Marcia Kielhofner is a 1984 graduate of the University of Missouri-Kansas City School of Medicine, and is currently an infectious disease physician practicing in Houston, Texas. As an Associate Professor at the Baylor College of Medicine, responsibilities include the education of residents and fellows in the field of infectious diseases, in addition to direct patient care. Special interests include infections in the solid organ transplant recipient and infections involving cardiac assist devices. Marcia is married with three adult sons and two grandchildren. She attends St Laurence Catholic Church, where she is active in the Social Concerns Ministry. As the younger sister of the late Gary Kielhofner, she is pleased to be a part of the effort passing on his legacy by supporting future scientists in the field of Occupational Therapy .

Dr. Dunn is a Distinguished Professor of the Department of Occupational Therapy Education at the University of Missouri. She is an internationally known expert for her studies about sensory processing in everyday life. She received her occupational therapy and a special education graduate degree from the University of Missouri, and her doctorate in applied neuroscience from the University of Kansas.

Winnie has published more than 100 research articles, book chapters, and books and has spoken around the world about her work. In 2014, Dr. Dunn completed the update and standardization research on the Sensory Profile 2, to ensure that researchers and professionals in practice have the most current evidence to support their decisions. She has received the top honors in her field, including the Award of Merit for outstanding overall contributions, and the Eleanor Clark Slagle Lectureship for outstanding academic contributions. She is a member of the Academy of Research for the American Occupational Therapy Foundation and has received the A. Jean Ayres research award.

Charles Christiansen is a consultant and business owner based in Rochester, MN. He is a former educator who served in senior leadership roles at The University of Minnesota, The University of Texas Medical Branch and The University of British Columbia, he remains active as a volunteer who serves on various non-profit boards. Dr. Christiansen is also an occupational therapy scholar who continues to conduct research and publish on topics related to understanding the health promoting characteristics of human occupation. He is a former CEO of the AOTF and was recognized by the American Occupational Therapy Association during its Centennial year as one of the 100 most influential persons in occupational therapy’s first century. He is currently serving as board chair for the Society for the Study of Occupation, USA. In his leisure time, he is an avid hiker, cyclist and poet.

Dr. Barnekow’s interests in interprofessional education have resulted in involvement in MCH training and leadership grants. She currently serves as the Milwaukee Link training coordinator in the Wisconsin Leadership Education in Neurodevelopmental Disabilities (LEND) Program. In addition, she is a discipline mentor in the UW-Milwaukee Pipeline Training Program for undergraduate students. Her personal experiences in MCH training programs and clinical experiences as a pediatric occupational therapist have shaped her research, teaching, and service.

As a clinician who provided occupational therapy services in programs for children between the ages of birth to three, Dr. Barnekow became acutely aware of significant issues facing families who reside in the urban area of Milwaukee. Significantly influenced by community-based clinical practice, Dr. Barnekow’s research, mentoring, and service interests evolved into four primary areas including: 1) promotion of co-occupational engagement or shared participation between caregivers and children, 2) early identification of developmental disorders in children and social emotional disorders in mothers of children with special needs, 3) identification of health literacy barriers that inhibit parents’ ability to engage care for their children, and most recently 4) enhancement of fatherhood participation through health literacy strategies to decrease infant mortality in the African American community.

The goal of the AOTF workshop will be to establish several collaborative teams that will develop new research grant proposals designed to advance the evidence base for home and community-based services that support aging in place. Workshop participants will generate and prioritize novel research questions during the workshop and form research teams to subsequently write grant proposals to answer their chosen question. Each team will be asked to generate a plan that puts them on the path towards competitive grant submissions. For example, one team could decide to use existing pilot data and could establish an analytic plan for a manuscript that both justifies the need for further study and establishes a documented collaboration between researchers that would be needed in a grant application. Another team might identify a focused research question and establish plans to pursue institutional/internal pilot funding that would be needed for a larger grant. Ultimately, the goal is to use this networking opportunity to create new research teams that secure extramural funding to build the evidence base for aging in place, allowing older adults to fully engage in daily life roles and maintain or improve their quality of life.

View related OTJR articles:

• Stimulating Research to Enhance Aging in Place to see priority areas.
• Out-of-Home Activities and Health in Older Adults: A Scoping Review

Participants (*Committee Member)

• Sajay Arthanat, PhD, OTR/L, ATP, Telehealth Practice Center. University of New Hampshire
• Tracy Chippendale, PhD, OTR/L, New York University
• Carrie Ciro*, PhD, OTR/L, FAOTA, University of Oklahoma
• Malcolm P. Cutchin, PhD, Wayne State University
• Chanee Fabius, PhD, Bloomberg School of Public Health, Johns Hopkins University
• Beth Fields, PhD, OTR/L, University of Wisconsin - Madison
• Heather Fritz, PhD, OTR/L, Wayne State University
• Vanessa Jewell, PhD, OTR/L, Creighton University
• Mary C. Lawlor*, ScD, OTR/L, FAOTA, University of Southern California
• Danbi Lee, PhD, OTD, OTR/L, University of Washington
• Catherine Lysack*, PhD, Wayne State University
• Margaret McDonald, MSW, Visiting Nurse Services of New York
• Tracy M. Mroz*, PhD, OTR/L, University of Washington
• Elsa M. Orellano-Colon, PhD, MSc, OTR/L, ATP, University of Puerto Rico
• Melissa Park, PhD, OT/L, McGill University
• Catherine Piersol, PhD, OTR/L, FAOTA, Jefferson Elder Care, Jefferson College of Rehabilitation Sciences (JCRS)
• Barbara Resnick, PhD, RN, CRNP, FAAN, FAANP, University of Maryland
• Juleen Rodakowski*, OTD, MD, OTR/L, University of Pittsburgh
• Shlomit Rotenberg, OT, PhD, Rotman Research Institute Baycrest
• Stacey Schepens Niemiec, PhD, OTR/L, University of Southern California
• Emily Somerville, OTD, OTR/L, Washington University in St. Louis
• Pamela Toto, PhD, OTR/L, BCG, FAOTA, University of Pittsburgh
• Jennifer Womack, PhD, OTR/L, FAOTA, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Organization Partners and Special Guests

• Ellie Daniels, MD, MPH, American Cancer Society, Inc.
• James Gibaldi, The Michael J. Fox Foundation
• C. Jean Hsieh, PhD, OT, Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality
• Sarah Ruiz, PhD, National Institute on Disability, Independent Living, and Rehabilitation Research
• Heather M. Snyder, PhD, Alzheimer's Association