Indian Occupational Therapy Think Tank -Executive Committee

Dr. Karthik Mani OTD, OTR, FACOT is an Assistant Professor and Director of Clinical Education at the University of Texas Medical Branch, United States (US). He received his entry-level occupational therapy (OT) education in India and earned his doctoral degree in the US. He possesses administrative, clinical, leadership, research, and scholastic skills and has held various clinical and administrative positions in India and the US for 18+ years. Dr. Mani’s research interests include ‘population level health issues’ and ‘professional issues that affect OT practice & education’. He has presented in several state and national level conferences and published two books, two chapters, and 30+ scholarly works.

Shobana Devi Moorthy, MSc (OT [Sweden]), MSc (Psy) is the founder of Smart Sensory Kids, a child development centre in Chennai, India. She has been an occupational therapist for more than two decades with clinical, teaching, and administrative experience. She has worked across a variety of practice areas (paediatrics, acute care, rehabilitation, & geriatrics) and in two different countries (India & Ireland). Her research interests include rehabilitation of children with disabilities and family-centered care. Ms. Moorthy has presented her work nationally and internationally and received awards. She has conducted parental workshops and supervised student interns.

Dr.Lakshmanan Sethuraman is working as Senior Occupational Therapist at the Centre for Addiction Medicine, National Institute of Mental Health and Neuro Sciences, Bangalore and also the Executive Editor of the Indian Journal of Occupational Therapy. He has clinical, research, and administrative experience of more than 17 years.  His research interests include occupational functioning, Substance use and Harm reduction strategies. He has mentored postgraduate and Ph.D. Scholars and presented his work at various national and international conferences. 

MuraliKrishnan is an active academician and researcher having experience of 16 years with 11 years of teaching post-graduates. He is the Founder and Director of Spandhan Life Skills Enhancement Centre at Chennai. He is an Executive Member of All India Occupational Therapists’ Association and is actively associated with the Indian Federation of Neuro Rehabilitation.  He has more than 136 invited lectures as national and international speaker. He enjoys the knowledge sharing with the students. He is dedicated to grooming the students professionally and personally as good human to the society. His special interests are NeuroSciences,  Life Skills Training, Cognitive and Memory Training.

Ashwini Rao is based in Warsaw, Poland and works with international schools in Europe as a consultant and occupational therapist. Previously in her career she worked for over 17 years’ in Ireland as a clinician and practice educator in early intervention, mainstream schools and specialist regional autism settings. She qualified as an OT in India, and subsequently pursued post-graduate diplomas in Ireland in Evidence Based Practice (2019) and Executive Coaching (2022). Her specific areas of interest are coaching supports for educators, the role of regulation in wellbeing, and inclusion for neurodiversity in educational settings. 

Manigandan Chockalingam is an Occupational Therapy Lecturer at the University of Galway. He specializes in Physical Disability Rehabilitation and teaches Evidence-Based Practice and Standardised Testing. In 1997, he graduated from Christian Medical College Vellore. With over 40 international peer-reviewed publications and several national and international conference presentations to his credit, Mani uses his research experience to encourage others to pursue occupational therapy research. Specifically, he is interested in developing outcome measures for physical rehabilitation, biomedical instrumentation for enhancing function, innovative prosthetics and orthotics, and psychological reactions to physical disability. His research skills include qualitative and quantitative methodologies, including systematic reviews

K. Naresh Babu is working as a Principal at Sree Abirami College of Occupational Therapy, Coimbatore, who has more than a decade of experience. He is Pursuing PhD in Occupational Therapy at Santosh Deemed to be University. The extra focus he has placed on Sensory Integration Therapy has led him to avail Licensed Certifications in Sensory Integration Therapy. The Goa Citizens Welfare Trust awarded him for “Excellent Contribution towards the Welfare of Special Children” in 2011, and he also won a quiz conducted by the Chennai Branch of All India Occupational Therapist’s Association (CB-AIOTA), Chennai in 2003. He has three research projects and also holds six professional licensed certificates on various aspects of occupational therapy.

Associate Professor – Northumbria University, Co-Director – Cochrane Affiliate for public health and Disability – Cochrane India Network. Associate Editor- British Journal of Occupational Therapy

Dr.Sureshkumar has versatile academic research expertise in the areas of Occupational therapy, Public Health Disability, Health Systems and Policy, and Epidemiology. He is a research fellow for the International Centre for Evidence in Disability at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. He is an international practitioner member of the Faculty of Public Health in the U.K. He provides technical support to the government disability department of Telangana State. He is passionate about mainstreaming disability within the agenda for health, and is enthusiastic to strengthen or develop inclusive health systems for disability and social care.