Dr. Engel is Professor and Program Director, Occupational Science and Technology, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Dr. Engel's research focuses on pain assessments and pain interventions for persons with chronic pain, especially youths with physical disabilities (e.g., cerebral palsy, muscular dystrophy). She has developed three valid and reliable pain assessments for youths with physical disability-related pain: the Pediatric Community Participation Questionnaire, Survey of Pain Attitudes - Pediatric Version, and the Modified Brief Pain Inventory.  

Dr. Engel has investigated the efficacy of relaxation techniques, biofeedback, hypnosis, and cognitive restructuring as analgesia in persons with chronic pain. She has been an investigator on several pain grants funded by the National Institutes of Health.  (Retrieved on March 19, 2015 from http://www4.uwm.edu/chs/faculty_staff/details.cfm?customel_datapageid_4032192=4198632#.)

Selected References

Engel, JM. (2013). Evaluation and pain management. In H. M. Pendleton & W. Schultz-Krohn (Eds.), Pedretti's occupational therapy for physical dysfunction (7th ed., pp. 718-728). St. Louis: Mosby Elsevier.

Engel, JM, Wilson, S, Tran, ST, Jensen, MP & Ciol, MA. (2012). Pain catastrophizing in youths with physical disabilities and chronic pain. Journal of Pediatric Psychology, 38, 192-201.  

Engel, JM, Jensen, MP, Ciol, MA & Bolen, GM. (2012). The development and preliminary validation of the Pediatric Survey of Pain Attitudes. American Journal of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, 91, 114-121.

Dr. Poole is Professor, Occupational Therapy Graduate Program, School of Medicine, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, New Mexico.  Dr. Poole's research interest is in scleroderma and the functional impact of the disease on tasks of daily living, oral hygiene, parenting and employment.  She has conducted a number of studies examining rehabilitation interventions with people with scleroderma and, with a colleague, is developed a self-management program for persons with scleroderma.  She has also authored several textbook chapters on rehabilitation for persons with scleroderma.  (Retrieved on August 11, 2015 from http://www.occupationaltherapy.com/articles/occupational-therapy-and-scleroderma-systemic-2321.)

Q AND A

Identify three words that others have used to describe you.
Astute, generous, adaptable.
 
How do you hope to make a difference in the world through research?
I hope my research will stand the test of time, and become absorbed in the literature  to provide evidence that occupational therapy is a necessary and effective intervention.

What is one piece of advice you have for individuals considering a career in science and research?
Find an experienced and accomplished mentor.

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?
Studies on the effectiveness of occupational therapy interventions and dissemination beyond occupational therapy literature.

Describe the most important role that mentors played in your professional journey.  
I think the most important thing I learned from my mentor is that the mentoring relationship is two-sided.  While I expected her to share her wealth of knowledge and experience with me, provide advice, timely feedback and support, I had to hold myself accountable and do my part to meet timelines, be open to feedback and suggestions, and follow through with goals we established.  She also provided me with useful contacts and recommended me for different volunteer positions and committees.

Identify a favorite occupation that renews you outside of your work.
I love to swim laps in an outdoor pool.  Luckily in New Mexico, I can swim outside about 5 months out of the year.

What has been the most surprising or rewarding aspects of a career in science and research?
I very surprised to find so many wonderful people who were willing to participate and help me in my research and that they thanked me for caring about how the condition affects their lives.  Since I work with people with a rare disease, my research is often done online, or through phone interview and surveys.  It is very rewarding to actually meet them at a local or national conferences.  

REFERENCES

Poole, JL, Gashytewa, C & Sullivan AT.  (2015). Activity limitations, participation, and quality of life in American Indians with and without diabetes. Occupational Therapy in Health Care. 2015 May 28. [Epub ahead of print] PubMed PMID: 26020568.

Poole, JL, Chandrasekaran, A, Hildebrand, K & Skipper B.  (2015). Participation in life situations by persons with systemic sclerosis. Disability and Rehabilitation, 37, 842-845.

Poole, JL, Hare, KS, Turner-Montez, S, Mendelson, C & Skipper, B.  (2014). Mothers with chronic disease: a comparison of parenting in mothers with systemic sclerosis and systemic lupus erythematosus. OTJR; Occupation, participation and Health, 34, 12-19.

