar and head of the PhD doctoral program in occupational therapy, the Faculty of Social Welfare & Health Sciences, University of Haifa, Haifa, Israel. Professor Josman's research focuses on areas of executive function, cognitive rehabilitation, specifically cognition, metacognition and its influence on occupation, and use of virtual reality in rehabilitation.  Research projects have been conducted with various populationsincluding children with developmental and/or learning disabilities, adults with neurological dysfunction, individuals with schizophrenia and the elderly. The scope of her cognitive studies extends into evaluation and assessment tools and strategies. (Retrieved on February 27, 2015 from http://hw2.haifa.ac.il/index.php/he/occupa-practical-training/occupa-training-bb-2/116-occupational-therapy/occupa-staff/academicstaffripui/250-naomijosmancv.)

Q AND A

Identify three words that others have used to describe you.  
Optimistic, mindful of others, indefatigable.

How do you hope to make a difference in the world through research?
Engaging collaboration among basic and applied researchers as well as clinicians, towards understanding and facilitating human performance.

What is one piece of advice you have for individuals considering a career in science and research?
Believe in what you want to do, set clear goals, and persist with hard work.

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?
Strengthening our link to brain science research and keeping abreast of important findings for practice.

Describe the most important role that mentors played in your professional journey.
Modeling their behaviors and values of curiosity, open mindedness, determination, precision, integrity and sharing of knowledge.

Identify a favorite occupation that renews you outside of your work.
Gardening.

What has been the most surprising or rewarding aspects of a career in science and research?
Realizing that your starting point always takes you on a path you never expected to explore; developing and managing a comprehensive academic structure for studying OT; deriving pleasure from educating and nurturing one's students and witnessing their success.

REFERENCES

Almomani, F, Josman, N, Al-Momani, MO, Malkawi, SH, Nazzal, M, Almahdawi, KA & Almomani, F.  (2014), Factors related to cognitive function among elementary school children. Scandinavian Journal of Occupational Therapy, 21, 191-198.  

Gilboa, Y, Josman, N, Fattal-Valevski, A, Toledano-Alhadef, H & Rosenblum, S.  (2014). Underlying mechanisms of writing difficulties among children with neurofibromatosis type 1. Research in Developmental Disabilities, 35, 1310-1316.  

Josman, N, Kizony, R, Hof, E, Goldenberg, K, Weiss, PL & Klinger E.  (2014). Using the virtual action planning-supermarket for evaluating executive functions in people with stroke. Journal of Stroke and Cerebrovascular Diseases, 23, 879-887.  

Kizony, R, Demayo-Dayan, T, Sinoff, G & Josman N. Validation of the Executive Function Route-Finding Task (EFRT) in people with mild cognitive impairment. OTJR: Occupation, Participation and Health, 31, S47-52.