Occupational Therapy Faculty

 

 

Interim Director and Associate Professor
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Sarah Foidel’s research and clinical practice interests include neurologic conditions, quality of life in both with dementia, functional vision, and functional cognition.

She is currently serving as the Interim Director of the School of Occupational Therapy.

Assistant Professor
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Jeni’s practice experience and interests include community-based services for people living with serious mental illness as well as OT’s role in promoting recovery and providing trauma-informed and sensory-based interventions in inpatient psychiatric settings. She specializes in motivational interviewing, supported education, and family/caregiver education and training. In addition to her educational background in OT, she holds a degree in instructional design and technology, and has a scholarly focus on trauma-informed teaching, team-based learning, intraprofessional (OT/OTA) education, and online and blended learning.

Gadkari, Shruti Headshot Photo
Assistant Professor
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Shruti Gadkari is an assistant professor in the school of Occupational Therapy. Her research and teaching interests are in the field of pediatrics, specifically early childhood, family centered practice of care and sensory integration as well as evidence based practice. She has worked in pediatric inpatient, outpatient and school based settings. She served as a clinical occupational therapist for the eight years in pediatric rehabilitation and school- based occupational therapy and holds an advanced practice certification in Sensory Integration. Dr. Gadkari worked extensively with parent coaching models to promote social participation among children with disabilities and continues her research in this area. She hopes to translate her clinical expertise to the classroom; to help prepare students to function in a dynamic healthcare environment and be able to use the power of occupations for health promotion. 

photo of Caroline Harkins McCarty
Assistant Professor
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Caroline Harkins McCarty’s work focuses on supports for children with disabilities and their families. Her additional scholarly interests include foster care, adoption, and family occupations. She has taught and worked within a variety of pediatric settings, and especially loves working with children in their everyday contexts of families and schools.  

Assistant Professor
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Dr. Diana Honorat earned her post-professional clinical doctorate in Occupational Therapy from St. Catherine University in St. Paul, Minnesota. Her current interests and final project involved curriculum evaluation of international occupational therapy programs using World Federation of Occupational Therapy Accreditation standards. Diana received her entry-level Master of Science degree in Occupational Therapy from Florida Gulf Coast University, Fort Myers, Florida, completing her master’s research in young adults transition readiness through a university-based summer camp.

Dr. Honorat served as a clinical pediatrics occupational therapist in outpatient pediatric, home health, and school-based settings. She has also worked with adults in home health and skilled nursing facility settings. She holds both an advanced practice certification in Sequential-Oral- Sensory (S.O.S.) feeding. Dr. Honorat currently holds her 200 RYT yoga certification and is Reiki Level II certified practitioner.

Dr. Honorat is passionate about international work and occupational therapy and program development geared around novel community-based practice that promotes occupational and social justice through health promotion and wellness.

Dr. Honorat has presented at American Occupational Therapy Association Conferences on the development of an Occupational Therapy Educational Program in Haiti and the impact of global partnerships applying World Federation of Occupational Therapy Accreditation Education standards.

You can find Dr. Honorat trying a new recipe in her spare time, teaching or practicing yoga, reiki, and meditation, or being of service. She loves spending time with her husband and little girl exploring their surroundings through nature-based activities.

Assistant Professor
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Alisa Jordan Sheth has a PhD in Disability Studies from the University of Illinois at Chicago and is interested in studying the ways in which the field of disability studies can be effectively incorporated into occupational therapy education, practice, and research to foster critical reflection and responsiveness to the needs of the communities we serve. Clinically, she has experience working as an occupational therapist with people with intellectual and developmental disabilities (I/DD), their families, and other caregivers across the lifespan, from school-based services to end of life care. She has a scholarly focus on creating opportunities for people with I/DD to participate in research activities and share their experiences and perspectives, as well as better understanding the aging needs of the I/DD community.

Amanda La Bonte Headshot Photo
Assistant Professor
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Amanda is an Academic Fieldwork Coordinator for Pacific's School of Occupational Therapy. Amanda's practice experience includes working as a traveler in a wide variety of settings treating older adults and especially those in underserved communities. She holds her Executive Certificate in Home Modifications (ECHM) and her background includes working for several Area Agencies on Aging (AAA) to support older adults. Her scholarship focuses on increasing independence, access, and success for students and faculty, older adults, and those experiencing disability.

Alyssa Phillips
Assistant Professor
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Alyssa Phillips joined the School of Occupational Therapy as the Clinical Education Coordinator and Assistant Professor in 2023. Dr. Phillips received her masters degree from Saint Francis University and her Clinical Science Doctorate from the University of Pittsburgh where her primary focus was adolescent chronic pain management. Clinically she applies her lens of chronic pain and symptom management to upper extremity, industrial, and neurological rehabilitation.

Lisa Porter Headshot Photo
Assistant Professor
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Lisa is an occupational therapist with over 25 years of clinical experience. She received her master's in Occupational Therapy from Rockhurst University and her OTD and PhD from Rocky Mountain University of Health Professions. She holds advanced training in Sensory Integration (SIPT), Interpersonal Neurobiology, SOS Approach to Feeding, and Higher Education Teaching.

Associate Professor Emeritus

Tiffany Boggis brings a complementary mix of clinical expertise, business prowess and teaching experiences to the School of Occupational Therapy.

Associate Professor Emeritus

Steve Park's research involves evaluation of client-centred outcomes, quality of spending time day-to-day, leisure, and aging.

Professor Emeritus

John’s practice career focused on the psychosocial and physical effects of rehabilitation on disability in a wide range of settings across the U.S. and internationally.  More recently he’s advocating an occupational justice approach for the profession through research and practice, as in his work at the county jail addiction treatment program. Other research projects address: the history of occupational science, the Americans with Disabilities Act, and the impact of summer camp-like experiences on people with aphasia (a communication disorder), their family members, and interprofessional students who volunteer to work with them.

Professor Emeritus

Dr. Gregory Wintz, PhD, OTR/L, retired from his position as director of the Pacific University School of Occupational Therapy. His retirement began May 15, 2019.