Dr. Edwards is Professor and Chair, Department of Kinesiology-- Occupational Therapy, School of Education, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, Wisconsin, with appointments in the Departments of Medicine and Neurology at the School of Medicine and Public Health.  (Retrieved on March 19, 2015 from http://kinesiology.education.wisc.edu/ot/people/graduate-faculty/dorothy-farrar-edwards.)

Dr. Edwards describes her research focus in this way:

My multidisciplinary research addresses the effects of aging on functional independence and quality of life. The central goal of my research is to contribute to the understanding of quality of life and well-being in older adults by examining the impact of cognitive and physical impairment on performance of complex activities of everyday life. My research explores questions of functional performance, caregiver burden, and treatment outcomes in a variety of populations ranging from normal aging to neurological diseases such as Alzheimer's disease and stroke. I am particularly interested in the aging process in African Americans. The ultimate aim of these studies is to support the development and implementation of more effective interventions for persons with cognitive loss and their families. (Retrieved on March 19, 2015 from http://aging.wisc.edu/research/affil.php?Ident=136.)

Selected References

Boden-Albala, B, Edwards, DF, St Clai,r S, Wing, JJ, Fernandez, S, Gibbons, MC, Hsia, AW, Morgenstern, LB & Kidwell CS. (2014). Methodology for a community-based stroke preparedness intervention: the Acute Stroke Program of Interventions Addressing Racial and Ethnic Disparities Study. Stroke. 45, 2047-2052.

Edwards, DF, Menon, R, Fokar, A, Gibbons, C, Wing, J, Sanchez, B & Kidwell CS.  (2013). Recruitment of black subjects for a natural history study of intracerebral hemorrhage. Journal of  Health Care for the Poor and Underserved, 24, 27-35.

Morrison, MT, Edwards, DF & Giles GM. (2015). Performance-based testing in mild stroke: identification of unmet opportunity for occupational therapy. The American Journal of Occupational Therapy, 69(1):6901360010p1-5. doi: 10.5014/ajot.2015.011528. PubMed PMID:
25553755.

Dr. Polatajko is Professor, Department of Occupational Science and Occupational Therapy,  University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada, as well as cross appointments in the Graduate Department of Rehabilitation Science,  the Dalla Lana School of Public Health and the University of Toronto Neuroscience Program (UTNP). Her research interests are focused on occupation and its enablement. Her specific emphasis on the enablement of children with Developmental Coordination Disorder has led to the development of a new approach to enhancing performance, the Cognitive Orientation to daily Occupational Performance (CO-OP), a cognitive-based treatment approach that enables clients with performance problems to reach their occupational goals.  (Retrieved on August 10, 2015 from http://www.ot.utoronto.ca/faculty/faculty_directory/polatajko_h.asp.)

Dr. Polatajko was the recipient of the Canadian Association of Occupational Therapists, 1992 Muriel Driver Memorial lectureship Award.  From 2004 - 2007, she was the editor of AOTF's research journal, OTJR: Occupation, Participation and Health and is now serving on the AOTF Scientific Advisory Council (SAC).  In addition, Dr. Polatajko is currently the editor-in chief of the Canadian Journal of Occupational Therapy.

Q AND A

Identify three words that others have used to describe you.  
Scholar, generous, visionary.

How do you hope to make a difference in the world through research?
Dare to ask the important questions, be rigorous in the scholarship and be opened to the data--whether  the findings are popular or not! – Pursue questions that will push forward out understanding - open new doors to improving occupational performance and engagement for all

What is one piece of advice you have for individuals considering a career in science and research?
Have a passion for your questions – and be open to ANY answer – as long as it is found through solid scholarship – know that the best outcome of any study is the elucidation of the next important question

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 neuroscience of meaningful occupational engagement – explicit evidence that occupational engagement is a protective factor!

Describe the most important role that mentors played in your professional journey.
Helping me stay focused and understand the progression of a truly scholarly career.

Identify a favorite occupation that renews you outside of your work.
I don’t really have one – my work (teaching and research) is my favorite occupation.

