Congratulations to our inaugural 2022 Bonita Kraft Occupational Therapy Doctoral Student Scholarship Awardee, Janell Pisegna, MOT, OTR/L, The Ohio State University, Examination of Poststroke Occupational Therapy Mental Health Care in Inpatient Rehabilitation

The Bonita Kraft Occupational Therapy Doctoral Student Scholarship supports an occupational therapist doctoral candidate in pursuing research in the areas of mental health and serious mental illness.

Bonita Kraft is an occupational therapist who spent 45 years working in community mental health. She has long been an advocate for OT and mental health; passionate about promoting the need for occupational therapy to be a part of mental health services and treatment as well as for building evidence for occupational therapists to use in practice. Bonita is a proud alum of San Jose State University (BSOT), has been a dedicated volunteer for AOTF, The California Foundation for Occupational Therapy, the Occupational Therapy Association of California as well as a long-time member of AOTA. She is excited to support the next generation of OT scientists with this scholarship who will add new knowledge to the profession and better serve those with severe mental illness and mental health issues.

Please make a gift to help us support the future of OT, strengthen evidence-based practice and improve the quality of care. Your generosity will secure this scholarship for generations of OTs. 

Congratulations to our inaugural Nancy Talbot Postdoctoral Research Fellowship Awardee, Lady Rios-Vega OTD, OTR/L, Thomas Jefferson University, Improving Utilization of Occupational Therapy services for Black and African American Families of Children with Autism

In honor of Nancy Talbot MEd, OTR, FAOTA, the AOTF has established the Nancy Talbot Postdoctoral Research Fellowship in support of postdoctoral research training in occupational therapy. This one-year award will be $30,000 (with the possibility of a competitive renewal for a second year). This fellowship seeks to improve diversity of the occupational therapy workforce by supporting postdoctoral training for individuals from groups demonstrated to have low representation in the biomedical, behavioral, clinical and social sciences. 

Please make a gift to help us support the future of OT, strengthen evidence-based practice and improve the quality of care. Your generosity will secure this scholarship for generations of OTs. 

The 181st Business Meeting of the AOTF Board of Trustees took place in a snowy Alexandria, Va., March 11-12, 2022. The main agenda was to form the new 2023-2025 strategic plan that will be finalized at the June 2022 meeting.

We appreciate their time and expertise in supporting our mission. Want to get involved? Check out our Volunteer Committees.

A big welcome to our new board trustees:
Anne M. Bryden, PhD, OTR/L
Merrill Friedman, BA
Kathleen D. Lyons, ScD, OTR/L
Antoinette S. Shaw, OTR
Pamela Talero Cabrejo, OTD, OTR/L, CPAM

Congratulations to Douglene Jackson, PhD, OTR/L, LMT, ATP, BCTS, on her promotion to board secretary!

A big thank you to our outgoing board trustees:
Nancy Baker, ScD, MPH, OTR/L
Simone Gill, PhD, OTR
Forrest Pendleton, BA
Susan Stark, PhD, OTR/L, FAOTA
Cheryl Strickland, OTR/L