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Give Now Alumni Information Update

  • Lisa Johnston, PT, MS, DPT

    Associate Chair, Clinical Services

    Assistant Director for Professional Education

    Academic Office: 919-843-5723
    Email: Lisa_Johnston@med.unc.edu
    As the Assistant Director for Professional Education, Dr. Johnston coordinates day-to-day operations of the DPT Program. This includes leading faculty in the development and maintenance of the program’s curriculum, operations, program assessment, and accreditation. As the Associate Chair for Clinical Services, Dr. Johnston leads the Department of Health Sciences clinical efforts across five clinical locations. She supports faculty clinical providers and patients by monitoring and improving clinical operations, including the revenue cycle. Dr. Johnston also assists the DPT Program clinical education team as a Co-Director of Clinical Education by providing support to students and clinical sites.
    In addition to her leadership roles, Dr Johnston is actively involved in classroom teaching, and in providing professional development workshops for practicing providers particularly in the area of clinical education. She is actively engaged in service through her service on the NC Board of Physical Therapy Examiners, and as an on-site reviewer and Reaffirmation panelist for the Commission on the Accreditation in Physical Therapy Education (CAPTE). Her scholarly interests are in the areas of clinical education and DPT education program assessment.
  • Jeffrey O’Laughlin, PT, DPT, OCS, FAAOMPT

    Assistant Professor

    Director of UNC Orthopedic PT Residency Program

    University Physical Therapy Hillsborough: 919-732-6600
    Email: jeffrey_olaughlin@med.unc.edu
    My work at UNC is multifaceted with my primary workload split between clinical and education components. Clinically, I see patients in our faculty practice in Hillsborough treating patients with orthopedic or sports related injuries. I really enjoy the one on one time with the patients I serve.
    Beyond the clinical work, I teach throughout the DPT program and am the Director of our post professional Orthopedic PT Residency Program. The content I am responsible to teach to our DPT students, include Musculoskeletal content to our first year students, Applied Manual Therapy to our second year students, and Advanced Patient Management to our third years.
  • Dani Shirey, ME

    Executive Assistant to the Chair

    Office: 919-966-9040
    Email: dani_burkhart@med.unc.edu
  • Khalilah Johnson, PhD, MS, OTR/L, FAOTA

    Assistant Professor

    Email: Khalilah_Johnson@med.unc.edu

    Khalilah R. Johnson, PhD, MS, OTR/L, FAOTA (she/her/hers) is an Assistant Professor of Occupational Science and Occupational Therapy in the Department of Health Sciences at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. She is also owner and operator of #SlayingAcademia™, LLC and co-host of Dr. thOTs Podcast. Broadly, Dr. Johnson’s research sits at the intersection of critical qualitative methodologies, intellectual and developmental disabilities, anti-racism, health services, and disability justice.

    Dr. Johnson is a decorated scholar having received awards including the 2024 Roster of Fellows from the American Occupational Therapy Association, the 2022 Hortense McClinton Outstanding Faculty Award by the UNC Black Alumni Reunion, the 2021 MLK Unsung Hero by the UNC Office for Diversity and Inclusion and UNC Office of the Provost, as well as recognized by the Brenau University Alumni Hall of Fame to name a few. She sits on the editorial boards of the American Journal of Occupational Therapy and Autism in Adulthood. She also serves on the Scientific Advisory Council of the American Occupational Therapy Foundation and the national leadership team of the Coalition of Occupational Therapy Advocates for Diversity.

  • Timothy Eckard, PT, DPT, PhD

    Director, Division of Physical Therapy

    Academic Office: 919-843-7326
    Email: timothy_eckard@med.unc.edu

    As the director in the Division of Physical Therapy, it is my primary responsibility to facilitate communication among the educational, research, and clinical components of our Division and to ensure that each has the support it needs to be successful. I have secondary roles in teaching and research but spend the majority of my time doing what I enjoy most – connecting our people with the resources they need to accomplish our collective mission and realize our collective vision.

  • Caitlyn Whitson, AuD, CH-AP

    Assistant Professor

    Clinical Audiologist

    Academic Office: 919-445-6744
    Email: caitlyn_whitson@med.unc.edu

    I provide comprehensive audiology services focused on diagnosing and treating hearing loss, while also precepting and mentoring students to prepare them for clinical practice. My work combines patient-centered care with hands-on training to support both individual patients and the next generation of audiologists.

  • Sara Kelleher Peña, OTR/L, MEd

    Fieldwork and Admissions Specialist

    Novant Lead

    Email: sara_pena@med.unc.edu

    1. Fieldwork support focuses on securing fieldwork sites and providing training to clinical educators in a variety of sites, focusing on the division’s Novant initiative to increase the presence of practitioners in the southeastern part of the state.
    2. Admissions support focuses on managing the prospective student experience via information sessions, class visits and supporting application reviews
    3. Novant lead focuses on broadening access to OT services in a 5-county Southeast N.C. region, as well as recruiting providers; lead the Division’s first-ever Occupational Therapy Rural Health Committee, which conducts in-person site and classroom visits in the region
    4. SHINES Training Grant Program Coordinator focuses on helping recruit, advise, retain, mentor and evaluate Scholars
    5. General communications support: Manage social media for OS/OT division

  • Ryan Lavalley, PhD, OTR/L

    Assistant Professor, Division of Occupational Therapy and Occupational Science

    Primary Lead, Community Practice Lab

    Academic Office: 919-843-4467
    Lab Office: 919-445-4300
    Email: ryan_lavalley@med.unc.edu

    Dr. Ryan Lavalley is an assistant professor in the Division of Occupational Science and Occupational Therapy and primary lead of the Community Practice Lab. He has worked as a community occupational therapist since 2014, providing and developing programming most often related to aging, dementia, and housing. Ryan has and continues to work in partnership with multiple collaborators across North Carolina to further community-rooted initiatives. Ryan is the current coordinator of the Carolina Aging Network, which connects academic aging-related resources and initiatives across Carolina Institutions. Additionally, Ryan teaches the Community-Level Occupational Therapy course in the Masters of Occupational Therapy Program at UNC-CH through which he has guided student partnerships with multiple local organizations to develop programming and strategic actions steps to support community health and participation. Ryan co-hosts an occupational therapy and occupational science podcast with Dr. Khalilah Johnson.

  • Sean Lowers, PT, DPT

    Assistant Professor

    Board-Certified Clinical Specialist in Cardiovascular and Pulmonary Physical Therapy

    Academic Office: 919-843-8785
    Email: sean_lowers@med.unc.edu
  • Jessica Steinbrenner, PhD, CCC-SLP

    Associate Professor, Department of Health Sciences

    Faculty Fellow, Frank Porter Graham Child Development Institute

    Academic Office: 919-962-4657
    Email: jessica.dykstra@unc.edu

    Jessica Steinbrenner is a speech-language pathologist and autism researcher. Her research focuses on improving access to high-quality, evidence-based interventions for autistic individuals across the lifespan, with a particular emphasis on communication and social development. Drawing on my background as a speech-language pathologist, she collaborates with educators, families, and service providers to develop and evaluate practical, strengths-based programs that can be implemented in real-world settings such as schools and communities. Her work spans preschool through young adulthood and is grounded in both scientific rigor and real-world relevance. Her main areas of research interest include the development and testing of school- or community-based interventions, the identification and dissemination of evidence-based practices (EBPs), and the creation of reliable tools to measure progress in naturalistic settings.