CFOT Awards
2022 Humanitarian Award - None awarded
Honored Lecturer Christy Billock, PhD, OTR/L, DipACLM
2022 Honored Lectureship
The CFOT Honored Lecturer Award recognizes California occupational therapy practitioners who have demonstrated leadership and promoted ideas and visions in occupational therapy for the profession,
and a presentation gives them an opportunity to share their insights and knowledge with the OT community at the CFOT Awards Luncheon and Symposium.
CFOT is pleased to announce the 2022 CFOT Honored Lecturer, Christy Billock, OTR/L, DipACLM. Dr. Billock worked in occupational therapy higher education for 24 years and most recently was a Professor
and Founding Program Director of the Occupational Therapy Doctorate (OTD) program at Keck Graduate Institute (KGI).
She holds a PhD in Occupational Science from the University of Southern California, where her dissertation focused on women’s experience of spirituality in everyday life. Questions of meaning, mattering, and how it all relates to occupation have influenced her work over the course of her career. She created the Occupational Therapy Spiritual Assessment (OTSA) tool and is passionate about teaching students how to have conversations that matter with their clients. Her definition of spirituality is utilized in the Occupational Therapy Practice Framework: Domain and Process, 4th edition.
Dr. Billock’s clinical background is in inpatient rehabilitation and she is a board-certified diplomate of the American College of Lifestyle Medicine. She has taught occupational therapy for 24 years in a broad range of subject areas including neuroscience, lifestyle medicine, geriatrics, rehabilitation, mental health, wellness, and occupational therapy history and theory. Dr. Billock has spoken at numerous state, regional, national, and international professional conferences. She is passionate about innovation in occupational therapy and growing the profession’s role in health promotion.
Meritorious Service Award Patricia Nagaishi, PhD, MA, OTR/L
2022 CFOT Meritorious Service Award
The purpose of this award is to honor an individual who has demonstrated exceptional effort on behalf of the CFOT for five or more years and who has made a major impact on the mission, goals, and objectives of CFOT in the present and for the future. CFOT would like to recognize Patricia Nagaishi for her years of hard work and dedication to our Foundation. During her tenure as Vice President and representative of OTAC, Pat was already making an impact on CFOT through her implementation of strategic planning as well as professionalization of the Foundation. Pat has gone on to serve three terms as President of CFOT, shepherding the importance of having a vision, mission statement, and above all – a plan. Her expertise and unwavering passion for the world of occupational therapy have helped CFOT flourish; with a streamlined structure of fundraising, publicity, and an overall sophistication of which the Foundation will only continue to benefit from.
Throughout her career with CFOT it has been clear that Pat’s true devotion to her work has not gone unnoticed.
2022 SCHOLARSHIP AND TRAINEESHIP RECIPIENTS
POST PROFESSIONAL SCHOLARSHIPS
- Janice Matsutsuyu Scholarship
Jed David – Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons
ENTRY LEVEL SCHOLARSHPIS
- Ardith Breton Scholarship
Cassandra Sigua – California State University at Dominguez Hills - Chuck Strauch Scholarship
Nicole Orr – San Jose State University - Frank J. Biehl Scholarship
Celine Rezvani – California State University oat Dominguez Hills - Fred Sammons Scholarship
Chantal Sotomayor – University of Southern California - Jaffe Graduate Scholarship
Julia Karczewski – Dominican University - Janice Matsutsuyu Scholarship
Rachel Garcia – California State University at Dominguez Hills - Knox-Hirsch Scholarship
Michael Benson – San Jose State University - Linda Florey Scholarship
Thao Pham – San Jose State University - Lisa Test Scholarship
Lauren Worley – San Jose State University - Michele Berro Scholarship
Sienna Kuykendall – San Jose State University - Wilma West Scholarship
Sarah Larkin – University of Southern California
OCCUPATIONAL THERAPY ASSISTANT TRAINEESHIPS
- Janice Matsutsuyu Traineeship
MaryAnn Von Kluegl – Grossmont College
- Los Angeles Consultants Group Traineeships
Natalya Makoyed – Sacramento City College
Markela Cruz – CBD College
- CFOT Traineeships
Madeliene McGann-Swasey – Stainbridge University
Thalia Flores Zavala – Santa Ana College
CFOT RESEARCH AWARDS
- Lisa Test Endowed Research Award Combined with the General Research Grant Award
Melisa Kaye, Ed.D., OTR/L
Assistant Professor, San Jose State University
“Investigating Resilience in Families With Young Children: Steps to Inform Holistic Clinical Interventions”
- Bonita Kraft Research Fund & General Grant Fund
Melissa Luong, OTR/L, OTD
Student, Loma Linda University
“The Impact of Racism and Ethnic Discrimination on Students’ Educational Experiences and Occupational Participation”
Mary Maverick, OTR/L, OTD
Student, Loma Linda University
“Work-Life Balance Among Home Health Clinicians
Jacqueline Teske, MOT, OTR/L, OTD
Student, Loma Linda University
“Exploring the Impact of an Occupational Therapy Program for Former Sex Workers”
SEED MONEY AWARDS
- Nicole Apodaca, Brian Kim, Marieka Drovin, Stephanie Lake, Melissa Kaye
“Promoting Student Success in a Flipped Classroom Environment: A Comparison of Concept Map and Reading Question Homework Strategies”
San Jose State University
- Lauren Worley, Angela Yeon, Tiffany Wong, Eden Wong, Hope Weseloh, Winifred Schultz-Krohn, Courtney Boitano
“Description of self-efficacy and parental stress of parents with young children in a homeless shelter”
San Jose State University
- Elana Candiotti, Chiana Hosseini, Mercedes Mansfield, Kate Hatch, Carley, Kruger, Megan Chang
“Thee relationship between resilience, sensory processing, sleep quality, and perceived stress for parents of children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD)”
San Jose State University
- Gurdeepak Dale, Amanda Laccone, Zoe Peters, Brinda Saini, Amie Smith, Julia Wilbarger
“Naturally OT: Measuring the outcomes of outdoor occupational therapy in young children”
Dominican University
- Michelle Hong, Lucky Ung, Judy Chen Gina Tucker-Roghi
“Occupation Based Certified Nursing Assistant (CAN) Training Program”
Dominican University
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