Scientific Programme Committee

Profiles of Scientific Programme Committee members
News Item Image

Debra Greaves, BSc. (Hons) OT; ILM
Current Role: I am the current Chairperson of the Scientific Programme Committee and Professional Lead Occupational Therapist for community mental health OT services in Northamptonshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust.

Career history: I qualified from Oxford Brookes University in 1999 and I am due to complete a Masters Degree at Northampton University, having taken a year out to concentrate on local NHS service changes towards establishing our foundation trust status and SPC duties. I have worked for several NHS mental health Trusts and across many services and boundaries including community, day hospital rehabilitation, CAMHs, intensive care and personality disorder settings.

Professional achievements: I have presented papers at several COT and Allied Health Profession conferences and I am a member of the Institute for Leadership and Management. I also trained in a range of traditional and non traditional clinical approaches to OT and mental health whilst blending them with, and remaining true to my OT core profession skills and knowledge.

Why I joined the SPC and what I enjoy about being on the Committee: I have a particular passion for promoting professionalism and Occupational Therapy in mental health as a therapy in its own right, and the SPC provides a forum from which to encourage other clinicians to audit, evaluate and write up their unique interventions which will add to our research and therapy evidence base. I particularly enjoy helping to shape the COT conference programme making it accessible, stimulating and interesting to the wide range of clinicians, educators and students that attend each year.
News Item Image

Dr. Diane L Cox, PhD, MSc, Dip COT, CLTHE
Current role:  I am currently Reader in Occupational Therapy, Research Lead School of Rehabilitation & Public Health, University of Cumbria.

Career history:  My specialist interests are in long term conditions and chronic fatigue syndrome. Prior to working in Higher Education, I worked in the NHS in the fields of physical medicine, cardiac rehabilitation, neurology, long term conditions and chronic fatigue syndrome.
 
Professional achievements:  I have published in a number of peer reviewed journals over the last 20 years and so far written one book. I sit on a number of national grant award committees and panels and represent Occupational Therapy and Allied Health research in a range of local, regional and national forums.
 
Why I joined the SPC and what I enjoy about being on the committee: I joined SPC to be involved with the College of Occupational Therapists annual show case of research & practice. I particularly enjoy sharing in the development of the programme and diversity of presentations.
News Item Image
Professor Jenny Butler PhD., BSc (Hons), Dip C.O.T., T.Cert (HE)
Current role:  I am currently Professor of Occupational Therapy, Oxford Brookes University.
 
Career history:  I trained at the Welsh School of Occupational Therapy in Cardiff (1971-4) and I obtained a degree in Applied Psychology (1st class) at the University of Wales 2004-2007. My practice background is in brain injury rehabilitation. I taught at Dorset House, then Oxford Poly/Oxford Brookes University from 1990. I completed my Doctoral studies at Oxford Brookes University in 1999 in applied neuropsychology and rehabilitation. 
Professional achievements: I was Chair of Council of the College of Occupational therapists 2004–2006 and gave the Casson Memorial Lecture in 2004. I was made an Honorary Fellow of the University of Cardiff in 2005 and I was Chair of an NHS research ethics committee in Oxford for over five years.  I am a member of the Association of Research Ethics Committees inaugural Council. Research I have conducted included cross cultural studies in Japan relating to community care following stroke. 
 
Why I joined the SPC and what I enjoy about being on the committee: I joined the SPC to assist in the organisation of the scientific programme and to add my expertise to the team effort to produce a good conference with a rigorous review of abstracts.I enjoy the team work of the committee, the involvement with the College in producing a highly successful conference experience for all delegates, and the potential to develop the annual conference to fit with 21st Century practice demands.
News Item Image
Dr Steve Moores, B.Sc., Zoology (1970); Ph.D in biochemistry (1986, London University); B.Sc.(OT) - 1st Class Hons., & SROT, 1996 (St Loyes’, Exeter) Qualified ITEC Aromatherapy Masseur (2002)M.Sc., Research Methods (2009) Southampton

Current role:  I am currently employed as a lecturer at Essex University, Colchester specialising in mental health applications and research. This follows two years at Bournemouth University on a split-post with Dorset HealthCare Foundation Trust with whom I had worked for 12 years in community psychiatric teams in the Bournemouth area.

Career history: My previous careers include teaching biology, research into the growing hip (Ph.D) and 10 years’ research work with the Atomic Energy Research Authority at Harwell on radiation effects in the lung. Between then and becoming an OT I have taught science to hairdressers in Cornwall and raised cows, pigs and sheep organically. My love of motorbikes ended in 1987... and that is what brought me into occupational therapy, in more senses than one.

Professional achievements:  As an OT, I am proud to have introduced complementary medicine into mental health applications, despite COT’s reluctance. I ran a successful randomised controlled trial (RCT) in Dorset on the effectiveness of aromatherapy massage in treating anxiety in people with severe mental disorders.

Why I joined the SPC and what I enjoy about being on the committee: I have now forgiven the COT and so I am happy to be involved with the SPC, following several years as a reviewer for BJOT (and other unmentionable ‘rags’). I enjoy reading what interests OTs around the Country and find the intellectual challenge of evaluating their prospective contributions very stimulating.
News Item Image

Anne Roberts PhD, MSc, DipCOT, TDipCOT, CertEd FE/HE, SROT
Current role: I am a Senior (Principal) Lecturer at the University of Plymouth, England. I lead the MSc in Advanced Occupational Therapy which is a distance learning programme delivered to therapists in the UK and overseas. I also teach research and evidence based practice, and supervise research projects at undergraduate and postgraduate levels.

Career history:  I worked as a senior occupational therapist in the fields of child psychiatry, learning disabilities, neurology and orthopaedics, before moving into teaching occupational therapy. I began teaching initially as a Lecturer Practitioner and I have been an educator now for 28 years. I lead postgraduate studies in the School of Health Professions and latterly have been involved in postgraduate course design, including the development of an MSc in Work and Wellbeing.
 
Professional achievements:  Last year I received the Merit Award from the College of Occupational Therapists and regard this as the ultimate reward.
 
Why I joined the SPC and what I enjoy about being on the committee: I joined the SPC in order to help with the annual conference in a constructive way. I have always been a great advocate of continuing professional development. Following many years of attending and presenting at the annual conference, reviewing papers and students work, I think I am in a good place to provide constructive guidance. I am new to the committee, but I am sure I will enjoy the opportunity to promote the benefits of the conference.
Was this page useful?
Very useful:
Quite useful:
OK:
Not really:
Not at all:
More about this >>