Evidence-based Rehabilitation

Mary Law, PHD, OTReg(Ont), FCAOT, FCAHS is a Professor and Associate Dean (Health Sciences) Rehabilitation Science and associate member of the Department of Clinical Epidemiology and Biostatistics at McMaster University. She holds the John and Margaret Lillie Chair in Childhood Disability Research. Mary, an occupational therapist by training, is Co-Founder of CanChild Centre for Childhood Disability Research, a multidisciplinary research center at McMaster University. Mary's research centers on the development and validation of client-centered outcome measures, evaluation of occupational therapy interventions with children, the effect of environmental factors on the participation of children with disabilities in day to day activities, and transfer of research knowledge into practice. In her educational activities, Mary is involved in teaching the theoretical basis of occupational therapy practice and evidence-based occupational therapy practice in the occupational therapy program, as well as supervising graduate students. Mary is the lead author of the Canadian Occupational Performance Measure, a client-centered outcome measure for occupational therapy, and has written books on client-centered occupational therapy and measurement of occupational performance. Joy MacDermid, PT, PhD, is an Associate Professor in Rehabilitation Science at McMaster University (Hamilton, ON), and is the Co-director of Clinical Research at the Hand and Upper Limb Centre (London, ON). She is funded as a (physical therapist/epidemiologist) scientist by the Canadian Institutes of Health (CIHR New Investigator). She has published more than 100 articles including systematic reviews, development/evaluation of outcomes measures, clinical trials, knowledge transfer, clinical practice guidelines, and identification of clinical predictors. Her clinical interests are in musculoskeletal pain and disability resulting from upper quadrant disorders and the impact of these disorders on work and subsequent health and quality of life. Joy teaches courses in upper extremity musculoskeletal clinical skills, evidence-based practice, work disability, quality of life, and knowledge exchange and transfer. She is the Vice-President of the American Society of Hand Therapists (ASHT); has twice won its best scientific paper award; and was awarded the Natalie Barr Lecture in 2006, the Philadelphia Hand Meeting Honored Professorship in 2006, and the CIHR Quality of Life Award in 2007. She is an associate editor for The Journal of Hand Therapy and The Journal of Orthopaedic and Sports Physical Therapy and is the editor for the ASHT Clinical Outcome Assessment Recommendations for the Wrist/Hand.