HealthMatters

Dr. Kerrin Gallagher and Dr. Shelley Brown, with the support from a Shipley Health Education Innovation Grant, talk about launching a new course, Health Information Literacy: Artificial Intelligence and Ethics in Healthcare. This is a required course built on the belief that AI in health care is a question of equity and human rights, not just a technical question. They hope to to help students thoughtfully navigate health information and AI tools, both ethically and thoughtfully.

Did you know your blood pressure can reveal more about your health in 30 seconds than most people learn in a year? Jesse Moreira-Bouchard shares the simplest at-home habit that can give you and your provider the kind of day-to-day data that leads to better decisions, earlier action, and more control over your health.

Dr. Jesse Moreira-Bouchard is a Clinical Assistant Professor of Physiology at Boston University. They are a cardiovascular physiologist by training. Their research program focuses on how psychosocial stress gets under the skin to influence hypertension and cardiovascular disease, and they have a particular interest in historically understudied populations, like the LGBTQ+ community. Their lab combines human autonomic physiology, translational cardiovascular research, and physiology education to improve both cardiovascular health and how we train the next generation of clinicians and scientists.

Join us for a fascinating conversation with BU's Women's Ice Hockey Coach and Gold Olympic Medalist, Tara Watchorn, as she describes why she chose Boston University and recounts her career highlights.

Join us for an interesting and uplifting conversation with Katie Brunner, a marketer and enrollment staff member at Sargent College. She works primarily with Sargent College's graduate programs to ensure that those interested can smoothly transition from prospective applicants to enrolled students. Outside of BU, she is a nonfiction writer and musician. 

Join us for a captivating conversation with Maria Slavin, discussing her time in BU's Post-Professional Occupational Therapy Doctoral Program. She dives into her doctoral project, developing a course for caregivers on co-regulation and the importance of regulation and attachment!

Join us for an engaging conversation with Emily F. Rothman, ScD and Dr. Kathryn Ellis about pornography within OT. Emily F. Rothman, ScD is Professor and Chair of the Occupational Therapy Department at Boston University. She has more than 10 years of experience conducting research and education about sexually explicit media, among other topics. Dr. Kathryn Ellis is a Doctor of Occupational Therapy, AASECT Certified Sexuality Counselor, Certified Sexuality Occupational Therapy Practitioner, and Pleasure Enthusiast. She is the Founder and Cheif Educational Director of The Insitute for Sex and Occupational Therapy, which is a continuing education company dedicated to increasing OT professionals confidence and competency when addressing sex with OT clients. 

Join us for a fascinating conversation with Kaylin Torres, a senior at Boston University in the Kilachand Honors College studying Linguistics and Speech, Language, and Hearing Sciences in Sargent College. Her senior Keystone research project, “Sensory Overload vs. Structured Learning: The Role of Children’s TV in Speech Development,” explores how specific features of children’s media, such as pacing, auditory complexity, language structure, and narrative tone, impact expressive language development. Drawing from interdisciplinary research in developmental psychology, language acquisition, and media studies, Kaylin developed a rubric to evaluate children’s programming beyond the traditional “screen time” debate. Her work highlights how slower-paced, structured, and language-rich content can better support speech development, while fast-paced, overstimulating media may increase cognitive load and hinder language processing. Kaylin’s passion for this field is deeply personal, shaped by growing up alongside her younger brother with minimally speaking autism. She is committed to advancing accessible, evidence-based approaches that support communication for all children.

Shannon Kara is an occupational therapist, small business owner, and doctoral student at Boston University whose work focuses on nature-based interventions for adults with neurodiversity and intellectual disability. She is the founder of Coree Occupational Therapy in Canberra, Australia, where she leads a team providing person-centered services across community and home settings. Shannon’s doctoral research and book, THRIVE in Nature, explore how connection in natural environments can foster well-being, inclusion, and participation for neurodivergent individuals. She is passionate about translating research into practice, she presents internationally on occupational therapy, nature, and self-regulation. When she’s not working, Shannon enjoys running, swimming, and cycling in the beautiful Australian outdoors.

Join us for an engaging conversation with Karen Katzman, pediatric occupational therapist, private practice owner, and doctoral candidate in the PP-OTD program at Boston University. Karen shares about her years of experience and passion for OT in the pediatric space.

Dr. Paula Quatromoni is a tenured Associate Professor of Nutrition and Epidemiology at Boston University. Her work focuses on eating disorders, sports nutrition, child health, dietary patterns, and cardiometabolic disease. She founded BU’s sports nutrition consult service and helped create the GOALS Program for athletes with eating disorders. She teaches courses in nutritional epidemiology, eating disorders, and a study abroad program in Italy on the Mediterranean diet. She holds nutrition degrees from the University of Maine and a doctorate in epidemiology from BU, and is an award-winning teacher and widely published mentor dedicated to advancing the dietetics profession.