Sandra Edwards Colloquium

Dr. Ginny Stoffel is renowned for her significant contributions to the fields of mental health and substance use recovery, as well as for her efforts in enhancing leadership capacity within occupational therapy. She co-authored the book “Occupational Therapy for Mental Health: A Vision of Participation.” The newest edition will be published in 2024. She plays a pivotal role in bringing this edition to occupational therapy students, educators, and practitioners worldwide. Over the course of 47 years, Dr. Stoffel has held numerous leadership positions, starting during her time as a student and reaching the pinnacle of her career with her service as AOTA vice president and president from 2009 to 2016. She also represented the United States as the delegate to the World Federation of Occupational Therapists from 2021 to 2025. In recognition of her outstanding contributions, she was honored with the prestigious Award of Merit from AOTA in 2020. Furthermore, during the AOTA Centennial Celebration in 2017, she was recognized as one of the 100 Influential Individuals who have shaped the profession during its first 100 years in the United States.

Dr. Antoine Bailliard is an Associate Professor in the Occupational Therapy Doctorate Division at Duke University. His community-engaged scholarship focuses on improving the delivery of community-based services for adults with serious mental illness. Dr. Bailliard uses participatory methods to partner with people with lived experience with mental illness to design and implement research activities and in the development of tools and programs that improve the health, wellbeing, meaningful participation, and community integration of persons with serious mental illness. Dr. Bailliard is Co-Principal Investigator of a 5-year $2.4 million federal grant from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration to design an innovative assertive outreach team to meet the needs of adults with serious mental illness who are homeless or at risk of homelessness. Dr. Bailliard is also a consultant for the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services to implement a state-wide community mental health pilot involving occupational therapy.

Dr. Shu-Ping Chen is an Associate Professor in the Department of Occupational Therapy, Faculty of Rehabilitation Medicine at the University of Alberta, Canada. She worked as an OT Director in a psychiatric hospital for over 12 years. With a focus on mental health promotion and recovery, her teaching and research aim to improve social inclusion and the well-being of marginalized populations. Dr. Chen specializes in studying stigma and disability, substance misuse, employment, and participatory action research. Her current funded projects include occupational health and safety for new immigrant workers, student mental health and drinking culture on post-secondary campuses, and the development of Canada’s national psychosocial rehabilitation competency framework. She currently co-chairs the scientific committee of Psychosocial Rehabilitation Canada.

Dr. Martie Gillen is an associate professor in the Department of Family, Youth and Community Sciences at the University of Florida. She is a Trust Based Relational Intervention (TBRI) Practitioner, a Financial Social Work Educator, an Accredited Financial Counselor, and a Certified Family Life Educator. She is also a research affiliate of the Florida Institute for Child Welfare. Her current sponsored projects include leading the Florida Youth Experiences Study (FL YES), a five-year longitudinal study of youth who are at risk of aging out of foster care in Florida. She teaches undergraduate courses in personal finance, human services, and trauma. Dr. Gillen also teaches the graduate capstone course. Personally, she was a foster parent for over five years and is an adoptive parent to two children. She is also a Guardian ad Litem volunteer.