1937-2018

Dr. Shah was Professor of Occupational Therapy, AT Still University, Mesa, Arizona and a Senior Research Fellow of the Stockton Center on Successful Aging (SCOSA) before his retirement after a fifty-seven year career at the age of 78 years. He passed away on September 6, 2018.

Dr. Shah completed 57 years in four continents as an occupational therapy clinician, private practitioner, educator, chair, researcher, and a mentor. He had the privilege of being the first professor of occupational therapy in England, UK; first professor of OT and a first OT professor of Neurology at the UTHSC, Memphis, a Professor of OT at the A T Still University in Arizona, and a visiting professor of neurorehabilitation at the LMU, Leeds, UK. One of his functional measures, the Modified Barthel Index (MBI) for dependency needs of people with disability, has been translated in numerous languages and is one of the most cited (1207 researchers) research by health professionals. He also granted permission to use the MBI in funded research to Merck & Co (11 nations Hip # trial), Abbott International (23 nations TBI trial), and now Bristol-Meyers-Squibb (Across the Globe pediatric research). Dr. Shah's academic focus has been generating new knowledge (120 peer-reviewed publications), evaluating new knowledge (reviewer of 15 journals and databases), and disseminating emerging trends for practicing therapists (120 peer-reviewed presentations).

Q AND A

Identify three words that others have used to describe you.
Assiduous, Doyen, Resplendent.

How do you hope to make a difference in the world through research?
Tap dormant potential in each individual, instill an attitude to strive higher, and challenge borrowed occupational therapy concepts to make their own distinct impact on quality of life of patients we serve.

What is one piece of advice you have for individuals considering a career in science and research?
Please define your purpose, stay focused, and work hard. Don't be discouraged even if things look insurmountable - be persistent. Do not waste time dichotomizing the intertwined patient care, research and science.

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?
Occupational therapy publications should actively solicit "Letters to the Editor" that challenge proposed concept/s from theorists to maximize scientific impact.

Describe the most important role that mentors played in your professional journey.
The surgeons demonstrated by example the importance of documenting every patient interaction and encouraging converting interactions to generating new knowledge.

Identify a favorite occupation that renews you outside of your work.
Travel with the family that explores environments, exchanges cultural heritages and enhances capacity to participate globally for sensitivity to culture rich differences.

What has been the most surprising or rewarding aspects of a career in science and research?
The openness of medical journal editors to accept novel contributions without prejudice or hidden agenda to explore all research dimensions for interconnectedness and interdependence.

REFERENCES

Shah, S. Tartaro, C., Chew, F., Morris, M. (2013). Rehabilitation efficiency and effectiveness in minimizing dependency in patients with arthritis: Analyses of 3,551 admissions. PRO Newsletter, 50, 16-23.

Cherry, K., Kitchens, K., Nicholson, C., Soden, I., Tomkiewicz, J., Kedia, M., & Shah, S. (2009). Cultural awareness and competency of graduate entry-level OT students. Education: Special Interest Quarterly, 19, 1-4.

Shah, S., Holmes, & Leisman, G. (2007). Performance on figure ground perception following stroke induced hemiplegia: A comparison of pre- and post-rehabilitation with the neurologically unimpaired. International Journal of Neurosciences, 117, 711-31.  

Shah, S., & Muncer, S. A. (2003). Comparison of rehabilitation outcome measures for traumatic brain injury. OTJR: Occupation, Participation and Health, 23, 2-9.

Shah, S., Vanclay, F., & Cooper, B. (1992). Stroke rehabilitation: Who benefits? Comparison of medical wards and rehabilitation units. Restorative Neurology and Neuroscience, 4, 401-10.

Shah, S., & Bain, C. (1989). Admissions, patterns of utilization and disposition of acute strokes in Brisbane hospitals.  Medical Journal of Australia, 150, 256-260.

As of February 1, 2018, Dr. Gitlin is the Dean of the College of Nursing and Health Professions at Drexel University in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

In Her Own Words: Get to Know Laura N. Gitlin, PhD

Drexel University Interview with Dr. Gitlin.

Before moving to Drexel University, Dr. Gitlin was the Isabel Hampton Robb Distinguished Professor in the School of Nursing and and the Director, Center for Innovative Care in Aging at Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland with a joint appointment in the School of Medicine, Department of Psychiatry.   "Her programs of research include understanding adaptive processes in old age-particularly with the use of assistive devices and environmental modifications-psycho-social-environmental approaches to helping older people with physical frailty age in place, nonpharmacologic approaches to enhancing quality of life of persons with dementia and their family caregivers, mental health disparities in older African Americans and depression treatments, and translating and implementing evidence-based interventions for family caregivers, individuals with dementia, and older adults with functional difficulties."   (Retrieved on April 23, 2015 from http://nursing.jhu.edu/faculty_research/faculty/faculty-directory/community-publichealth/laura-gitlin.)

