Adjunct Faculty

Constance Charney

Connie Charney, M.A., OT, currently teaches Orientation to Occupational Therapy (E40.0001), a course designed to introduce undergraduate students to the field of occupational therapy through lectures, guest speakers, and clinical site visits. She also co-teaches Summer Fieldwork I (E40.2720), a community outreach experience where graduate students work with a well population. Connie earned her Master of Arts in Occupational Therapy at NYU. She held the position of Admissions Director here for nine years. Her clinical experience is in mental health practice.

Deborah Moore

Deborah Moore, M.A., OTR/L coteaches Activity Group Process (E40.2707) and Analysis of Human Activity/Occupational Performance I (E40.2035).  She obtained her master's degree in occupational therapy from the University of Southern California, and received her undergraduate degree from the University of Michigan.  Her master's research project was to standardize Claudia Allen's Cognitive Levels Test and to utilize it with a chronic schizophrenic inpatient population.  Deborah was clinical assistant professor at the SUNY Downstate occupational therapy program for eight years, with the primary responsibility of coordinating all fieldwork placements, teaching courses in gerontology and therapeutic activities, and leading seven Level I and Level II fieldwork courses with seminars.  At SUNY, she volunteered for two years as project director to complete a grant from the U.S. Department of Education, written and directed by Dr. Jim Hinojosa, for early intervention competency based pre-service training.  Deborah has been on the adjunct faculty at SUNY and at Long Island University, teaching kinesiology and living skills labs.  She maintains a full time clinical practice in home care and for ten years was an occupational therapy supervisor with the Visiting Nurse Service of New York in Manhattan.

Diana Chen Wong

Diana Chen Wong, OTR/L, currently assists in teaching Neurological Evaluation and Intervention (E40.2743). In the spring, she teaches the Occupational Therapy Domain of Concern course (E40.2702). She has been an adjunct clinical instructor in the NYU Department of Occupational Therapy since 1996. She is Director of Occupational Therapy at Park Terrace Care Center in Rego Park, New York, in addition to her work as a contract therapist with Therapeutic Resources, Inc. She has a B.S. in Occupational Therapy (1990) and a Certificate in Healthcare Management from NYU. She has taken graduate coursework in motor learning and control at Columbia University.

Elissa Levine

Gregory Roth

Gregory Roth, M.A., OTR/L, CHT, assists in teaching Orthopedic Evaluation and Intervention (E40.2741) and Kinesiology (E40.2741). He has a Bachelor of Science degree in Environmental Science from Rutgers University's Cook College. He received his Master of Arts in Occupational Therapy from NYU. He is a member of the American Society of Hand Therapists. He works at the University Orthopedic Group of Robert Wood Johnson.

Henry Hanif

Henry Hanif, M.A., OTR/L, assists in teaching Mental Health Evaluation and Intervention (E40.2745). His primary occupational therapy practice focuses on an adult and geriatric population in an inpatient psychiatric unit at Beth Israel Medical Center in New York City. Mr. Hanif routinely supervises NYU Steinhardt Occupational Therapy Level I and Level II Fieldwork students and student volunteers. He has completed several research studies with other clinicians in various disciplines in mental health and continues to actively participate in ongoing studies. In 1999, he earned his Master of Arts in Occupational Therapy at NYU.

Holly Cohen

Holly A. Cohen, OTR/L, ATP.  have been an Occupational therapist at NYU Medical Center since the end of 2000.  She is the clinical specialist in assistive technology & driving rehabilitation.  She provides assistive technology services to adult & pediatric populations in all areas of the medical center.  She has been an adjunct professor since 2006.

Janine Kahan-McLear

Janine Kahan-McLear, M.A., OTR/L, assists in teaching Neurological Evaluation and Intervention (E40.2743). She graduated from the NYU OT Master's Program in 1990. She is currently working as supervisor of OT at Westchester Medical Center (WMC) in Valhalla, New York, where she has been since 1997. She received NDT Certification in 1996 for the treatment of adult hemiplegia and received certification for A-ONE in 2000. Her experience and interests are in NICU and early intervention populations in addition to neuro rehabilitation and hand therapy.

Jeffrey Tomlinson

Jeff Tomlinson, OTR, MSW, FAOTA, teaches Activity Group Process (E40.2707) and co-teaches Mental Health Evaluation and Intervention (E40.2745). He is the Legislative and Government Relations Coordinator for the New York State Occupational Therapy Association (NYSOTA). In 2001, he received the Lindy Boggs Award from the AOTA for his public advocacy work. He holds a B.S. in Occupational Therapy from the State University of New York at Downstate Medical Center in Brooklyn and a Master's in Social Work (MSW) from the City University of New York at Hunter College in New York City. He is a senior occupational therapist at Washington Heights Community Service, where he provides treatment for mentally ill adults. In addition to this, he works for VNS of Westchester.

