Occupational Therapy (OT)

Valley McCurry, Ph.D., MBA, OTR/L, FAOTA, assistant professor, UAB Department of Occupational Therapy, was inducted into the American Occupational Therapy Association’s Roster of Fellows earlier this year.

Chris Eidson, Ph.D., MBA, OTR/L, FAOTA, assistant professor, UAB Department of Occupational Therapy, was inducted into the American Occupational Therapy Association’s Roster of Fellows earlier this year.

Governor Kay Ivey, during a bill signing ceremony on Thursday, signed into law the Preceptor Tax Incentive Program to provide income tax credit incentives for certain health professions students who train in rural and underserved counties across Alabama.

The Department of Occupational Therapy’s first education abroad group spent two transformative weeks in South Africa last spring that included a low vision screening for students at the Athlone School for the Blind. All students who attend this public school on the outskirts of Cape Town have visual deficits, and some have multiple disabilities, including cognitive impairments.

For the third consecutive year, the UAB School of Health Professions (SHP) has awarded members of the SHP faculty with faculty grants. This year’s winners are Alexandra Evancho, PT, DPT, assistant professor in the Department of Physical Therapy; Seung Yup (Joshua) Lee, PhD, assistant professor in the Department of Health Services Administration; and Megan Carpenter, OTD, OTR/L, SCFES, assistant professor in the Department of Occupational Therapy, and Elizabeth Wylie, PT, DPT, NCS, assistant professor in the Department of Physical Therapy.

The UAB School of Health Professions has 12 people, including Dean Andrew J. Butler, Ph.D., named to the Birmingham Business Journal’s 2021 Who’s Who in Health Care.

Jewell J. Dickson, OTD, MPH, OTR/L, ATP, FAOTA, associate professor in the Department of Occupational Therapy, was named to the American Occupational Therapy Association (AOTA) Roster of Fellows for her contributions to championing change through leadership, service, and advocacy.  

Kerry McAlpine, administrative supervisor for our Department of Occupational Therapy, is one of the first six honorees of the UAB Shared Values in Action Program (UAB VIP Award), launched in January to honor employees whose work exemplifies and embodies one or more of values of integrity, respect, diversity and inclusiveness, collaboration, excellence and achievement, accountability and stewardship.

Researchers from the UAB Department of Occupational Therapy have published new findings that suggest spending 20 minutes in an urban park will make someone happier regardless of whether they are engaging in exercise or not during the visit.

Gavin Jenkins, Ph.D., has been named chair of the UAB Department of Occupational Therapy. Jenkins, whose research interests include assistive technology, pedagogical affect, learning performance, and the influence of green spaces and built environment on occupational participation, has worked and researched in the United Arab Emirates, the United Kingdom and the United States.