Teal W. Benevides, PhD, MS, OTR/L, FAOTA, is a wife, mother, occupational therapist, and researcher. Dr. Benevides is a tenured Associate Professor in the Institute of Public and Preventive Health at Augusta University.

Dr. Benevides is committed to fostering access to services and support for autistic people and others with intellectual and developmental disabilities through community-engaged approaches and partnerships.

Dr. Benevides is a Fellow of the American Occupational Therapy Association and serves on autism, suicide prevention, and occupational therapy organizations as a board or committee member to advance scientific knowledge translation and promote community priorities.

Dr. Brent Braveman has practiced as an occupational therapy clinician, educator, researcher, and manager since entering the profession in 1984. He is the Department of Rehabilitation Services Director at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, Texas. MD Anderson Cancer Center was recently ranked as the top cancer hospital in the country by US News and World Reports. The Department of Rehabilitation Services employs over 140 occupational and physical therapy practitioners.

His volunteer service in state and national professional association activities included serving two terms on the AOTA Board of Directors as Speaker of the Representative Assembly and Secretary. He was a Board Director for the American Occupational Therapy Association Political Action Committee (AOTPAC). He served as a representative to the National Institutes of Health Working Group on Cancer Rehabilitation, as a Standing Committee Member on the National Quality Forum’s NQF) Cancer Project, and on the NQF’s project on co-designing patient-centered care. Now, he is on the Board of Trustees for the American Occupational Therapy Foundation (AOTF).

Dr. Braveman is a Fellow of the American Occupational Therapy Association and a recipient of the AOTA Recognition of Achievement Award for “Exemplary Contributions in Management and Program Development.”

Jana Cason, DHSc, OTR/L, FNAP, FAOTA, is a Full Professor and Director of Scholarship in the Doctor of Occupational Therapy Program–Honolulu at Hawaiʻi Pacific University. Dr. Cason is recognized as an early leader in the development and advancement of telehealth within occupational therapy. Her scholarly work has expanded to include innovation in artificial intelligence (AI), exploring ethical and effective integration of AI within healthcare settings. 

Dr. Cason has delivered numerous presentations at national and international conferences and has made substantial scholarly contributions through the authorship of telehealth standards and guidelines, book chapters, and peer-reviewed publications. She is a Fellow of the American Occupational Therapy Association and the National Academies of Practice. In addition, she serves as Co-Editor-in-Chief of the International Journal of Telerehabilitation, an open-access, peer-reviewed journal indexed in PubMed and Scopus. 

Megan C. Chang is a Professor in the Department of Occupational Therapy at San José State University. She holds a Ph.D. in Occupational Science, an M.S. in Applied Biostatistics and Epidemiology, an M.A. in 
Occupational Therapy from the University of Southern California (USC), and a B.S. in Occupational Therapy from National Cheng Kung University in Taiwan. Her expertise was further enhanced through postdoctoral training at USC and the UCLA Psychophysiology Laboratory within the G. Oppenheimer Center for Neurobiology of Stress and Resilience.

Dr. Chang leads a psychophysiology lab that explores the impact of stress on sensory processing, sleep, and mental health. Her research focuses on understanding sensory processing patterns and evaluating psychosocial and physiological risk factors associated with health behaviors and occupations across diverse populations. She investigates the effects of mindfulness practices on parents of 
children with disabilities, aiming to improve their well-being and coping strategies.

She has contributed to several book chapters, including Pedretti’s Occupational Therapy: Practice Skills for Physical Dysfunction and Case-Smith’s Occupational Therapy for Children and Adolescents. Additionally, she directs a faculty-led program in Taiwan, providing students with immersive experiences in universal healthcare systems and 
enhancing their cultural humility. 

Tracy Jirikowic has over 30 years’ experience in occupational therapy with expertise in pediatric neurodevelopment and interventions for children and youth with developmental disabilities. Dr. Jirikowic has special research and clinical interests in children with prenatal substance exposure and fetal alcohol spectrum disorders (FASD). She holds a clinical appointment with the University of Washington Fetal Alcohol Syndrome Diagnostic and Prevention Network and is a Research Affiliate with the University of Washington Institute on Human Development and Disability. Her research activities include development of an early intervention model for young children with prenatal alcohol exposure, understanding sensory processing in children with FASD, and examining community-based interventions that promote social participation, health, and well-being for individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities. She is Program Director of the Master of Occupational Therapy program and Co-Director for the PhD in Rehabilitation Science Program in the UW Department of Rehabilitation Medicine. 

