Board of Directors

James A. Lenker, PhD, OTR/L,is an Associate Professor in the Rehabilitation Science Department at the University at Buffalo, and the Program Director for the Advanced Graduate Certificate Program in Assistive & Rehabilitation Technology. Lenker earned his PhD in Industrial Engineering, with an emphasis in the area of Human Factors.

Rita Stanley has been employed and actively involved in the Assistive Technology and Complex Rehab Technology industry for 42 years. is currently employed by RxFunction as VP of Government Relations. In her current role, she is responsible for all activities related to coding, coverage and payment for products manufactured by the company. She is also responsible for educating policymakers regarding the causes, duration, and symptoms of sensory peripheral neuropathy. She is currently on the board and executive board of RESNA and serves as Chair of the Government Affairs committee and is on the Governance Committee. She received the RESNA Fellow Award in 2022 and National Registry of Rehabilitation Technology Suppliers- (NRRTS) Honorary Fellow 2010. She has spent most of her career advocating for policies that protect and expand access to assistive technologies for people with disabilities. She was on the team that obtained Medicare coverage for speech generating devices. She is a big advocate of research and building the evidence necessary to influence policy change. She has had the pleasure of speaking at a wide range of conferences including a presentation at RESNA 2012 Conference, State of the Science, “How Science Influences Policy.” She is proud of her review of Medicare policy regarding complex rehab technologies, Medicare and Complex Rehabilitation Technology: A 20-Year Review-The Impact of Medicare Legislation and Regulation on Complex Rehabilitation Technology Access and Innovation- Topics in Geriatric Rehabilitation Volume 31, Number 1, 74 - 87 (2015).

Alisa Brownlee, ATP, CLIPP, CAPS, WPS, CEAC/Mastery, is a Home Accessibility and Assistive Technology Specialist with ALS United, Mid-Atlantic (formerly the ALS Association). She has been in the field of assistive technology for over 28 years. Alisa presents, publishes, and utilizes social media to increase awareness of ALS and the use of assistive technology. Her specialty areas are communication, computer access, electronic aids for daily living and home modifications. Alisa formed her own company, ALS AT Home in September of 2023. ALS AT Home offers virtual visits for home accessibility and safety to those diagnosed with ALS and other neurological conditions. Over the past three years, Alisa has completed over 400 virtual visits for people with ALS throughout the United States offering suggestions and solutions to make their homes safe and accessible. Alisa is a Board Member and Faculty Staff for RESNA and is an instructor for RESNA’s Fundamentals of Assistive Technology course. She was honored to be selected to teach this class in August of 2019 in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. This was the first ever AT course taught in Eastern Africa. Professionals from around the country attend the class and for her, this was a life altering experience. Alisa has always been passionate about assistive technology and the impact it has on quality of life for people with disabilities but traveling to Africa changed her entire perspective and made her want to focus more of her energy on international AT services.

Carmen P. DiGiovine, PhD, ATP/SMS, RET, has been working in the fields of rehabilitation engineering and assistive technology for over 20 years. Currently he is a Rehabilitation Engineer and Clinical Associate Professor in the Occupational Therapy Division-School of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences at The Ohio State University. He is also the Program Director for the Assistive Technology Center at The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center, where he is developing a state-of-the-art and comprehensive program to expand existing assistive technology and rehabilitation technology services. Dr. DiGiovine’s current research and development interests include assistive technology commercialization, manual wheelchair propulsion biomechanics, power wheelchair driving and pressure ulcer development. He is an active member of RESNA, where he has served as Chair of the RESNA Professional Standards Board (PSB), and holds RESNA certifications as an Assistive Technology Professional (ATP), Seating and Mobility Specialist (SMS) and Rehabilitation Engineering Technologist (RET). He is also a member of the IEEE Engineering and Medicine and Biology (EMB) Society and the Biomedical Engineering Society (BMES). Dr. DiGiovine was recently recognized by RESNA with the 2015 Samuel McFarland Memorial Mentorship Award, for his past and continuing efforts to mentor emerging professionals and students.