What has been the most surprising or rewarding aspects of a career in science and research?
The most surprising is the impact my work has had – the most rewarding is seeing my work improve the lives of children

REFERENCES

Polatajko, HJ. (1992). 1992 Muriel Driver Lecture: Naming and framing occupational therapy: a lecture dedicated to the life of Nancy B. The Canadian Journal of Occupational Therapy, 59, 189-200.

Cantin, N, Ryan, J & Polatajko, HJ.  (2014). Impact of task difficulty and motor ability on visual-motor task performance of children with and without developmental coordination disorder. Human Movement Science, 34, 217-232.

Dawson, DR, Binns, MA, Hunt, A, Lemsky, C & Polatajko, HJ.  (12013). Occupation-based strategy training for adults with traumatic brain injury: a pilot study. Archives of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, 94, 1959-1963.

Ng, EM, Polatajko, HJ, Marziali, E, Hunt, A & Dawson DR.  (2013). Telerehabilitation for addressing executive dysfunction after traumatic brain injury. Brain Injury, 27, 548-564.

Dr. Dunn is Distinguished Professor at the Department of Occupational Therapy, University of Missouri. Her research interests are directed toward the study of how persons understand and use the sensory input they received, and how their sensory processing abilities affect that individual's performance in daily life. For more details, see her website, Sensory Processing in Everyday Life.

Dunn's clinical practice expertise is with children and families in community settings, such as public schools, early intervention programs, day care centers, and families' homes.  (Retrieved on March 18, 2015 from http://www.kumc.edu/school-of-health-professions/occupational-therapy-education/our-faculty/dunn.html.)

Dr. Dunn was awarded the AOTF A. Jean Ayres Award in 2003.  In 1991, Dr. Dunn was awarded the American Occupational Therapy Association's Award of Merit, and in 2001 she was named the Eleanor Clarke Slagle Lecturer.  (Retrieved on March 18, 2015 from http://www.kumc.edu/Documents/shp/occupational-therapy/Dunn-CV-oct2013.pdf.) Dr. Dunn was awarded an AOTF Intervention Research Grant in 2015 for her study: Feasibility of Telehealth Coaching for Rural Families of Children with Autism and she was named one of the 100 Influential People in occupational therapy by AOTA.

Q and A

Identify three words that others have used to describe you.
Enthusiastic
Inspiring
Funny

How do you hope to make a difference in the world through research?
I want all people to know that they are fabulous just the way they are. I want people to know that it is useful to have insights about one's natural state because this informs how to plan a successful and satisfying life.

What is one piece of advice you have for individuals considering a career in science and research?
Embrace unexpected findings [which there will be a lot of]. We only think deeply about things that puzzle us; these are the moments for breakthroughs from the status quo.

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?
Intervention studies that have participation as their outcomes will make it clear that we care about people's actual lives more than anything else.

Describe the most important role that mentors played in your professional journey.
They invited me to think bigger than I could possibly imagine.

Identify a favorite occupation that renews you outside of your work.
Cooking, and all the verbs associated with it, planning, chopping, stirring, smelling, tasting, dining.....

What has been the most surprising or rewarding aspects of a career in science and research?
That colleagues in practice find my ideas useful to their work with those they serve.  
That the general public find meaningfulness in the ideas I have proposed.

Selected References

Dunn, W. (2001). The sensations of everyday life: empirical, theoretical, and pragmatic considerations - the 2001 Eleanor Clarke Slagle Lecture. The American Journal of Occupational Therapy, 55, 608-620.

Davis, AM, Bruce, AS, Khasawneh, R, Schulz, T, Fox, C & Dunn W. (2013). Sensory processing issues in young children presenting to an outpatient feeding clinic. Journal of Pediatric Gastroenterology and Nutrition, 56, 156-160.

Demopoulos, C, Arroyo, MS, Dunn, W, Strominger, Z, Sherr, EH & Marco E.  (2014 Dec 22).   Individuals with agenesis of the corpus callosum show sensory processing differences as measured by the Sensory Profile. Neuropsychology, [Epub ahead of print] PubMed PMID: 25528608.  

Foster, L, Dunn, W & Lawson, LM. (2013). Coaching mothers of children with autism: a qualitative study for occupational therapy practice. Physical and Occupational Therapy in Pediatrics, 33, 253-263.