It is with great pleasure that I announce the appointment of Annette Majnemer, OT, PhD, FCAHS, as Interim Director of the School of Physical and Occupational Therapy, McGill University Faculty of Medicine. Dr. Majnemer replaces Dr. Maureen Simmonds, who looks forward to new and exciting challenges as Head of School in the Faculty of Health Sciences at Curtin University, Australia, after half a decade of dedicated service with us.
Dr. Majnemer brings a wealth of experience as a researcher, teacher and academic to this role. For the last quarter-century, she has helped advance current knowledge on outcomes for children with developmental disabilities and high-risk neonates. A full professor in the School of Physical and Occupational Therapy, she is also an associate member of the Departments of Pediatrics and Neurology and Neurosurgery at McGill and research associate in the Division of Pediatric Neurology at the Montreal Children’s Hospital, as well as an adjunct full professor in the Sackler School of Medicine at Tel Aviv University in Israel.
Trained as an occupational therapist at McGill, Dr. Majnemer has authored close to 100 publications in peer-reviewed journals and has been an invited lecturer and keynote speaker at scientific symposiums around the world, including the United States, Israel, England, South Africa and Australia. Her exceptional service to research, teaching and practice has earned her many honorable distinctions, notably, as a fellow of the Canadian Academy of Health Sciences in 2008. She is a member of numerous health associations, including the Canadian Association of Occupational Therapists (CAOT) and the World Federation of Occupational Therapists. She also serves on the board of directors for the American Academy of Cerebral Palsy and Developmental Medicine. In 2009, she received the prestigious Muriel Driver Memorial Lectureship Award from the CAOT in recognition of her significant contributions to the field.
Sought after for her research expertise, Dr. Majnemer is a member of the editorial review boards of several prominent journals and is the co-editor of Physical & Occupational Therapy in Pediatrics and associate editor of Developmental Medicine & Child Neurology. Since 2006, she has led Childhood Disability Link, a website for knowledge exchange in childhood disability research.
In her position as Interim Director, Dr. Majnemer will be responsible for the successful coordination of undergraduate, graduate and postgraduate education for the School. She will develop and coordinate clinical and research activities accordingly and will provide counsel on issues related to academic appointments and strategic planning.
Please join me in warmly welcoming Dr. Majnemer into the role of Interim Director of the School of Physical and Occupational Therapy.
Vice-Principal (Health Affairs)
Dean of the Faculty of Medicine
McGill University