Ana L. Allegretti, PhD, OTR, ATP, has been working in the field of assistive technology for over 20 years. Currently she is an Associate Professor in the Department of Occupational Therapy at UT Health Sciences in San Antonio, TX. She has presented in many national and international conferences and symposiums. Dr. Allegretti’s current research interests include the use of outcome measures in wheelchair service delivery in Latin America and the use of mobility equipment throughout the lifespan. She is an active member of RESNA, where she has been serving as a chair of the LATIN America Outcome measure project under the International Sig and holds RESNA certifications as an Assistive Technology Professional (ATP). She is also a member of the AOTA. She holds an Occupational Therapy degree from PUCCAMP (Brazil), and a PhD in Rehabilitation Science from the University of Pittsburgh.

Dr. Bay is an Assistive Technology Professional (ATP) and licensed speech-language pathologist (SLP) who has specialized in the area of augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) for over 18 years. She teaches graduate and undergraduate courses in the Assistive Technology Certificate program within the Department of Disability and Human Development and provides clinical services to adults and children with unmet communication needs as the AAC Team Leader at the Assistive Technology Unit. She is the Director of the CREATE for Assistive Technology Professionals and Faculty Mentor for the IL LEND program. She earned her doctorate in Disability Studies from UIC. Dr. Bay has presented nationally and internationally on research and clinical issues related to AAC. Her aim is to expand communicative access for individuals with disabilities across the lifespan. Her research centers around investigating factors that influence access to AAC services, evaluating outcomes of AAC interventions, and advancing post-professional training in the fields of AAC and speech-language pathology.

Dr. Krista Best is an Assistant Professor at Université Laval and a Junior 2 Research Scholar of the Quebec Health Research Funds at the Cirris in Quebec City. Her main research interests include the investigation of assistive and mobile technology to facilitate mobility, community participation, and physical activity for people who have difficulty getting around. She also conducts research on the fundamental issues of accessible housing, public transit, and adapted transit. Dr. Best is currently the scientific animator for the Cirris research priority on Mobility and accessibility, lead of social access stream in the partnership research network on social participation and inclusive cities, lead of the thematic research group on Gerontechnology and Rehabilitation for the Quebec Research on Aging Network, and Vice President of the Canadian National Society for Prosthetics and Orthotics. She received the RESNA student paper award in 2005 and has been advancing research in assistive technology for the past 23 years. She has published 100 peer-reviewed manuscripts, presented at more than 200 national or international conferences, and has developed more than 20 knowledge translation tools for clinical and community partners.

Julie Brown, PT, DPT, NCS, ATP/SMS is a physical therapist with 18 years’ experience. She is a board certified neurologic clinical specialist through the American Board of Physical Therapy Specialties and a certified Assistive Technology Professional and Seating and Mobility Specialist through RESNA. Over the past 12 years she worked exclusively in an outpatient seating clinic prescribing manual wheelchairs, power wheelchairs, and seating systems. Currently, Julie is the Director of Sales Operations for the Philadelphia region at Numotion overseeing a team of Assistive Technology Professionals. Julie serves as the chair of the Wheeled Mobility and Seating special interest group for RESNA and previously served as the co-chair for the physical therapy community of practice. She is an adjunct faculty member at St. Joseph's University physical therapy program where she lectures and educates the students about spinal cord injury and assistive technology. Julie has presented locally and nationally on topics of spinal cord injury and assistive technology, including at the 2022 RESNA conference regarding alternative drive inputs for power wheelchairs in the ALS patient population. She is a member of the Clinician Task Force. Julie has interests in the changing wheelchair and seating system needs of individuals aging with a neurologic disease/injury and complex seating system prescription.

