Core Faculty for the Therapeutic Science Program

Winnie Dunn, PhD, OTR, FAOTA
Professor and Department Chairperson

Ph.D. 1983; Neurosciences; University of Kansas, Lawrence, KS
M.S.1973; Education/Learning Disabilities; University of Missouri, Columbia, Missouri
B.S.1972; Occupational Therapy, University of Missouri, Columbia, Missouri

In addition to her role of departmental Chair, serving on numerous professional advisory boards, and being actively involved in research, Dr. Dunn was awarded a W.T. Kemper Fellowship for Teaching Excellence in September 2004!

Research Interests:
Dr. Dunn's research is directed toward study of how persons understand and use the sensory input they received, and how their sensory processing abilities affect that individual's performance in daily life. For more details, you may want to visit Dr. Dunn's website about Sensory Processing in Everyday Life.

O.T. Practice:
Dr. Dunn's practice expertise is with children and families in community settings, such as public schools, early intervention programs, day care centers, and families' homes.

S. Omar Ahmad, PhD, OTD, OTR
Assistant Professor

Curriculum Vitae  |  Lab: Virginia Gore Neuro-occupation Laboratory

Research Interests:
Developmental neuroscience, Stereology, Degenerative and Acute Neurological Disease, Light Imaging, Multiple Unit Activity, In vivo Voltammetry, Integrating Therapeutic Science and Neuroscience, Educational Research

O.T. Practice:
Areas of occupational therapy practice experience include acute care, neurological injuries, burns, and psycho-social occupational therapy. Research interests include exploration of the form and function of the dorsal and ventral basal ganglia as it relates to Parkinson's Disease, Stereological research in proteopathies (including P.D. and AlzheimerÕs Disease), neural mechanisms of learning and program evaluation. The primary method used in the lab is immunohistochemistry and mathematically unbiased stereology. Dr. Ahmad is the P.I. in the Virginia Gore Neuro-occupation Lab and currently an Assistant Professor teaching neuroscience, and rehabilitation in the Department of Occupational Therapy, University of Kansas Medical Center. Enjoy some images from the Lab!

Joan McDowd, PhD
Professor

Curriculum Vitae  |  Lab: Grayhawk Research Laboratory

Ph.D. 1986; Psychology; University of Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Research Interests: Aging and cognition; Aging and selective attention; Aging and memory

The Grayhawk Research Laboratory is dedicated to study of aging and cognition. Research interests focus on age-related changes in cognitive functioning. More specifically, I am interested in attention as a fundamental aspect of information processing, and in how attention develops and changes with advancing age. There is some evidence to suggest that older adults are more susceptible to distraction than are young adults, and this distractibility could underlie a number of age- related cognitive deficits. My research is intended to describe the characteristics of attentional function in later adulthood.

Goals of this line of work include: documenting age-related changes in cognitive processes; identifying the contexts in which age-related performance differences: are present or absent; allow understanding of the changing abilities of older adults in order to maximize their potential for successful interaction with the environment.

Recent clinical interests include the role of cognition in functional impairments in aging and the diseases of aging (Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease, and stroke).

Lisa Mische-Lawson, MEd, PhD, CTRS
Assistant Professor

Curriculum Vitae  |  Lab

Ph.D., Therapeutic Sciences; University of Kansas Medical Center
M.Ed., Therapeutic Recreation; Temple University
B.S., Therapeutic Recreation; University of Missouri

Research Interests:
Research interests focus on sensory processing and play. More specifically I am interested in the relationship between preschool-aged children's sensory processing patterns and play preferences. My research is conducted in the preschoolers' natural school environment.

Tracy Morrison, OTD, OTR

Curriculum Vitae  |  Lab

Jeff Radel, PhD
Associate Professor

Curriculum Vitae  |  Lab: Visual Neuroscience Laboratory

Ph.D. 1987; Experimental Psychology; Dalhousie University, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada
M.A. 1982; Experimental Psychology; Dalhousie University, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada
B.A. 1979; Psychobiology, Oberlin College, Oberlin, Ohio, USA

Research Interests:
Developmental neuroscience; Neuronal plasticity; Anatomy & function of the visual system

Research efforts address issues of neural plasticity and function by investigating how anatomic relations and functional capacities of the visual system are altered following perturbations during development. Determining how neural information from multiple sources is integrated, how functional behaviors are influenced by that integration pattern, and how neural processing may be enhanced are factors fundamental to understanding the process of neural development. A wide range of techniques are used to address these issues, including microsurgery and transplantation of neural tissue, a variety of histological procedures at the light microscopic and ultrastructural levels, behavioral and electrophysiological assessments of function, and systems analysis methodology.