Grajo to join faculty on July 1
On July 1, the Program in Occupational Therapy will welcome Lenin Grajo, PhD, EdM, OTR/L, associate professor of occupational therapy and psychiatry (PEFA), to its faculty. He will serve as the associate director of the Program, associate director of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, and the director of the Division of Professional Education.
Grajo is a national leader, educator, researcher and pediatric occupational therapist. He has received outstanding educator awards from the University of the Philippines, Saint Louis University and the Missouri Occupational Therapy Association. His practice and scholarship interests include the scholarship of teaching and learning (outcomes of teaching innovations, effectiveness of international collaborations in occupational therapy curricula); effectiveness of occupational therapy interventions to support children and adults with reading and learning difficulties; development of occupation and participation measures of children’s literacy; and reconceptualization of the construct and theory of occupational adaptation. He is a champion of integrating anti-racist and inclusive pedagogy in medical and occupational therapy education, and through his service work with the American Occupational Therapy Association, he led a national mentorship program for occupational therapy educators.
An immigrant from the Philippines, Grajo earned his bachelor’s degree in occupational therapy from University of the Philippines in 2003. He earned his master’s degree in education in human development and psychology from Harvard University in 2010 and his doctor of philosophy degree in occupational therapy from Texas Woman’s University in 2015. He has been on faculty at Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons since 2016 and served as the director of the post-professional doctorate of occupational therapy programs since 2016. Prior to that, Grajo was on faculty at Saint Louis University Doisy College of Health Sciences from 2012 to 2016 and the University of the Philippines College of Allied Medical Professions from 2003 to 2007. He will lead the Division of Professional Education in an era of dynamic change to be an exemplar institution in models of anti-racist and inclusive occupational therapy education.