Speakers

Professor Lorna Rosenwax

Professor Lorna Rosenwax is a registered occupational therapist. Last year she commenced as Deputy Pro Vice-Chancellor, Health Sciences after nine years as the Head, School of Occupational Therapy and Social Work, Curtin University.

In her role as Head of School, Lorna concurrently built up a research portfolio for the School that included researching the last years of life at an individual, as well as a population, level. She has a reputation for working closely with the occupational therapy, palliative care, disability and health services communities who realise the value of population-based data to guide the provision of health services to patients and their families. For the past 14 years, her team has researched the last years of life. The team’s principal contribution has been providing information to guide policy and decision-making for palliative and community care at the end of life. As one example, the team’s research described the use of hospital Emergency Departments in the last year of life by people with dementia and determined whether this was modified by a greater use of community-based palliative care. Internationally, her team’s model for estimating who might need palliative care from within a population is used by the WHO Palliative Care demonstration project in Catalonia; Cancer Council of New Zealand; National Health Service in the UK, Brussels, Nova Scotia, Switzerland and elsewhere. Additionally, she is involved with a small multidisciplinary team that has ensured implementation of a palliative care curriculum for most Australian University health students; all testament to translating research into practice.

Professor Rosenwax’s research output includes grants and tenders totalling over $5.0 million (Aus) including nine nationally competitive grants; 80 presentations at state, national and international conferences; and 59 publications. As recognition of her research, she has been awarded the highly prestigious American Occupational Therapy Association Research Initiative Scholars’ Award for outstanding research; invited as an Associate Editor on the Australian Occupational Therapy; awarded the Jan Watt Prize for Excellence in Public Health Field Research; awarded the Public Health Association of Australia Annual Postgraduate Student Award and awarded the Pioneers Award from the Australian Association of Occupational Therapists for research services to the profession. She continues to be passionate about occupational therapy and the role OT can play in end of life.

Wendy Sherwood

Wendy qualified as an occupational therapist in 1991 and has worked as a senior occupational therapist in acute mental health, rehabilitation of long-term institutionalised patients, adolescent psychiatry, personality disorders day hospital, medium secure forensic and community mental health services. A passion for teaching students in practice led to her becoming a senior lecturer in occupational therapy in 2000 where, through a chance encounter with a South African occupational therapist, she was introduced to the Vona du Toit Model of Creative Ability (VdTMoCA). The model seemed to promise to enable therapists to effectively engage and provide therapeutic intervention for clients that she had found most challenging during her clinical career, and this prompted Wendy to return to practice to try the model.

The positive contribution it made to her practice prompted Wendy to undertake an MSc on the model and return to education to share the model with students. A further secondment into practice for a year in 2008, consolidated her understanding of the model before returning to education where Wendy was the Course Director of the BSc (Hons) Occupational Therapy programme at London South Bank University. Wendy is now an independent practitioner who is in the process of completing a PhD on the model and has dedicated the rest of her career to developing and researching the model.

Wendy founded the Model of Creative Ability Interest Group in 2005, now the VdTMoCA Foundation (UK) of which she is the Lead Director for the purpose of leading on the use and development of model in the UK and international collaboration. Wendy supported the introduction of the model in Japan and she continues to actively support its development there. Wendy has presented on the model nationally and internationally, including a keynote speech on the model at the Occupational Therapy Association of South Africa annual conference in 2009 and at the Creative Ability Symposium in 2011. Wendy has also delivered international conferences on the model in the UK since 2009.

In case you hadn’t noticed, the VdTMoCA is her passion. Her occupational identity is also that she is a gardener and she also enjoys music, dancing and a variety of crafts.

Ms Alison Kelly

Alison Kelly is a registered Occupational Therapist, Lecturer and Director of Teaching and Learning in the School of Occupational Therapy and Social Work at Curtin University.

Alison is a competent educator, with extensive experience as a manager, clinician and consultant therapist. Alison possesses a rich and diverse clinical portfolio, including work with remote Aboriginal communities in the Kimberley region, adults with physical disabilities in central London, as a consultant OT in Accident and Emergency and as a supervisor in a paediatric early intervention team in Perth. Through this diverse experience, Alison has garnered a reputation as knowledgeable, dynamic and respected practitioner.

Her experience working in palliative care includes working with adults at all stages of their journey, from diagnosis to end of life care. Alison is passionate about the role of occupational therapy in the inter-professional setting and feels there are significant contributions to be made by occupational therapy in the palliative care context.

Alison teaches palliative care to undergraduate and post graduate occupational therapy students. In 2014 she was awarded an Excellence in Teaching Award, due to her care and commitment to teaching. Current interests include gerontology, teaching palliative care in a higher education context and simulation as a teaching medium.

