The College of Public Health and Health Professions is pleased to announce the PHHP Outstanding Alumni for 2018. They were honored at a ceremony during the college’s alumni reunion on September 8.
Sharon Brandenburger-Shasby, Ed.D., OTR/L, FAOTA, bachelor’s in occupational therapy ’68, recently retired after 50 years of practice as a clinician, researcher and faculty member. She practiced in a variety of settings with a focus on pediatrics and school-based practice. She served on the faculty at the Medical University of South Carolina and is a faculty emerita at Eastern Kentucky University where she was a graduate coordinator with an appointment to the PhD interdisciplinary program at the University of Kentucky. She recently taught as an adjunct faculty in the Doctor of Occupational Therapy program at Virginia Commonwealth University.
Her contributions include professional leadership service both nationally and in South Carolina as an American Occupational Therapy Association representative and in Virginia as the Virginia Occupational Therapy Association’s president and an American Occupational Therapy Association representative.
She has numerous peer-reviewed publications and professional presentations and she continues to mentor occupational therapy students and clinicians.
Shirish Lala, M.H.S., OTR/L, master’s in occupational therapy ’08, is an associate professor and academic clinical coordinator for the occupational therapy assistant program at Daytona State College. He has been actively involved with the National Board for Certification in Occupational Therapy as a volunteer for certification exam validation and item development. He has presented at various occupational therapy conferences and meetings at the state and national level. He is currently pursuing his doctorate in educational neuroscience from Johns Hopkins University.