OTD Student Profiles
Current Students
Mari Arnaud
Cohort: Spring 2018
Affiliation: PS 197
OTD goals: To help expand the practice area of functional literacy in school-based occupational therapy. To develop OT-based assessments and interventions in functional literacy. To expand awareness of occupational injustice related to literacy rates in the US.
Scott Rushanan
Cohort: Fall 2018
Affiliation: University of Pennsylvania Health System
OTD Goals: Improve my knowledge and clinical skills regarding occupational therapy assessments and interventions for patients with cognitive impairments.
Margaret Ruzich
Cohort: Fall 2018
Affiliation: Treehouse Pediatric Therapy
OTD Goals: Expand the body of knowledge related to children with neurological deficits to provide more refined assessment and treatment.
Christina Dumas
Cohort: Spring 2019
Affiliation: New York Presbyterian Hospital - Weill Cornell
OTD Goals: Build upon the body of knowledge related to children hospitalized in an acute care setting to provide more refined functional assessment and treatment methods, and contribute to improvements in best practices for children and their families as a leader in the field of occupational therapy.
Michaela Fraser
Cohort: Fall 2019
Affiliation: Columbia University, Department of Rehabilitation and Regenerative Medicine
OTD Goal: To better understand the cognitive processes that students undergo during service learning in order to identify strategies to enhance service learning experiences that complement clinical and classroom pedagogical goals to better prepare occupational therapy students to work with diverse populations.
Jonette Ishmael
Cohort: Fall 2019
Affiliation: Encompass Health Inpatient Rehabilitation Hospital
OTD Goal: To develop a culturally sensitive/ appropriate tool that accurately screens adults with neurological impairments and that identifies personal and environmental barriers to occupational performance.
Ida Koraitem
Cohort: Fall 2019
Affiliation: Kennedy Children's Center
OTD Goal: To establish a standardized cognitive model of practice for the assessment of pediatric executive functioning that will allow clinicians to better evaluate clinical performance and effectiveness of intervention plans.
Van Lemmon
Cohort: Fall 2019
Affiliation: Central Ohio Assistive Technology
OTD Goal: Develop a web-based formative assessment that supports educational teams in identifying assistive technology tools to support clients with difficulties with written expression
Juliana Perez
Cohort: Fall 2019
Affiliation: California Institute of Technology
OTD goals: To create an assessment or intervention that evaluates deficits in literacy and comprehension in neurodivergent young adults. To advocate for equity and inclusion in for neurodivergent populations at the university level.
Tiffany Sha
Cohort: Fall 2019
Affiliation: International Institute for the Brain
OTD Goals: To create ways for adolescents with cognitive deficits to undergo pre-vocational training, allowing them to compile their strengths in order to determine the most adequate and appropriate direction to achieve success.
Sancler Andrade
Cohort: Fall 2020
Affiliation: HCA Medical City Dallas
OTD Goal: To understand and measure how executive functions impairment affect the performance of occupations in the hospital setting.
Jed David
Cohort: Fall 2020
Affiliation: Children’s Hospital of Los Angeles
OTD Goals: Develop a culturally relevant practice model that explicitly weaves the anthropological theories of Filipino core values and occupational therapy theories of co-occupation.
Rebecca Ewert
Cohort: Fall 2020
Affiliation: Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center
OTD Goals: Develop and implement evidence-based practices in the treatment of cognitive deficits unique to people with cancer diagnoses. Become a leader in the field of occupational therapy and advocate for the use of cognitive interventions to improve functional outcomes.
Ada Lawson
Cohort: Fall 2020
Affiliation: Tiny Hands Therapeutics, PLLC
OTD Goals: To develop a therapeutic intervention using the Occupational Adaptation model to improve executive functioning skills while exploring the occupation of music.
Namrata Sadarangani
Cohort: Fall 2020
Affiliation: St. Andrew's Community Hospital, Singapore.
OTD Goals: To develop a deep understanding of the science of cognition and perception and to apply that knowledge towards developing functional assessment tools for the early detection of cognitive impairment potentially related to dementia.
Adeola Solaru
Cohort: Fall 2020
Affiliation: Association House of Chicago
OTD Goal: To develop a cognitive assessment or intervention tool for adult psychiatric patients using an occupational justice framework.
Valencia Steele
Cohort: Fall 2020
Affiliation: Occupational Therapy For Kidz – Rochdale Early Advantage Charter School (REACS)
OTD Goals: To develop an effective occupational therapy program for families with children who have cognitive and sensorimotor disabilities while prioritizing positive self-care practices for families from diverse backgrounds.