Mr Abhimanyau Pal

Mr Pal graduated in 1989 with an Honours Degree in occupational therapy from National Institute for the Orthopaedically Handicapped (NIOH) / Jadavpur University, Calcutta and subsequently a Post-graduate diploma in Business Administration from Singapore Institute of Management in 1999. He has also completed a Master’s degree in Health Services Management from Curtin University of Technology, Australia in 2003.

Mr Pal has close to 25 years of experience in the healthcare and social service sectors, working with children, adults and the elderly with various clinical conditions in different settings. He took a two-year hiatus from the social service sector in 2007 and joined the Ministry of Health in policy planning for the intermediate and long term care (ILTC) sector. Mr Pal has been the Executive Director of SPD, a voluntary welfare organisation that focuses on supporting people with disabilities, since December 2010.

Dr Chan Mei Leng

Dr Chan Mei Leng is Principal Occupational Therapist at TTSH with a wide clinical experience in U.K. and Singapore. She had worked in Singapore Cheshire Home before joining the local healthcare setting upon her return to Asia in the last 20 years, with stints in TTSH Rehabilitation Unit and Acute settings. She has overseen the development of Driving Assessment Services at TTSH in the last 14 years and started the Driver Transition Program (DTP) in 2012 to help drivers to adjust positively to driver retirement. In addition, she helps run the outpatient OT psychiatric services and has a Certificate in Clinical Hypnosis (TTSH/London School of Hypnotherapy).



She was awarded a PhD grant by the National Medical Research Council (2008-2012) to develop clinical research skills with the University of Queensland, Australia. Besides seeing patients at TTSH, she contributes to the academic setting at uniSIM (Module of Community-based Gerontology Practice, Masters of Gerontology Course) and at Singapore Institute of Technology (BSc Hon program). She is co-Principal Investigator on two research projects in collaboration with Dept of Orthopaedics and Ophthalmology at TTSH. 



She has given numerous oral papers in local and international conferences, including training courses in Malaysia, Japan and Australia, with over 10 publications in peer-reviewed journals and book chapters. She is a blinded reviewer for International Psychogeriatrics, American Occupational Therapy Journal and British Journal of Occupational Therapy. She had served on numerous local Support Group committees e.g. stroke, head injury, rheumatology, dementia. Her research interests cover older adults, driving, neurology, gerontology, rehabilitation, mental health and gender related issues. 

Ms Cherie Choo

Cherie is serving as an Occupational Therapist with the Job Club in the Institute of Mental Health (IMH); set up to support the vocational needs of individuals with mental illness. She completed her Bachelor of Science (Hons) in Occupational Therapy with the Singapore Institute of Technology in collaboration with Trinity College Dublin. At the start of her journey, attached to IMH, it deeply impacted her just how many obstacles an individual with a mental illness faced, especially in reintegrating into their communities. Cherie has identified vocational rehabilitation as her main area of interest and her current work at the Job Club allows her to apply her professional practice with her personal convictions. In each beneficiary she meets; she engages in collaborative goal setting and facilitating clients to achieve their goals. Over the year she has been working with the Job Club, the experience she has attained thus far is invaluable. Cherie will share her experience of working with this group of individuals from the perspective of a young therapist who very much is committed to make a difference.

Mr Ng Shixian

Shixian is the main OT involved in the vocational rehabilitation for the clients in SPD since 2012. He provides therapy for clients with neurological conditions to return to work. He works closely with the employment support specialist and assistive technology specialist to address the needs of these clients. He is active in conducting worksite evaluation and providing job coaching for clients who have been placed in open employment. He is involved in developing programme in the area of rehabilitation for clients with disability and vocational training in SPD.

Ms Heidi Tan

Heidi is one of few local OTs who specialise in work rehabilitation and ergonomics. With more than 10 years of clinical, education and management experience, she believes that OTs in Singapore will play an increasingly vital role in occupational rehabilitation and work injury management. Her current work focuses on medico-legal work fitness determination, ergonomics consultancy services and work rehabilitation service development and research.

Ms Teh Chiu Ling

Chiu Ling graduated from Nanyang Polytechnic with a Diploma in Occupational Therapy and obtained Bachelor in Applied Science (Occupational Therapy) from University of Sydney. She has a keen interest in working with clients with mental health conditions and have been working in mental health settings for 8 years. Her current work focuses on vocational rehabilitation to prepare clients to manage work in competitive employment, as well as conducting rehabilitation programme that facilitate clients to manage their symptoms and illness.

Dr Sylvia Teo

Dr Teo has a Master of Medicine (Occupational Medicine) degree and a Diploma in Geriatric Medicine from the National University of Singapore. She was involved in several research projects, including WSH services and the cost-benefits of such services. She was also part of the tripartite study team, to maintain the employability of older workers in Singapore via the development of a validated local Work Ability Index to evaluate their work ability.

