Occupational therapy

Dr. Winnie Dunn is a distinguished professor with nearly 50 years of professional and academic experience. Her research involves identifying people’s distinct sensory patterns, and linking these patterns to behaviors within everyday life in the general population and in people who have conditions such as autism and schizophrenia. She designed the assessment, Sensory Profile, which is used internationally in practice and research. Additionally, she studies coaching practices and has shown the significant positive impact of quality coaching on parent’s sense of competence and children’s participation. She has published hundreds of papers, chapters and books. Her book for the public, "Living Sensationally: Understanding Your Senses," has been translated into many languages.

Timothy J. Wolf is a professor in and chair of the Department of Occupational Therapy, and has been selected to serve as associate dean for research starting Oct. 1, 2021. He is the director of the Performance, Participation and Neurorehabilitation Laboratory. The goal of the lab is to guide intervention aimed at improving participation in work and community activities post- neurological injury, with current research focusing on individuals with stroke and cancer-related cognitive impairment. The two primary objectives of this research are: (1) to identify and manage functional cognitive deficits to improve participation; and (2) to investigate the efficacy of self-management education and cognitive-strategy training based interventions to improve health and participation outcomes. He has published multiple clinical studies using CO-OP with adults with neurological injury, is CO-OP certified and also is a certified CO-OP trainer. His current NIH-R01 funded study is evaluating the use of CO-OP to improve occupational performance in individuals with sub-acute stroke.

Dr. Whitney Henderson earned a master’s in occupational therapy in 2008 from the University of Missouri-Columbia (Mizzou) and a clinical doctorate in occupational therapy in 2017 from Creighton University. She currently teaches a wide variety of entry-level Doctor of Occupational Therapy (OTD) classes related to adult evaluation and intervention. She supervises students in the adult outpatient clinic. In addition, she teaches in the post-professional OTD program and provides mentorship in teaching practicum and capstone projects. Whitney researches neurological conditions, such as stroke, Parkinson's disease and concussion and topics on advancing the scholarship of teaching and learning.

Dr. Tiffany Bolton has eight years of teaching experience and 10 years of clinical experience. Dr. Bolton is involved in leadership activities at the national and school level, specifically related to children and youth, as well as curriculum development. She has developed multiple community partnerships centered around pediatric mental and behavioral health, preschool social-emotional development and kindergarten readiness. Along with her co-creator, she has developed the Just Write! handwriting assessment for preschool children and the A Way Forward initiative focused on helping vulnerable families with children with mental and behavioral health concerns. Dr. Bolton engages in teaching, clinical practice and research in pediatric neurological and complex medical conditions, well-being, pediatric mental and behavioral health and case-based learning.