Dr. Arameh Anvarizadeh, OTD, OTR/L, FAOTA is a Professor of Clinical Occupational Therapy and former Director of Admissions at the USC Mrs. T.H. Chan Division of Occupational Science and Occupational Therapy. As the architect of USC Chan’s holistic admissions process, Dr. Anvarizadeh led transformative efforts that resulted in the most diverse cohorts in the Division’s history, all while preserving rigorous and effective admissions standards. Her leadership has also been pivotal in strengthening recruitment and retention strategies, creating pathway programs, and promoting inclusive pedagogy. 

A Founding Member and former Chair of the Coalition of Occupational Therapy Advocates for Diversity (COTAD), Dr. Anvarizadeh has been a driving force in advancing justice, equity, diversity, inclusion, anti-racism, and anti-oppression within the occupational therapy profession. She is the visionary behind many of COTAD’s cornerstone initiatives, including COTAD Chapters, the COTAD Toolkit, the Ignite Series, and the Fieldwork Task Force. 

Dr. Anvarizadeh made history as the youngest and the first Black and Iranian woman to be elected as AOTA President, a role she officially assumed in July 2025. In addition to her current role as AOTA President, Dr. Anvarizadeh has held numerous state and national leadership positions. Besides her leadership roles, Dr. Anvarizadeh is an accomplished author and dynamic speaker who has presented at several state, national, and international conferences, delivering keynotes, lectures, and commencement addresses.  

Deeply passionate about building sustainable, healthy, and inclusive communities, she continues to champion equity, empowerment, and advocacy. Through her work and heart-centered leadership, she inspires others to discover, cultivate, and amplify their fullest potential. 

Patricia Bowyer, EdD, MS, OTR, FAOTA

The 2025 AOTF Planning Grant Collective, “Coaching in Occupational Therapy,” brought together over 25 experts to engage in an insightful discussion on how coaching can be incorporated into occupational therapy practice.  

The Collective was attended by leaders from diverse interdisciplinary backgrounds – including coaching, community mental health, speech-language pathology, nutrition science, pediatric intervention, early childhood education, adult rehabilitation, and occupational therapy. They came together using their unique expertise to define and discuss the role coaching plays in occupational therapy through the lenses of core components, curriculum, and research priorities.  

All three groups emphasized the importance of establishing a common language to talk about coaching, the need to define the role coaching plays in occupational therapy, and the framework for incorporating this technique into practice.  

This meeting marks a first step in developing collaborative teams that will continue to meet to create further action steps and projects, white papers, and pilot programs to enable occupational change through a client-centered and coaching-infused approach. We believe this interdisciplinary approach to establishing definition, education, and priorities for coaching-integrated practice will lead to further alignment and advancement.  

Planning Grant Committee 

Dorothy Kessler, PhD,  MSc, OT Reg., Queens University 
Lauren Little, PhD, OTR/L, FAOTA, Rush University Medical Center 
MJ Mulcahey, PhD, OTR/L, CPPC, CLCP, FASIA, Thomas Jefferson University 
Patricia Davies, Professor, PhD, OTR, FAOTA, Colorado State University 
Scott Tomchek, PhD, OTR/L, FAOTA, Louisville University  
Winifred Wiese Dunn, PhD, OTR, FAOTA, University of Missouri  
Scott Campbell, PhD, Chief Executive Officer, American Occupational Therapy Foundation 

Participants 
Alexandra O. Carlsson, MSc, Queens University 
Anna Boone, PhD, OTR/L, MSOT, University of Missouri 
Anne Hoffmann, PhD, CCC-SLP, Rush University 
Cathy Piersol, PhD, OTR/L, FAOTA, FNAP, Thomas Jefferson University 
Chrystine Mitchell, DHSc, OTR/L, Thomas Jefferson University 
Cori Schmitz, MSc, OT Reg., CPCC, University of Alberta 
Courtney Williams, Founder and CEO, TORSH INC. 
Gord Unsworth, MSc, OT (Reg.), Providence Care, Regional Director, Community Specialty Adult Mental Health 
Julia Beach, PhD, MSOT, Providence Care, Community Specialty Adult Mental Health 
Kevin Cloninger, PhD, MBC, HWC, University of Missouri
Leigh Wagner, PhD, RDN, Integrative Dietitian, Dr. Leigh Wagner, LLC 
Marie Christine Potvin, PhD, OTR/L, Thomas Jefferson University 
Mary Beth Kadlec, ScD, OTR, MGH Institute of Health Professions 
Melanie Tkach, PhD, MSOT, OTR/L, University of Missouri 
Myriam Chrétien-Vincent, PhD, OT Reg., University of Quebec Trois Rivieres 
Nicole Gerhardt, OTD, OTR/L, CBIS, CPPC, Thomas Jefferson University 
Sabrina Salvant, EdD, MSOT, MPH, Vice President, Education and Professional Development, AOTA 
Sarah Smith, DSc, OTR/L, University of New Hampshire 
Serena Wheeler, PhD, IECE, Louisville University 
Steven Taylor, PhD, OTD, OTR/L, Rush University 
Timothy Dionne, PhD, MSOT, OTR/L, University of New Mexico 

