About the Author
René Padilla, PhD, OTR/L, FAOTA, is associate professor of occupational therapy at Creighton University in Omaha, Nebraska. René has worked in mental health, acute rehabilitation (adult and pediatric), and administration throughout the world. He has consulted for various nongovernmental agencies involved in international efforts of community development in
Latin America. His interest in the phenomenological exploration of disability evolved into a research focus on social disparities and occupational shifts of refugees and undocumented immigrants. He maintains a private practice in psychotherapy with an emphasis on issues of disability and migration trauma. Yolanda Griffiths, OTD, OTR/L, FAOTA, is assistant professor of occupational therapy at Creighton University. Yolanda graduated with a BSOT from the University of Puget Sound, an MHR with an emphasis in counseling from the University of Oklahoma, and an OTD from Creighton University. She has primarily worked in the area of mental health since 1977. Yolanda entered academia in 1993, and her research interests include fieldwork education, active learning, computer technology and higher education, interprofessional education and diversity training, and the scholarship of teaching and learning. Ivelisse Lazzarini, OTD, OTR/L, obtained a BSOT from Temple University and an OTD from Creighton University. Her clinical experience is in long-term care and stroke rehabilitation, and she has worked as a consultant for mental health and community occupational therapy programs. On finishing her doctorate, she completed two postdoctoral fellowships and attended MIT to study complex physical, biological, and social systems. In 2004, she accepted a position at Creighton University as assistant professor. Her research interests are brain dynamics, dynamical systems theory, and the merging of the concepts in neuro-occupation. Charlotte Brasic Royeen, PhD, OTR, FAOTA, is dean of Doisy College of Health Sciences and professor in occupational therapy of St. Louis University. She graduated summa cum laude from Tufts University with a BSOT; received an MS from Washington University in St. Louis; and received a PhD from Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University. Her research and scholarship interests include early intervention, interprofessional service, oral history in the profession, and occupational shaping of the brain.
