Namrata Grampurohit, PhD, OTR/L
Assistant Professor, Department of Occupational Therapy
Thomas Jefferson University
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Q: What is your current research focus?
A: My current research is in measurement, particularly focused on functional outcomes in neurological conditions. I am fascinated by how new measurement methods can be employed to enhance rehabilitation measures over the lifespan. I have been involved in scale development work within the Center for Outcomes and Measurement at Thomas Jefferson University.
Q: What motivated you to choose that area?
A: My clinical experience in adult critical care, acute care, and inpatient rehab over the past twenty years prompted me to choose this area of work. I also have pediatric experience in school and home-based settings during the initial years of my clinical career. No matter what setting, there was a clear gap in the available outcome measures and a lack of evidence to support the use of measures for the intended purpose. Much work was needed to study measures carefully for their psychometric properties.
Q: What path did you take to get there?
A: I completed my Bachelors and Masters in Occupational Therapy at University of Mumbai, India, and PhD in Rehabilitation Science from University of Washington, WA. I gathered many years of clinical experience prior to entering the PhD program and it informed many of my research questions over the years. I took up a full-time faculty position immediately after PhD and focused on developing a career in measurement research. My long-term goal is to develop expertise in scale development and validation research to enhance functional outcome measurement over the lifespan in adults and children with neurological conditions. The many occupational roles that I have adopted over the years, have all influenced my career path and these are: daughter, sister, wife, mother, niece, aunt, immigrant, Asian Indian, therapist, supervisor, colleague, tenure track researcher, student, teacher, mentor, mentee, neighbor, and friend.
Q: Did you have any pivotal experience that propelled your research success?
A: There were three pivotal moments in my research career. First was the choice of a measurement project for my dissertation research focused on stakeholder engagement in developing item banks for an upper extremity measure in neurological conditions. Second was the selection of an excellent mentor and leader in the field, Dr. MJ Mulcahey, to guide my measurement career in rehabilitation. Third was the engagement with ACRM, that has the measurement networking group and the early-career networking group with knowledgeable mentors in the areas of research closely aligned with mine.
Q: Any advice for young scientists?
A: Embrace mentorship! Seek mentors for yourself and be a mentor to a novice scientist/student.
I have been fortunate to have some excellent clinical, academic, personal, and content-specific mentors throughout my career. I also do not hesitate to ask/seek mentorship even if it may seem completely out of my comfort zone. I find that people really want to share their expert opinion and experience with you. There are also formal mentoring awards (K-series) and programs (TIGRR) that I would highly recommend for early-career scientists. I will name a few of my excellent mentors (some of whom I met through ACRM) here to acknowledge their help: Anjali Joshi, Brian Dudgeon, Deborah Kartin, Sujata Pradhan, MaryJane Mulcahey, Daniel Graves, Trudy Mallinson, Linda Erlich-Jones, and Allen Heinemann.
For further inquiries, please see:
Namrata Grampurohit, PhD, OTR/L
901 Walnut Street
Suite 613
Philadelphia, PA 19107
namrata.grampurohit@jefferson.edu
P: (206) 353-6054
