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Director of Research & Faculty Scholarship, School of Health Sciences
Touro University
Meira L. Orentlicher, PhD, OTR/L, FAOTA, CRA, is the Director of Research and Faculty Scholarship in the School of Health Sciences and Professor and Associate Chairperson for Research and Scholarship in the Occupational Therapy (OT) Department of Touro University in Manhattan and Central Islip, NY. She received her Bachelor’s in Occupational Therapy (BOT) from the Hebrew University in Jerusalem, Israel, her Master’s in Advanced Occupational Therapy with specialization in developmental disabilities and pediatrics from New York University , and her Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) in occupational therapy research from New York University. Before joining Touro, Meira was a program manager at the Research and Training Institute of the National Center for Disability Services in Albertson, NY, where she coordinated research and demonstration grant programs funded by the US Department of Education. In this role she developed and researched transition programs tailored for students with severe disabilities.
As a qualitative researcher, her research focuses on the experiences of young adults with disabilities and their families during the transition from school to adult life. Meira is a member of AOTA’s Community of Practice on Transition, as well as the editorial board of the Journal of OT, Schools, and Early Intervention, where she edits a column on transition. She co-edited the first OT textbook on transition, “Transitions across the lifespan: An occupational therapy approach”, which was published by AOTA Press in 2015. She presented numerous presentations and published articles and book chapters on transition, person-centered planning and school-based occupational therapy.