Current Student Bios

Nana Serwaa Akrofi, OTD,  is a Ph.D. student in the Occupational Therapy Department at NYU Steinhart. She has a Post Professional Doctorate in Occupational Therapy (OTD) and a Post Professional Master of Arts in Occupational Therapy from the University of Southern California. She received her Bachelor of Science in Occupational Therapy from the University of Ghana.

At NYU, Nana Serwaa is mentored by Dr. Janet Njelesani. Nana Serwaa’s research focuses on developing culturally attuned occupational therapy interventions for historically marginalized and under-resourced disability populations. For her OTD studies, her work examined barriers and facilitators to the diagnostic odyssey of autistic children in the Greater Accra region of Ghana.

As an occupational therapist, Nana Serwaa worked with Ghanaian children with disabilities in school, hospital, home health, and community rehabilitation settings. She is certified in implementing Ayres Sensory Integration and is licensed to practice as an occupational therapist in New York, California, and Ghana. She is currently the Newsletter Editor for the Occupational Therapy Africa Regional Group.

Publications

Angell, A. M., Carreon, E. D., Akrofi, J. N., Franklin, M. D., Taylor, E. E., Miller, J., ... & Maher, S. O. (2023). Challenges and facilitators to telehealth occupational therapy for autistic children during COVID-19. OTJR: Occupational Therapy Journal of Research.

Akrofi, J., Angell, A. M., Gyamfi, B., & Bodison, S. (2023). Exploring Coloniality in Occupation-Based Education: Perspectives of Ghanaian Occupational Therapists. Journal of Occupational Therapy Education, 7 (4).

Akrofi JNS, Brew YN, Carreon ED, Cornelius IY, Angell AM. Exploring the autism diagnostic odyssey in the Greater Accra Region of Ghana. South African Journal of Occupational Therapy. Vol 53 No 3. December 2023.

Matan Benjo is a PhD student in the Department of Occupational Therapy at NYU under the supervision of Dr. Yael Goverover. She holds both a Master of Science degree and a Bachelor's degree in occupational therapy from Tel Aviv University (TAU).

Prior to beginning her doctoral studies, Matan worked as a research assistant in the Department of Occupational Therapy at TAU where she gained experience in qualitative and mixed-methods research approaches. She also served as a teaching assistant within the department. Matan conducted a thesis research focused on validating and integrating a virtual reality tool in rehabilitation among breast cancer survivors. In addition, Matan was a program assistant for the Making Mentors program for individuals with autism at NYU. These experiences provided her with valuable opportunities to engage in both clinical and academic research collaborations.

Matan’s research interests include functional cognition in pediatric populations and pediatric occupational therapy. She is also interested in integrating technology into clinical practice, facilitating the translation of research into intervention, and advancing innovative, evidence-based interventions for children and families.

Sing-Han Chiu is a PhD student in the Department of OT at New York University Steinhardt School, mentored by Dr. Janet Njelesani. He completed his master’s degree in OT at National Cheng Kung University and his bachelor’s degree at Kaohsiung Medical University in Taiwan.

Before his doctoral studies, Sing-Han gained both clinical and research experience. He worked as a research assistant in the MHFE Lab at National Cheng Kung University, contributing to projects on digital resources for parents of children with disabilities, the experiences of individuals with suicidal behavior in emergency departments, the lived experiences of autistic individuals, and older men’s social participation through the lens of masculinity. Clinically, he practiced as a home-based occupational therapist in Taiwan’s long-term care system and an assistive technology professional for three years.

Sing-Han’s research interests focus on the intersection of masculinity and disability, with an emphasis on qualitative and mixed-method approaches. His goal is to amplify the voices of underrepresented groups and to develop programs grounded in their lived experiences. Outside of work and research, Sing-Han enjoys video games, working out, and reading.

Yating Lei is a doctoral student in the Department of Occupational Therapy at NYU Steinhardt School. She holds a master's degree in Occupational Therapy from the Hong Kong Polytechnic University (PolyU) and a bachelor’s degree in Occupational Therapy from Sichuan University in China.

Prior to beginning the PhD in Occupational Therapy program in 2021, she worked as a research assistant at PolyU and got a great opportunity to contribute to various research projects that focused on cognitive and neurological rehabilitation as well as self-regulated learning. In addition, as an occupational therapist, Yating has over three years of clinical experience focusing on the treatment of neurological disorders in adults.

Yating is mentored by Professor Gerald Voelbel. Her research interests include cognitive remediation techniques, digital health applications in rehabilitation medicine, longitudinal outcome measurements and digital biomarkers. She is also interested in executive function and working memory, as well as using of functional and structural imaging methods to identify biomarkers of cognitive deficits.