Faculty

Dr. Eron Bozec

Dr. Eron Bozec, OTD, OTR/L, CSRS

Assistant Professor

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Dr. Bozec has been an occupational therapist for more than 19 years. She earned her Bachelor of Science degree in biology from Rockford University in 1998. Her Masters in Occupational Therapy from Midwestern University in 2001 and her Post-Professional Doctorate in Occupational Therapy from Thomas Jefferson University in 2019. She has an advanced practice certificate in neuroscience from Thomas Jefferson University and has been a Certified Stroke Rehabilitation Specialist since 2013. Dr. Bozec has worked with adult clients across the rehabilitation spectrum of care from acute care, inpatient rehabilitation, skilled nursing, outpatient, and day rehabilitation programs. She is an adjunct professor and teaches courses in rehabilitation.

Dr. Bozec's scholarly interests include upper extremity motor recovery through task-specific training, implementation of assessments into clinical practice, knowledge translation and implementation science integrating research into clinical practice. She has presented nationally on neurological interventions for evidence-based practice and manual development in knowledge translation.




Dr. Megan Eads

Dr. Megan Eads, OTD, OTR/L

Assistant Professor

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Dr. Eads earned her OTD from Creighton University. Her primary areas of interest include assessment and intervention in pediatric practice, specializing in feeding, sensory processing, and movement disorders. Her clinical experience includes early intervention, school-based settings, outpatient clinics, feeding, assistive technology, and community practice. She supports team based evaluations for feeding clinic and medical and autism diagnostics. She is an Assistant Professor in the Master of Science in Occupational Therapy Program at ɫapp. She teaches courses

with focus on occupational therapy foundational content, pediatrics, evidence-based practice, and occupational justice.

Dr. Eads is an experienced home evaluator and has also provided services to adults with developmental, intellectual, and sensory disabilities. Dr. Eads has worked with the Brookfield Zoo to increase accessibility for individuals with autism by recommending environmental modifications, adaptations, and high and low technology supports to improve safety and participation. Inspired by her doctoral research in the Dominican Republic, Dr Eads continues to explore occupational therapy in emerging practice areas to increase participation and engagement for marginalized populations.






Amrendra Kumar

Amrendra Kumar

Assistant Professor, Academic Fieldwork Coordinator

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Amrendra Kumar is currently a Ph.D. candidate at the Rocky Mountain University of Health Professions in Provo, IL. He anticipates completing his degree requirements by fall 2024. Kumar has also completed a Healthcare Professions Education (HPE) certification program in 2022. His research interests include a new outcome measure (OM) for hand function. He has developed a new OM for hand and finger dexterity.

Amrendra has extensive clinical experience as an evidence-based OT practitioner in various settings and more than 15 years of experience as an entrepreneur in the Chicagoland area. During his 25 years as an OT, he has provided numerous in-services to educate his patients, family members, caregivers, and coworkers. He has been a mentor for many fieldworks Level I and II OT and OTA students and assisted many OT students in their capstone projects. Kumar joined the ɫapp OT faculty in the fall 23 semester as the AFWC.




Dr. Allison Richardson

Dr. Allison Richardson, OTD, OTR/L

Assistant Professor

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Dr. Richardson is an assistant professor in the Master of Science Occupational Therapy Program at ɫapp. She teaches courses in aging, theory, and evidence based practice. She earned her B.S. in Biology from Winthrop University in 2009, a Graduate Diploma in Zoology from University of Western Australia in 2011, and a Doctorate in Occupational Therapy from Belmont University in 2016. Her clinical experience thus far has been with the adult and older adult population in settings including memory care, skilled nursing, assisted living, independent living, and inpatient rehab. Dr. Richardson has had experience as an adjunct professor at Charleston Southern University in the Health Promotion Department.

Dr. Richardson's areas of interest include aging in place, dementia and memory care, spirituality, and community reintegration for Veterans. Dr. Richardson also has interest in research and has worked with the non-profit organization REBOOT Recovery as a research investigator. She is excited for the opportunity to give back to the next generation of OTs through teaching at ɫapp.




Adjunct Faculty

Dr. Janet Alonso

Dr. Janet Alonso, OTD, OTR/L

Adjunct Assistant Professor

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Dr. Alonso received her undergraduate occupational therapy degree from the University of Illinois at Chicago with a strong Model of Human Occupation influence under Dr. Gary Kielhofner. She earned her post-professional OTD from Rocky Mountain University with an emphasis on education. She brings over 30 years of experience to the classroom in areas of acute care, home health, clinical pediatric, and school-based practice. She currently holds a leadership position in a local school district and brings this knowledge to ɫapp as an adjunct professor. She currently teaches the Leadership and Advocacy course for the Masters of Science Occupational Therapy program.