Judith Grossman

Judy Grossman, Dr.PH, OTR, FAOTA, teaches Reframing the Meaning of Disability to Families (E40.2338). She is the Associate Director of the Center for the Developing Child and Family at the Ackerman Institute for the Family. She has a Doctor of Public Health degree from Columbia University and a Postgraduate Certificate in Family Therapy from the Ackerman Institute.  Some of her former academic appointments include Chairperson at SUNY-Downstate Medical Center and Associate Research Scientist at Yale School of Medicine.  She has conducted research, published and presented in the areas of prevention, family resilience, early intervention and special education policy, program development and evaluation and mental health consultation. She also has a private practice in couples and family therapy.

Karen Roston

Karen Roston, D.P.S., OT, earned her Doctor of Professional Studies degree at NYU in December of 2008. She had previously earned her Master's degree from NYU in 1995. Karen will be teaching E.40.2762, Theoretical Foundations for Intervention in the fall semester. Her practice focuses on children aged 0-3 in Early Intervention, both home and center-based, and on the elementary school-aged population. She has been a senior occupational therapist with the New York City Department of Education for almost 15 years. Besides her continuing research on and about handwriting, she is also using evidenced-based research to develop effective interdisciplinary social skills groups for the child with high-functioning autism/Asperger Syndrome.In addition, she has also served as a technology evaluator in the school system for 5 years.

Laurie Goeringer

Laurie Goeringer, M.A., OTR/L, currently teaches the Fieldwork I seminar (E40.2721). She is an occupational therapist specializing in behavioral health at St. Vincent's C.M.C. Hospital in New York. At St. Vincent's, she provides a wide range of clinical treatments in an acute, dual diagnosis inpatient psychiatric setting. She holds a Master of Arts in Occupational Therapy from NYU. Prior to that, she graduated from Brooklyn College, where she was a member of Phi Beta Kappa. She holds a CASAC-T in pursuit of becoming an alcohol and substance abuse counselor through Lehman College and the Coalition for Behavioral Health Agencies in New York.

Lilya Berns

Lilya Berns, OTR/L, currently teaches fieldwork I seminar and routinely supervises level I and level II NYU occupational therapy students. She has been an occupational therapist specializing in mental health practice at Beth Israel Medical Center since 2001. She has conducted evidence-based research using the Social Profile to find out if participation in the activities of the inpatient services were improving patients' social interaction. Her current research areas include using sensory modulation in individuals diagnosed with psychiatric disorders to decrease aggression, and movement disorders relating to psychotropic medications. She is currently a post-professional student at Columbia University's Master of Occupational Therapy Education program, and earned both her BS in Occupational Therapy and BS in psychology at SUNY Stony Brook.

Marie-Louise Blount

Marie-Louise Blount, A.M., OT, FAOTA, currently teaches Mental Health Evaluation and Intervention (E40.2745). She is a former Clinical Professor and Director of the Professional Program in Occupational Therapy at NYU's Steinhardt School. She holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Education from the Boston School of Occupational Therapy at Tufts University and an Ars Magistra degree in Sociology from Boston University. With NYU Professor Jim Hinojosa, she most recently co-edited the second edition of their textbook, The Texture of Life: Purposeful Activities in Occupational Therapy (2004). She is the co-editor of the journal Occupational Therapy in Mental Health.

Michael Tranquilli

Michael Tranquilli, MA, OTR/L, graduated from the NYU Occupational Therapy Master's Program in 2000 and has been an adjunct faculty member since 2001. Michael currently performs guest lectures and assists in teaching Evaluation and Intervention (E40.2742). He is the principal owner of Trans-Continental Healthcare, a private rehabilitation and consulting company specializing in adult neurological rehabilitation and occupational safety. He is also the founder of the Ergonomic Tool workers of American Labor (ETAL).

Patricia Gentile

Patricia Gentile, M.S., OTR/L, teaches Health Advocacy and Administration (E40.2750). She is a graduate of the OT program at SUNY Downstate Medical Center. She has a master's degree in Allied Health Administration from CUNY Hunter College and has completed doctoral course work in occupational therapy at NYU with an emphasis on supervision. Ms. Gentile's area of clinical practice has been in the area of adult rehabilitation. She is the Administrator of both Jamaica Hospital Certified Home Health Agency and the Brookdale Hospital Home Health Agency, where she directs overall operations. Ms. Gentile has been a frequent presenter at conferences on issues related to OT management/administration and adult neurological rehabilitation. She has taught in both professional and post-professional OT programs at NYU.

Ruth Metzger

Ruth Metzger, MS, OTR/L, assists in teaching Occupational Performance in Context (E40.2020). Ruth graduated from NYU's Professional (M.S.) Program in OT and received her B.A. from Colgate University. Her focus is on hand and upper extremity orthopedic rehabilitation and she currently works at Jersey City Medical Center, and at Anita Simons Hand Therapy in Manhattan. 

Sheri Wadler

Sheri Wadler, M.S., OTR/L, teaches Activity Group Process (E40.2707). She has been an occupational therapist for more than twenty-five years. She is a graduate of Columbia University's master's program. She has worked in a variety of mental health and school-based settings. She has taught as an adjunct instructor in programs at both NYU and Long Island University. In addition, from 2003 to 2006, she was the Admissions Director for NYU's Professional Master's Program. She is also an editorial board member for the Journal of Occupational Therapy in Mental Health.