She has concurrent appointments as Visiting Specialist to the Joint Occupational Dermatology Clinic, National Skin Centre, Joint Occupational Lung Disease, Tan Tock Seng Hospital and the Joint Environmental Occupational Toxicology Clinic, Changi General Hospital.

Ms Yang Zixian

Zixian graduated from Nanyang Polytechnic with a Diploma in Occupational Therapy in 2007 and subsequently obtained her Bachelor of Science (Occupational Therapy) from Curtin University of Technology, Australia in 2010. Currently working as a Principal Occupational Therapist with Singapore General Hospital, Zixian also holds a Master of Ergonomics, Safety & Health from LaTrobe University, Australia.

Zixian has a keen clinical interest in upper limb orthopaedic rehabilitation, ergonomics and occupational safety. She is also a certified administrator of the Physical Work Performance Evaluation system which assesses one’s functional capacity as they prepare to return to work. As a Certified Ergonomics Evaluation Specialist, Zixian provides consultancy services and conducts talks to both internal and external parties, to raise awareness of ergonomics and occupational safety. She has also worked on several research projects which mainly aimed at documenting clinical outcomes, as well as the integration of applied ergonomics in daily occupations such as housework.

Ms Lau Cheng Mun

Cheng Mun graduated with a Bachelor of Applied Science (OT) from the University of Sydney in 1980 and obtained her Master of Science (OT) from Curtin University in 1992. She has worked in both the public and private sectors prior to joining Nanyang Polytechnic as a lecturer in 1994. She is currently, Director (Allied Health), School of Health Sciences, Nanyang Polytechnic.

Mr Kamaldin Ibrahim

Mr. Kamaldin Bin Ibrahim graduated from Central Institute of Technology, New Zealand, in 1976 with the award of Diploma in Occupational Therapy. He started his career in Occupational Therapy in 1980 at Woodbridge Hospital, after completing three years National Service. In 1997, he received a Health Manpower Development Plan training award for training stint in Activity Therapy at The Menninger Clinic, Topeka, USA. He holds a Masters of Social Science (Counselling) degree, awarded by University of South Australia in 2005. Mr Kamaldin has an abiding interest in OT (Mental Health) and currently works as a Principal OT at the Department of General and Forensic Psychiatry, Institute of Mental Health.

Ms Wong Wai Min

Wai Min is currently a registered occupational therapist and is a Senior Manager with the Agency for Integrated Care (AIC). She has been involved in the development of projects and schemes since 2010. Prior to her role in AIC, she has experience in the healthcare related administration such as management of nursing and allied health scholarships and management of rehabilitation departments in various healthcare and social service organisations.

Wai Min was awarded the Master in Health Science (Management) in 2007 and Bachelor in Health Science (Occupational Therapy) in 2001 from the University of Sydney.

Ms Lynette Sim

Lynette graduated with a Diploma in Occupational Therapy (with Merit) in 2000 from Nanyang Polytechnic and went on for her Masters in Clinical Science (Gerontology) at Curtin University of Technology (Perth, WA) from 2003-2004. Her short but fulfilling clinical years were spent mostly in geriatrics (acute/community), with her pet area of research being in falls in the elderly.

From 2006 till 2012, Lynette has assumed several administrative roles in the National Council of Social Service, in particular overseeing therapy programmes, social service research evaluation, and service development in the children disability department.

Lynette is presently Senior Manager of the Disability Services Section, Ministry of Social and Family Development. Besides overseeing the service development and management functions of the various children disability programmes, and Therapy Hubs, one of her key roles includes working with the policy divisions to develop, review and implement policies.

Ms Nani Adilla Zailani

Nani is an occupational therapist with Tan Tock Seng Hospital. She completed her Occupational Therapy studies and received her BSc (Hons) from the Singapore Institute of Technology – Trinity College Dublin (SIT-TCD) course in 2013. As a young therapist, she enjoys working with a spectrum of clients and sees her role as an advocate for health promotion, community occupations and quality of life. She believes that local occupational therapy services should expand beyond that of the acute hospital setting, but also made readily accessible in the primary healthcare scene. Nani is a regular volunteer with Singapore Canoe Federation (SCF) on weekends, training alongside children in paracanoeing.

Mr Gabriel Kwek Wu Xin

Gabriel is an occupational therapist by profession, and a healthcare innovation facilitator at heart. Trained across various disciplinary fields of health and social care, design thinking, digital technology, business transformation and entrepreneurship, he sees potential in leveraging on diverse skillsets and networks to develop better client- and community-centric care. Beyond clinical work at TTSH Rehabilitation Centre, Gabriel is also currently involved in supporting various innovative projects within his centre, and is also co-creating the national education and research landscape for SAOT in collaboration with fellow occupational therapists. He is a founding member of a newly launched social enterprise (Be-Lift) that aims to support people with acquired disabilities to expand their social network meaningfully through exploring/participating in group leisure activities.