Selected References

Gitlin, LN, Winter, L & Stanley, IH.  (2015). Compensatory strategies: Prevalence of use and relationship to physical function and well-being. Journal of Applied Gerontology, 2015 Apr 13. pii: 0733464815581479. [Epub ahead of print]

Gitlin, LN, Szanton, SL, Huang, J &Roth, DL.  (2014). Factors mediating the effects of a depression intervention on functional disability in older African Americans. Journal of the American Geriatrics Society, 62, 2280-2287.  

Gitlin, LN, Mann, WC, Vogel, WB & Arthur PB.  (2013). A non-pharmacologic approach to address challenging behaviors of Veterans with dementia: description of the tailored activity program-VA randomized trial. BioMed Central Geriatrics, 2013 Sep 23;13:96.  doi: 10.1186/1471-2318-13-96. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3852524/

Dr. Schneider is Professor, Departments of Kinesiology and Psychology, University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Her research statement reads:    
Our research program focuses on behavioral and neurobiological effects from fetal alcohol exposure alone or in combination with prenatal stress. We study rhesus monkeys, examining growth and development, learning and memory, and stress reactivity across the life span. We also use state-of-the-art neuroimaging techniques to elucidate possible abnormalities in neural processing. We assess dopamine system function, using positron emission tomography, to determine whether altered DA function might underlie some of the motor, learning, and neuroendocrine outcomes associated with these prenatal treatments. We have recently expanded our nonhuman primate model to examine the neurochemical and developmental basis for sensory regulation disorders and risk factors for excessive alcohol consumption in adulthood. Our work is funded by the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism. (Retrieved on September 16, 215 from https://www.waisman.wisc.edu/pi-Schneider-Mary.htm.)

Q AND A

How do you hope to make a difference in the world through research?
I think that making a difference in the world is a tall order. I developed the only existing primate model for the study of prenatal alcohol exposure, prenatal stress, and sensory processing disorder, conditions highly relevant to occupational therapy practice.  I hope that my work will contribute to detailed understandings of brain pathways and neuroadaptations regulated by dopamine and serotonin -- understandings that will potentially aid in the development of new targets for prevention and interventions. My work is designed to address a fundamental gap in understanding how prenatal conditions and genotype induce mental health and alcohol disorders.

What is one piece of advice you have for individuals considering a career in science and research?
Find the best mentor  —  someone who is doing what you would like to do someday and spend as much time shadowing/volunteering with this person as feasible.

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 research with cutting edge assessments, including state-of-the-art brain neuroimaging. Investigate how certain genotypes interact with intervention outcomes, such that some individuals respond better than others. Tailor the intervention to the genotype and brain function.
 
Describe the most important role that mentors played in your professional journey.  
Mentors are critical.  Ginny Scardina was my first mentor -- she was an extraordinary OT/human being. She taught me so much and inspired me for life.  

Identify a favorite occupation that renews you outside of your work.
Meditation and mindfulness is the most important occupation in my life.
 
What has been the most surprising or rewarding aspects of a career in science and research?
The people I have met have been extraordinary. I have made lifelong friends within the context of pursuing research and science.

REFERENCES

Converse, AK, Moore, CF, Holden, JE, Ahlers, EO, Moirano, JM, Larson, JA, Resch, LM, DeJesus, OT, Barnhart, TE, Nickles, RJ, Murali, D, Christian, BT & Schneider, ML.  (2014). Moderate-level prenatal alcohol exposure induces sex differences in dopamine d1 receptor binding in adult rhesus monkeys.  Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research, 38, 2934-2943.

Schneider, ML, Larson, JA, Rypstat, CW, Resch, LM, Roberts, A & Moore, CF.  (2013). Moderate-level prenatal alcohol exposure enhances acoustic startle magnitude and disrupts prepulse inhibition in adult rhesus monkeys. Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research, 37, 1729-1736.  

Wooten, DW, Hillmer, AT, Murali, D, Barnhart, TE, Thio, JP, Bajwa, AK, Bonab, AA, Normandin, MD, Schneider, ML, Mukherjee, J & Christian, BT.  (2014). Initial in vivo PET imaging of 5-HT1A receptors with 3-[(18)F]mefway.  American Journal of Nuclear Medicine & Molecular Imaging,  4, 483-489.

Dr. Gisel is Professor Emerita, School of Physical & Occupational Therapy, McGill University, Montreal, Québec, Canada.  "Dr. Gisel's research interests are directed toward the assessment and treatment of individuals with neurologically based eating impairments. Studies examining early markers of oral sensory problems in infants with feeding disabilities, as well as the influence of repetitive behaviors on motor development in children with autism spectrum disorders are currently in progress."  (Retrieved on April 28, 2015 from https://www.mcgill.ca/spot/faculty/gisel)

Q and A

Identify three words that others have used to describe you.
Creative, persistent, dedicated.

How do you hope to make a difference in the world through research?
It allows me to give more evidence-based answers to questions of parents of my patients.

What is one piece of advice you have for individuals considering a career in science and research?
If you are uncertain about the treatment approaches we use, it is time to seek these answers through research.