Dr. Alonso’s scholarly interests include evidence to support working with children and adults on the autism spectrum, supporting the sensory needs of clients in a natural setting, and creating leaders to ensure a strong future for the occupational therapy profession.




Dr. Melissa Brottman

Dr. Melissa Brottman, OTD, OTR/L

Adjunct Assistant Professor

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Dr. Brottman is an adjunct professor in the Master of Science Occupational Therapy Program at ɫapp. She earned her Bachelor of Science in Speech and Hearing Communication Deficits with a Leadership minor from University of Illinois in Champaign-Urbana in 2014. She received her Doctorate in Occupational Therapy from Washington University School of Medicine in Saint Louis. While at Washington University in Saint Louis, Dr. Brottman was involved with the medical school program and co-authored a systematic review titled, “Toward Cultural Competency in Health Care: A Scoping Review of the Diversity and Inclusion Education Literature.” Her clinical experience thus far has been with adult and older adult populations in inpatient rehabilitation and acute care hospital-based settings in the Chicago downtown area. She has spent the majority of her career treating patients with spinal cord injuries, traumatic brain injuries and more. During the initial outbreak of COVID-19, Dr. Brottman worked on one of the first inpatient rehabilitation units for COVID patients in Chicago and developed a continuing education course for professionals to use to guide them through evaluations and treatments.

Dr. Brottman’s areas of interest include spinal cord, ICU care in the hospitals, multi-level trauma, and spasticity management. She is excited to be working at ɫapp to prepare and get to know the brilliant minds of the future Occupational Therapists here at ɫapp.






John M. Dudzik

John M. Dudzik, DHS, OTR/L

Adjunct Assistant Professor

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John Dudzik is a graduate of University of Wisconsin – Madison, BA in History (1977), University of Puget Sound, BS in OT (1981), University of Indianapolis, MHS in OT (2015) and DHSc in OT (2021). He has been an occupational therapist for nearly 40 years, with extensive experience in patient care, with a focus in rehabilitation of individuals with changes in their neurologic status including stroke and brain injury.

Mr. Dudzik served as OT supervisor for brain injury, pediatric, and subacute programs at the Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago (now Shirley Ryan Ability Lab) from 1991 to 1997, and as Clinical Lead for OT at Alexian Rehabilitation Hospital in Elk Grove Village, IL from 2003-2019. He has completed numerous educational presentations to healthcare providers including OTs, PTs, SP, and nurses. Mr. Dudzik is also the current chairperson of the Illinois OT Association Leadership Development Program (LDP).




Dr. Corrie Lukkes

Dr. Corrie Lukkes, OTD, OTR/L

Adjunct Assistant Professor

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Dr. Lukkes received her Doctor of Occupational Therapy from Creighton University in Omaha, NE in 2011. She has specialized in working with children with sensory processing and modulation disorders, autism, genetic disorders, and generalized developmental delay.

Dr. Lukkes is focused on early childhood development, including working with infants and their families. She also has experience working with children in a group setting. She has worked in a variety of settings, including early intervention, outpatient pediatrics, aquatic therapy, and most recently in academia as an adjunct professor of occupational therapy at ɫapp. Dr. Lukkes has also spent time mentoring occupational therapy students and new graduates coming into the field to help educate the next generation of amazing pediatric occupational therapists.

Dr. Lukkes is a certified instructor of infant massage, as well as a trained clinician in the use of the SOS approach to feeding and Therapeutic Listening. She also has experience working with adults with developmental delay.




Teresa Morreale

Teresa Morreale, MS, OTR/L

Adjunct Faculty

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Teresa Morreale earned a Bachelor of Arts in Communications at Clarke University in 2004 and a Master of Science in Occupational Therapy at the University of Illinois at Chicago in 2012. She has over ten years of clinical experience providing occupational therapy in outpatient, acute care, and inpatient rehabilitation settings for a wide range of diagnoses. Her background also includes several years of professional experience prior to her career in occupational therapy, where she worked at a public health nonprofit organization and at a career and technical education company. She enjoys bringing clinical experience to the classroom and applying academic experiences to inform and improve her clinical practice.




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