The Fellowship awards are the highest honours that the College of Occupational Therapists can bestow on its members in recognition of the outstanding contribution they have made to the occupational therapy profession during their career.
This year, a Fellowship has been awarded to:
Dr Jennifer Wenborn PhD MSc DipCOT FCOT - VALID Programme Manager, Senior Clinical Research Associate - Occupational Therapist, University College London / North East London NHS Foundation Trust.
Dr Wenborn has made an exceptional contribution to occupational therapy practice and research at a national and international level in the field of dementia. She is passionate about improving the quality of life of older people and her work on occupational therapy intervention is pivotal in demonstrating the effectiveness and evidence base of the profession. She is a well-known and highly regarded researcher who works on a number of high profile studies and has published many high quality papers. She is an ambassador for the profession who consistently promotes the value of occupational therapy and a mentor for aspiring researchers.
Dr Elizabeth White PhD PGDip DipCOT FCOT - formerly Assistant Director of Education and Research at the College of Occupational Therapists.
Dr White has been influential in taking forward the vision of an occupational therapy profession in which practice is evidence-based. She was instrumental in establishing the UK Occupational Therapy Research Foundation (UKOTRF) and played a substantial role in the formation of the Council for Allied Health Professions Research (CAHPR). In addition, Dr White has contributed greatly to the increase in research capacity and research funding for occupational therapists and the development of strategic research partnerships.
The College is grateful to members who have contributed to and supported the nominations submitted for 2017.
The awards will be formally presented to the new Fellows at a ceremony in September. Nomination forms for the 2018 Fellowships will be available on the website in June/July 2017.