PhD Students

Beata Batorowicz

Beata graduated from the University of Western Ontario (UWO) with a B.Sc. degree in Occupational Therapy. In 2004, she completed M.Sc. at UWO. Her thesis focused on children who used adaptive technology for writing and explored relationships among children's independence, performance, and methods of accessing technology.  Beata has practiced clinically as an occupational therapist for 11 years, providing community-based services and working with children who have little or no functional speech. She was also a clinical services leader of augmentative and alternative communication (AAC), seating/mobility, and adaptive technology services at the Thames Valley Children's Centre in London. Between 2006 and 2009, Beata has been a lecturer at UWO in the School of Occupational Therapy and Health Sciences. Beata is a doctoral student in the Rehabilitation Science PhD program at McMaster. Her research focuses on language and communicative competence, participation, and quality of life of children who are non-verbal and use AAC. Beata is interested in application of augmentative communication strategies to enable children's community and social participation. She is currently an Investigator for the CIHR Team in Optimal Environments for Severely Disabled Youth. Beata's PhD supervisor is Dr. Cheryl Missiuna, and her committee members include Dr. Gillian King and Dr. Peter Rosenbaum.

Laura Brunton

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Laura graduated from Brock University with an Honours Bachelor of Kinesiology in 2007. Since then she has completed her Masters of Science at the University of Western Ontario under the supervision of Dr. Doreen Bartlett. Her Master's thesis centered on determining the validation, reliability, responsiveness and sensitivity-to-change of two abbreviated versions of the Gross Motor Function Measure (GMFM-66) for children with cerebral palsy. Laura is currently in a combined PhD/Master's of Physical Therapy program at the University of Western Ontario. Her current research focus is understanding and measuring physical fatigue in adolescents and young adults with cerebral palsy.

Andrea Cross

Andrea graduated in 2011 from Wilfrid Laurier University with a Masters of Science in Kinesiology and Physical Education. Stemming from her love of sports and passion for working with children with developmental disabilities, her master's research focused on adapted physical activity. Specifically, she examined the influence of a structured swim program on children with Autism Spectrum Disorder and Communication Delays. After completing her master's, Andrea was employed at King's-Edgehill School in Windsor, Nova Scotia where she worked as the Learning Differences Coordinator. Andrea is currently a PhD student in the School of Rehabilitation Science at McMaster University working with Dr. Peter Rosenbaum. For her PhD research she plans to examine the role of physical activity and healthy active living in the lives of children with developmental disabilities.

Matt Freeman

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Matt graduated from McMaster University in 2002 with a BA and MA in political science.  Matt is currently pursuing his PhD in Rehabilitation Science under the supervision of Dr. Jan Willem Gorter after many years of serving as "community faculty" and tutor in McMaster's Occupational Therapy Programme.  Matt has also served as an advisor on the development of CanChild's Youth KIT (including the development of its websites and informational videos) and as a research assistant for Debra Stewart.  Matt's research interests include understanding how adolescents and young adults with cerebral palsy (CP) experience the transition to adulthood.  More specifically, Matt thesis will be examining the information needs of individuals with CP and their families during the transition to adulthood, and the most effective ways of delivering that information during this transitional phase.

Susan Guenther

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Susan graduated in 2001 with a double Specialist BSc in Psychology and Exceptionality in Human Learning from the University of Toronto at Mississauga. She then pursued a Masters in Occupational Therapy at the University of Toronto, Class of 2004. Susan practiced as an entry level clinician in School Health Support as well as wheelchair prescription in a children's rehabilitation setting. In 2006 she accepted a position as a Living and Life Skills Educator with youth as they transitioned into adulthood. Her Masters research explored the lived experiences of disabled university students and how navigating their accommodations affected their student roles. Susan continued work on this research project with her former supervisor, Prof. Barry Trentham, until 2007. She relocated to McMaster University, working as a Research Project Coordinator with Prof. Deb Stewart on transitions research and began her doctoral studies in the Rehabilitation Science PhD program at McMaster University in 2008. Susan's thesis topic explores how disability is understood within rehabilitation science and rehabilitation providers' attitudes and perceptions on disability. She works with her PhD supervisor, Dr. Peter Rosenbaum, and her committee members are Prof. Deb Stewart and Dr. Seanne Wilkins. 

Deepa Jeevanantham

Deepa graduated from The Tamil Nadu Dr. MGR Medical University with a Bachelor of Physiotherapy degree in 2004. In 2007 she completed a Master of Physiotherapy degree from Utkal University, Orissa India. Currently she is pursuing a PhD in Rehabilitation Science at the Western University under the supervision of Dr. Doreen Bartlett. Deepa’s research focus is on investigating a series of multivariate classification systems in children with cerebral palsy. 