Julie Faieta, PhD, MOT, OTR/L, is currently a postdoctoral fellow at Université Laval where she continues to carry out clinical research focused on assistive technology for a variety of healthcare consumer populations. Her primary area of research is in the development and evaluation of assistive and pervasive technology-based interventions to address health span and quality of life in neurodegenerative and caregiver populations. With a specific interest in Alzheimer’s disease, Dr. Faieta is working to develop interventions that can be effectively implemented with those at risk of disease development, and across each stage of the disease progression. During her doctoral studies in health and rehabilitation sciences, Dr. Faieta completed a minor in neuroscience to facilitate enhanced understanding of the underlying neural mechanisms and disease pathologies associated with neurodegenerative conditions in order to support her research goals. In addition to academic pursuits, she has also maintained active involvement in the American Congress of Rehabilitative Medicine’s Neurodegenerative Networking Group as the chair of the Alzheimer’s Disease Task Force and as the Social Media Officer. In addition, Dr. Faieta currently sit on the Rehabilitation Engineering and Assistive Technology Society of North America’s board of directors, serves as the Student Scientific Paper Competition chair, and as an associate editor of the Assistive Technology Journal. Dr. Faieta has worked in various aspects of assistive technology for over 4 years and remains highly interested in the evaluation of smart personal device applications to support community-based health.

Marta Figueiredo is an Associate Professor (with tenure), at Escola Superior de Saúde do Alcoitão (Portugal) in the Department of Social Policy and Action, currently dedicated to research and educational programs development. Marta is also Coordinator of ENOTHE - European Network of Occupational Therapy in Higher Education. Marta also collaborates with an Occupational Therapy program in Spain as a MSc Tutor. Marta´s path within Assistive Technology started in 2000 following the conclusion of her Occupational Therapy degree and later on her Professional Doctorate (specialty) in Occupational Therapy. She had several worldwide collaborations in the field of Assistive Technology: International Society of Wheelchair Professionals (ISWP) as certification project associate and Subject Matter Expert (SME); Technical Director at a Wheelchair Service Provision company in Portugal; International Sales Manager and Country Agent at a Wheelchair Manufacturer and Service Provision company in Italy. Currently serves RESNA as Chair for the Education Committee, Chair of Scientific Papers for the Annual Conference, Governance Committee and Assistive technology Journal Associate Editor and is member of Global Cooperation on Assistive Technology (GATE). Marta’s focus on Assistive Technology is on mobility and positioning service provision, Assistive Technology professionals’ education, training, certification, and standards application/development. Marta has participated in several international conferences as an abstract reviewer, presenter and as organizing committee member. Current I&D activities, in partnership with worldwide colleagues, include research on Assistive Technology training and service provision and research within Child Development.

Assistive Technology Director with engineering background providing assistive technology services in the K12 education space. Experienced in partnering with school districts to empower their students, staff, and parents through technology as well as supporting school district technology departments, leading teams, and providing professional development for educators. Key achievements include facilitating 140% growth of Technology and Learning division since leadership began in 2020, fostering relationships with technology vendors to save $485/user/year on educational software, and presenting at national conferences such as ATIA and RESNA, in the areas of assistive technology, instructional technology, and additive manufacturing.

Cara Masselink, PhD, OTRL, ATP, HPCS is an occupational therapist, researcher, and advocate with over 15 years of experience in assistive technology. Her clinical background in pediatrics, early intervention, and hospital settings informs her academic work and policy initiatives. Dr. Masselink is an Associate Professor of Occupational Therapy at Western Michigan University, and she served as the Executive Director of the Clinician Task Force from 2021 to 2024, a national coalition dedicated to protecting access to complex rehabilitation technology. Her work focuses on promoting access to appropriate equipment that supports occupational performance, with a strong emphasis on advocacy, policy, and evidence-based practice in seating, wheeled mobility, and device access. She led the clinical team in changing the federal policy on seat elevation systems and has authored multiple peer-reviewed publications and position papers, including those on supported standing, power seat elevation, and power standing systems. Dr. Masselink has presented nationally at RESNA, the International Seating Symposium, and Congressional briefings, working closely with advocacy organizations to influence healthcare policy and clinical best practices. Through her leadership and research, Dr. Masselink continues to impact assistive technology policy and practice, advancing equitable access and utilization for individuals with disabilities.

