Dr. Janet Falk-Kessler Distinguished Lectureship and Day of Scholarship
Friday January 29th, 2027
12:00PM - 4:00PM
Fully virtual
Join an international and diverse roster of clinicians, educators, scholars, and presenters and earn up to 4 professional development contact hours!
Attendees can join live virtually or access all session recordings for up to 4 weeks after the conference.
The annual Dr. Janet Falk-Kessler Lectureship and Day of Scholarship honors the contributions of former Columbia program director Dr. Janet Falk-Kessler to the occupational therapy profession.
Call for Papers will be due on October 29th, 2026.
Keynote Speaker: Dr. Roger O. Smith, Ph.D., OT, FAOTA, RESNA
Presentation Title: The Future of OT and OS Depends on 3 Things…
About the Speaker:
Dr. Smith is Professor Emeritus and the Past and Founding Director of the Rehabilitation Research Design & Disability (R2D2) Center at the University of Wisconsin- Milwaukee. He has been primary author and director on over 40 funded grant and contract awards for more than 15 million dollars of extramural sponsored research and training programs.
Dr. Smith has a highly interdisciplinary background with degrees and experiences from the social sciences, health sciences (OT) and engineering (IE). This has allowed him to focus his research and development activities on the measurement of interventions for people with disabilities and populations of all ages, particularly in the domains of assistive technology and universal design interventions and outcomes.
Dr. Smith has served as President of RESNA, consultant for the World Health Organization, and as a member of the NIH National Advisory Board for Medical Rehabilitation Research. Over the years he has advised research centers funded by NIH, NSF and the NIDILRR.
His decades of work in occupational therapy, occupational science and in directing the R2D2 Center positions him with a fantastic vantage point for predicting the future (chuckle). You should see his crystal ball and my magic wand.
Registration will open in the fall.
For more information, please reach out to
Leslie Alas | la3047@cumc.columbia.edu
Deadline to Submit Call for Papers: October 29th, 2026
Support the Closing the Gap Scholarship Fund
Past Janet Falk-Kessler Distinguished Lecturers
2026: Dr. Gordon Muir Giles, PhD OTR/L FAOTA
2025: Kathryn Ellis, OTR/L, OTD, CSOT, AASECT-SC
2023: Victoria Garcia Wilburn, DHSc, OTR, FAOTA
2022: Amy Lynch, PhD, OTR/L, FAOTA, TBRI® Educator, SCFES
2021: Gary Bedell, PhD, OTR/L, FAOTA
2020: Danielle Butin, MS, OTR
2019: Kristie Koenig, PhD, OT/L, FAOTA