Researchers Erika Kemp, OTD, OTR/L, BCP, and Jewel Crasta, PhD, OTR/L (pictured l-r below), from The Ohio State University’s School of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences, have recently received a $2.9 million grant from the Department of Defense’s Autism Research Program. The funding will further support their AquOTic lab, pioneering a scalable, evidence-based water safety program tailored for children on the autism spectrum. The pilot adaptive swim program was initially funded by a 2022 AOTF Intervention Research Grant (IRG). Recruitment for instructor training for the next phase of the program will begin in September 2025. You may read the full OSU article for more information.

AOTF 2025 Interview with Jewel Crasta, PhD, OTR/L

Initial Impact

How did the AOTF research grant specifically impact your ability to pursue further funding opportunities?
The initial funding from AOTF allowed us to establish AquOTic as a manualized and evidence-based intervention, providing the necessary resources for rigorous implementation and evaluation. This investment demonstrated proof of concept and positioned us to approach larger funders with preliminary data, feasibility results, and evidence of community impact. The pilot randomized controlled trial also allowed us to demonstrate our team's ability to conduct a rigorous clinical trial successfully and show the efficacy of the AquOTic program in improving water competency among children on the autism spectrum, along with caregiver-reported goals, which underscored our readiness to lead larger-scale trials.

What changes or developments within your organization were enabled by our funding, which, in turn, strengthened your position for follow-on grants?
With AOTF's IRG support, we developed intervention manuals, established treatment fidelity procedures, identified AquOTic's active ingredients, and established standardized training protocols. These developments built the foundation for intervention fidelity and scalability—key factors that strengthened our applications for federal grants.

The Follow-On Funding Process

Can you describe how you identified and pursued the subsequent funding opportunities?
We systematically reviewed funding mechanisms that aligned with our mission, focusing on autism intervention and community-based rehabilitation science. We targeted federal programs such as NIH that had a NOSI (Notice of Special Interest) on drowning prevention research, and DoD's Autism Research Program.

Specific Examples and Evidence

Could you share specific examples of how our funding helped you achieve results that were compelling to other funders?
Our ability to successfully recruit and provide the AquOTic intervention to over 37 children on the autism spectrum using a rigorous randomized control trial framework, and show significant improvements in children's water competency skills, provided compelling evidence of both efficacy and real-world applicability. We were able to show that the study interventionists achieved high treatment fidelity, which further strengthened our proposal to train community interventionists on AquOTic to ensure scalability. View swim safety tips for children with autism and at-home water safety activities.

What data, stories, or achievements resulting from our funding were particularly impactful in your follow-on grant applications? 

• We published clinical trial results showing significant improvements in children’s foundational water competency skills in Frontiers in Pediatrics (Kemp E, et al., 2024).
• The narrative of families who transitioned from being unable to access traditional swim lessons to having their child's unique needs met during AquOTic, with improvements in water safety and swim skills.

Lessons Learned

What lessons did you learn during the process of securing the follow-on funding, which you believe were influenced by your experience with our organization?
We learned the importance of conducting a rigorous pilot trial with standardized outcomes and family-centered narratives.

Are there specific resources, support, or guidance that our organization provided that were particularly helpful in your subsequent fundraising efforts?
The visibility and credibility gained through AOTF's IRG grant served as a critical endorsement when pursuing competitive grants.

Support early career OT research, donate, and/or apply to our Intervention and Implementation Research Grants now open. Letter of Intent due Sept. 19, 2025. 

The Occupational Therapy Journal of Research (OTJR), published by the American Occupational Therapy Foundation (AOTF), is proud to introduce a new Infographic Series—created to help bridge the gap between research and practice.

Click to open the full infographic!

These visually engaging, evidence-informed resources are designed to make core concepts in occupational therapy more accessible, shareable, and ready for implementation across various settings.

Whether you're supporting emotional regulation, promoting daily function, or working in emerging areas of occupational therapy (OT) practice, our infographics can serve as quick references, teaching tools, or conversation starters with clients, caregivers, students, and colleagues.

Our latest infographic highlights the Cognitive Orientation to Daily Occupational Performance (CO-OP) approach—a client-centered, evidence-based intervention that empowers individuals to solve their own performance challenges. Rather than focusing on underlying components, CO-OP addresses meaningful occupation directly through cognitive strategy use and guided discovery. The "Goal-Plan-Do-Check" framework helps clients develop problem-solving skills that transfer to everyday life.

Download the CO-OP approach infographic and use it in your sessions, classrooms, or team discussions. This is just the beginning. We’ll continue adding more OTJR infographics to the AOTF website throughout the year—all grounded in occupational therapy research and designed to help you bring evidence to life in your daily work. Stay tuned—and thank you for helping us move OT research forward!