Dr. Rebecca Martin is the Manager of Clinical Research and Education at the International Center for Spinal Cord Injury (ICSCI) at Kennedy Krieger Institute and an assistant professor at The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in the Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation.

Dr. Martin received her Bachelor of Science in Occupational Therapy from Boston University and her Occupational Therapy Doctorate from Rocky Mountain University of Allied Health Professions.

She joined Kennedy Krieger in 2005 as a Senior Occupational Therapist at the International Center for Spinal Cord Injury. Since 2010, Dr. Martin has been the Manager of Clinical Research and Education and is responsible for program development, staff training, and oversight of the clinical research program. Dr. Martin speaks nationally on topics related to Activity-Based Rehabilitation; she has taught many continuing education courses for rehabilitation professionals in neurological pathology, rehabilitation, and research. She has been the principal investigator and co-investigator for grants from the Paralyzed Veterans of America Education Foundation and the Department of Defense to develop, promote, and disseminate an activity-based restorative therapy training program and curriculum.

Furthermore, Dr. Martin is the founder and primary investigator at Kennedy Krieger’s Neurorehabilitation and Recovery Lab, which focuses on the study of clinically meaningful interventions poised for rapid translation to practice.

Dr. Mendonca is an Assistant Professor in the Programs in Occupational Therapy in the Department of Rehabilitation and Regenerative Medicine at Columbia University. She is also the director of Post-Professional Doctoral Programs in Occupational Therapy. Dr. Mendonca’s research focuses on technology and disability including the development, testing, validation, and dissemination of technology-based interventions for people with disabilities. She has developed apps to measure and provide information about accessibility of medical products, home environments, and community environments for people with disabilities. Currently, her work focuses on translation and dissemination of these apps to the community, including in the home, community, and industry. She also develops and tests rehabilitation robotics to support clinicians in providing therapy, especially in low and under resourced communities. She is committed to improving function, participation, and quality of life outcomes for individuals with disabilities. She has received approximately $4.5 million in federal grant funding to support her research. She teaches the Assistive Technology course at Columbia University, including training students to build customized, low-cost adaptive devices for individuals with disabilities that are provided to clients; and mentors OTD and PhD students. 

Aimee Piller, PhD, OTR/L, BCP, FAOTA, is the owner and director of Piller Child Development, a multi-site outpatient pediatric therapy practice in the greater Phoenix area. She specializes in sensory integration and feeding therapy and holds a PhD in Occupational Therapy from Texas Woman’s University, where her research examined the impact of sensory environments on preschool participation. Dr. Piller’s scholarly interests include knowledge of translation and the development of evidence-based treatment protocols to enhance clinical practice. She has published and presented extensively through peer-reviewed journals, book chapters, international conferences, and webinars/podcasts. Dr. Piller is also the author of Implementing School-Based Occupational Therapy Services: A Multi-Tiered Approach to Sensory Processing Needs. 

Shawn C. Roll, PhD, OTR/L, RMSKS, FAOTA, FAIUM, is a Professor in the Chan Division of Occupational Science and Occupational Therapy at the University of Southern California, where he combines his expertise as both an occupational therapist and a registered musculoskeletal sonographer to conduct impactful research. His scholarship aims to understand intersections among the built, social, and organizational environments with health, well-being, and flourishing as we engage in occupations, particularly within increasingly diverse and ever-expanding technology-enabled workplace contexts.

Dr. Roll has received over $7M in grant funding to support his research, including multiple federal grants from the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health and the National Science Foundation; he has more than 100 peer-reviewed publications and has spoken extensively to national and international audiences.

He is a fellow of the American Occupational Therapy Association and the American Institute of Ultrasound in Medicine. He has been inducted into the American Occupational Therapy Foundation’s Academy of Research and received the Distinguished Sonographer Award from the American Institute of Ultrasound in Medicine. 

Dr. Rachel Wolpert is Associate Professor in the Department of Occupational Therapy at the University of Missouri. Her research focuses on developing, testing, and implementing virtual reality-based interventions for adults and older adults post-stroke. Dr. Wolpert has extensive experience working in an interdisciplinary setting with computer scientists and engineers and was previously the Director of the Game Based Rehab Lab at the Institute for Creative Technologies at the University of Southern California (USC). She has completed a T32 postdoctoral fellowship with an emphasis in rehabilitation clinical trials as well as a KL2 Career Development Award. She is currently translating effective interventions, such as LSVT®BIG, for use with the stroke population and pairing telehealth applications for remote delivery in rural areas. Dr. Wolpert is PI of an NIH R01 to evaluate a sensor system in the homes of rural community-dwelling older adults.