Pranay Jindal

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In 2007, Pranay graduated from Manipal University, India with a Bachelor's degree in Physiotherapy. In 2009, he completed a Master's degree in Physiotherapy, from Manipal University, with specialization in Community Based Rehabilitation and ergonomics. His master's thesis focused on strength deficits in healthy young adults with hypermobility. After his master's degree, he practised as a lecturer and as a physiotherapist. As a physiotherapist, he has worked with children with special needs for two years in a community setting. He has conducted screening camps and information seminars for parents of children with disability. Driven by the passion for acquiring more knowledge and expertise in the field of pediatric rehabilitation, he began his Ph.D. at the School of Rehabilitation Sciences, McMaster University in 2011, under the supervision of Joy MacDermid. Working in close collaboration with committee members Peter Rosenbaum and Mary Law at CanChild, his thesis focuses on the International Classification of Functioning, Disability, and Health (ICF) framework, and parents of children with cerebral palsy.

Yao-Chuen Li

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Yao is a pediatric physical therapist and part-time lecturer in Taiwan. He graduated from China Medical University with a B.Sc. degree in Physical Therapy in 2005, and with a M.Sc. degree in Medical Science under the supervision of Dr. Sheng K. Wu in 2006. His Master's thesis focused on establishing reliability and validity of the Taiwanese Movement Assessment Test for Children with age- and gender-matched norms, which could be used to evaluate and diagnose children with motor impairments. Since then, he has been involving in the research regarding children with motor difficulties, in particular Developmental Coordination Disorder (DCD), for more than five years. Yao entered the PhD program in the Department of Kinesiology at McMaster University in 2012 and is supervised by Dr. John Cairney. 

Tram Nguyen

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Tram is a PhD student in the Rehabilitation Science program at McMaster working under the supervision of Dr. Jan Willem Gorter.  She graduated from McMaster University with an Honours Bachelor degree in Science in 2006. After graduation, she worked as a teaching assistant for the Faculty of Geography and Earth Sciences and a research assistant for the Faculty of Science and the Faculty of Health Sciences.  In addition to her work at McMaster University, she also taught SAT and TOEFL in London, England, and Seoul, South Korea.  Driven by a passion for education, research, and teaching, she began a Masters in Rehabilitation Science at McMaster University in 2008 under the guidance of Professor Sue Baptiste, developing a language assessment for internationally educated occupational therapists. Upon completion of her Masters in 2010, the McMaster Assessment of Comprehension and Communication for Internationally-educated Occupational Therapists (MACC) was created.  Currently, the focus of her PhD research is on facilitating the transition of youth with disabilities as they move from pediatric to adult-oriented health care.

Michelle Phoenix

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Michelle graduated from the University of Toronto in 2007 with a M.H.Sc. degree in Speech Language Pathology. She started the PhD program in Rehabilitation Science as a part time student in September, 2011. Her research has focused on parents of children with disabilities, with respect to: mental health, supports, access and engagement, and culture. Michelle has practiced clinically at KidsAbility, a children's treatment centre for 5 years. In this role she has provided speech-language assessment, therapy, and consultation services to preschool aged children and their families. She participated in clinical research opportunities and the promotion of evidence based practice within this environment. Michelle is interested in how hard to reach families access and engage if pediatric rehabilitation services. Her advisor is Dr. Peter Rosenbaum, and her committee members include Dr. Cheryl Missiuna and Dr. Susan Jack.

Lisa Rivard

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Lisa graduated in 1991 with a Bachelor of Science degree in Physiotherapy from the University of Western Ontario in London, Ontario. She has worked in a variety of pediatric clinical settings with infants and young children and has held several research positions including coordinating a funded clinical research project, providing research support to several funded grants and most recently as the Project Coordinator for a multi-province 3 year CIHR-funded knowledge translation study at CanChild. In 2005, Lisa completed a Master of Science (Rehabilitation Science) degree at McMaster University, investigating teachers' perceptions of the motor difficulties of children with Developmental Coordination Disorder (DCD).  Lisa entered the PhD program in the School of Rehabilitation Science at McMaster University in September 2010 and is supervised by Dr. Cheryl Missiuna. Lisa's PhD research will explore the role of attentional processes in motor learning in children with DCD.

Uzma Williams

Uzma graduated with a B.A in Applied Psychology at Concordia University College of Alberta, and then completed her MSc at the University of Alberta. Her past experience includes working as a Research Coordinator at an urban hospital to enrich patient care. Uzma is currently completing her PhD in Rehabilitation Sciences under the supervision of Dr. Mary Law. Her focus is on rehabilitation services utilization and outcomes for children with disabilities. Specifically, Uzma is assisting Dr. Law with investigating organizational and environmental systems that impact children with disabilities. The assessment is based on Andersen's Health Care Utilization Model. Factors such as predisposing characteristics, enabling resources, and need are being measured to compare how each impacts variation in service utilization, health status outcomes and client satisfaction for children receiving rehabilitation services. Uzma has also worked as a Teaching Assistant since 2007 for a professor at Concordia University College of Alberta and helps with co-creating educational DVDs.

Kathy Wlodarczyk

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