Julie Piriano, PT, ATP/SMS is the Sr. Director of Payor Relations and Regulatory Affairs at the National Coalition for Assistive and Rehab Technology (NCART). She has worked in the seating and wheeled mobility industry for the past 40 years as a clinician, advocate and educator. She presents nationally and internationally on seating and wheeled mobility with a focus on evaluation, documentation, and clinical applications of available technologies.

Julie serves on the Finance and Government Affairs Committees and is the board liaison to the Professional Standards Board where she recently served as the Chair. She has been part of the ATP and SMS job task analysis, item writing, and forms review committees, is an active participant in the Wheeled Mobility and Seating SIG where she was part of the research and writing of RESNA’s Position on and the Application of Seat-Elevation Devices for Power Wheelchair Users Literature Update and the RESNA Wheelchair Service Provision Guide. She is a Friend of iNRRTS, a member of the APTA and the Clinician Task Force. She also serves on the DMEMAC Advisory Councils, the board of the AMRG Group, several State Associations, and the Mobility Management Editorial Board. Julie is a highly proactive industry resource on legislative and regulatory issues that impact the complex rehab industry.

Susan Redepenning is an Occupational Therapist and Assistive Technology Professional who owns her own assistive technology company serving all of Minnesota. Susan has over 25 years’ experience in the field of assistive technology. Susan worked in driver’s rehabilitation both in private practice and in a non-profit for 8 years. Susan wrote a book for AOTA on driver’s rehabilitation called Driver’s Rehabilitation Across Age and Disability: An Occupational Therapy Guide in 2006. Susan worked in a non-profit as the assistive technology lead for 8 years. Susan’s assistive technology areas of interest are in new emerging ideas for smart home technologies, adaptive gaming, and prevention of assistive technology abandonment. Susan holds additional certifications as a Minnesota Accessibility Specialist and Executive Certification in Home Modification from the University of Southern California Leonard Davis School of Gerontology online course. Susan owns LiveLife Therapy Solutions in Minnesota. She heads a team of advanced professionals working throughout MN. They are occupational therapists, physical therapists, speech therapists, engineers, and assistive technology professionals. LiveLife Therapy Solutions has seen over 2400 people in Minnesota for assistive technology assessments over the past 10 years. Susan has received several state grants through the Minnesota Department of Human Services and is a billable service provider for Home and Community Services in Minnesota. Susan has assisted in writing several recent articles related to assistive technology. AOTA OT Practice Article: 20210901 Assistive Technology in Residential Facilities: A Strategy for Supporting Adults with Complex Needs and Closing the GAP article: 2021 June/July edition: AAC Abandonment: Contributing Factors and Possible Solutions.

Seong-Hee Yoon, BS ATP is the Senior Rehabilitation Engineer at the Rehabilitation Engineering Program at Michigan Medicine, the Director of Technology & Innovation of an adaptive sports program UMAISE (University of Michigan Adaptive & Inclusive Sports Experience), and the founder & owner of an inclusive education and play company braillebot, LLC. She received her Biomedical Engineering degree from University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and has spent 9 years in the world of AT as of 2021. Seong-Hee was first introduced to RESNA through the Student Design Competition in 2012, at which her team was the 1st place winner as well as the winning team for the award “Technology Most Likely to be Commercialized” sponsored by TREAT (Center for Translation of Rehabilitation Engineering Advances and Technology). With this award, Seong-Hee started her commercialization of brailleblox, the flagship product of her company braillebot, LLC. Seong-Hee’s involvement within RESNA also include the Professional Specialty Group for Rehabilitation Engineers & Technologists and the Board of Directors. Additionally, in 2018, she received the “Emerging Leader Award” from RESNA. Some of Seong-Hee’s special interests include adaptive sports, adaptive gaming, smart technology, and dispelling the divide between universal design and aesthetic design. Seong-Hee is currently based out of Ann Arbor, MI.