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?
Multidisciplinary approaches to complex questions.

Describe the most important role that mentors played in your professional journey.
They allowed me to make my own mistakes and to learn from them, but at the same time pointed to future directions of my work.

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

What has been the most surprising or rewarding aspects of a career in science and research?
The work with students.

Selected References

Francis-Bacz, C, Wood-Dauphinee, S & Gisel, E. (2013). The discriminative validity of the McGill Ingestive Skills Assessment. Physical & Occupational Therapy in Geriatrics, 31, 148-158.  

Fucile, S, McFarland, DH, Gisel, EG & Lau C.  (2012). Oral and nonoral sensorimotorinterventions facilitate suck-swallow-respiration functions and their coordination in preterm infants. Early Human Development, 88, 345-350.

Fucile, S, Gisel, EG, McFarland, DH, & Lau C.  (2011). Oral and non-oral sensorimotorinterventions enhance oral feeding performance in preterm infants. Developmental Medicine and Child Neurology, 53, 829-835.  

Dr. Roseann Schaaf is professor and chair in the Department of Occupational Therapy at Thomas Jefferson University, Jefferson College of Health Professions and Faculty at the Farber Institute for Neuroscience at Jefferson. Dr. Schaaf is a translational scientist who has devoted her career to the study of children with autism and other developmental disorders, in particular how processing and integrating sensory information impacts participation in daily occupations. Building on her training as a behavioral neuroscientist, Dr. Schaaf's psychophysiological laboratory was funded by NIH and provided insight into the neurological mechanisms of sensory difficulties in children with autism.

She has received over 35 funded grants totaling $8 million dollars including a recent $4.1 million dollar grant from the NIH to conduct a comparative effectiveness study of occupational therapy using sensory integration. This grant is in collaboration with her colleagues at Einstein Medical College and Queens University and includes a multisensory integration biomarker as an objective outcome measure of neuroplasticity. Roseann has over 70 peer-reviewed journal articles and abstracts, is the author of five books and 13 book chapters and has presented over 150 papers and presentations spanning national and international venues. She is a 2008 recipient of the A. Jean Ayres Research Award and a 1996 recipient of the Lindback Award for Distinguished Teaching. Dr. Schaaf became an associate editor of OTJR: Occupation, Participation and Health in 2017.

Q AND A

Identify three words that others have used to describe you.
Energetic, persistent, optimistic.

How do you hope to make a difference in the world through research?
My work has focused on helping children with autism spectrum disorders and their families participate fully in daily life. The data shows us that one factor limiting full participation in school, community, work and leisure activities for children with autism and their family members is difficulty processing and integrating sensation. Hence, our team studies the neural mechanisms of sensory integration (to gain insight into how better to target our interventions) and the effectiveness of occupational therapy using sensory integration to facilitate functional skills and participation. Through our research we hope to facilitate participation for these children and their families.

What is one piece of advice you have for individuals considering a career in science and research?
Love what you do, surround yourself with competent, positive people, and find a mentor! I guess that is 3 pieces of advice - all equally important.

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 we must be systematic about implementing and evaluating occupational therapy interventions, measuring outcomes and publishing our work in inter-professional venues. Intervention research (from mechanism to community impact) is important and a priority for occupational science and occupational therapy!

Describe the most important role that mentors played in your professional journey.
I have had many mentors throughout my professional journey as an occupational therapist, educator and now an occupational therapy researcher who kept me focused and helped me to re-focus when things were challenging. The most important role my mentors played is supporting me in so many ways - intellectually, emotionally, and professionally. This kept me going.

Identify a favorite occupation that renews you outside of your work.
I love the outdoors - nature keeps me centered so I like to hike, bike, walk, cross country ski and explore. Currently I am learning to mountain bike and jump over tree roots as I roll through the woods -- yikes!

What has been the most surprising or rewarding aspects of a career in science and research?
Most surprising for me has been the incredible occupational therapists I have had the opportunity to collaborate with in research. They are so committed and passionate and always go above and beyond for the greater good. They are committed to occupational therapy and excited to collaborate in research.

REFERENCES

Schaaf, R.C., Benevides, T., Mailloux, Z., Leiby, B., Kelly, D., Faller, P., Hunt, J., Freeman, R., Sandecki, J., vanHooydonk, E., (2014). An intervention for sensory difficulties in children with Autism: A Randomized Trial. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 44 (7), 1493-1506. DOI 10.1007/s10803-013-1983-8. PNID: 24214165

Schaaf, R. C., Burke, J.P., Cohn, E., May-Benson, T.A., Schoen, S.A., Smith Roley, S., Lane, S.J., Parham, L.D., Mailloux, Z. The Issue Is: The State of Measurement in Sensory Integration. American Journal of Occupational Therapy, 68, e149-e153. Doi:10.5014/ajot.2014.012526

Schaaf, R. C. & Lane, A. (2015). Toward a best-practice protocol for assessment of sensory features in ASD. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders. 45(5) 1380-1395 DOI: 10.1007/s10803-014-2299-z