UBC Department of Occupational Science & Occupational Therapy

Are you an undergraduate student interested in learning about human occupations? OSOT 301: Introduction to Human Occupation, our undergraduate-level course, is now open for registration for the 2025 W1 term. It will run on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 9:30-11:00 AM on the UBC Vancouver campus.

https://osot.ubc.ca/2025/06/24/osot-301-registration-w1-2025/

Registration now open for our undergraduate course, OSOT 301: Introduction to Human Occupation - Occupational Science & Occupational Therapy Registration is now open for OSOT 301, which gives undergraduate students the chance to learn about fundamental concepts in occupational science and occupational therapy.

Last week, our MOT2 students learned about the interplay between OT and climate change when Clinical Assistant Professor and OT Climate Action Network (OT-CAN) co-founder Giovanna Boniface taught the class "Occupational Therapy Practice on a Changing Planet: Climate Change, Planetary, Ecological and Human Health and the role of Occupational Therapy"

You can learn more about OT-CAN or join the network here: https://ot4climate.com/

An important part of our strategic plan is our commitment to supporting Truth and Reconciliation. Last month, we took an important step toward this goal when we held the OSOT UBC Indigenous Strategic Plan Self-Assessment and Action Planning Retreat
https://osot.ubc.ca/2025/05/29/isp-retreat-2025/

The OSOT Indigenous Strategic Plan Self-Assessment and Action Planning Retreat - Occupational Science & Occupational Therapy As part of our commitment to Truth and Reconciliation, we held the OSOT Indigenous Strategic Plan Self-Assessment and Action Planning Retreat this spring.

How UBCO Health Researcher of the Year Dr. Brodie Sakakibara is empowering stroke survivors - UBC Faculty of Medicine Dr. Brodie Sakakibara empowers stroke survivors with self-management support and tech-powered solutions.

Get to know postdoctoral fellow Dr. Kenneth Noguchi! Dr. Noguchi, whose research is co-supervised by OSOT Associate Professor Dr. Brodie Sakakibara, was recently featured in a profile by Canadian Longitudinal Study on Aging (CLSA), in which he talked about his academic beginnings, the aims of his research, the particularities of latent class analysis, and the importance of free access to CLSA's data to trainees' research
https://www.clsa-elcv.ca/trainee-spotlight-qa-with-dr-kenny-noguchi/

Trainee Spotlight: Q&A with Dr. Kenny Noguchi - Canadian Longitudinal Study on Aging (CLSA) Tell us about yourself in a paragraph or two: What is your name, and what are you studying? Where are you from? What was your dream job as a kid? What’s your favourite thing to do outside of school/work? My name is Kenny Noguchi, I am a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the University of British [.....

Want to learn how our fieldwork team secures placements for our MOT students? Go behind the scenes with them as they build connections with clinicians at Building Bridges and hold the first in-person preceptor education workshop post-COVID https://osot.ubc.ca/2025/05/27/building-bridges-2025/

Extending Clinical Partnerships at Building Bridges - Occupational Science & Occupational Therapy For the second straight year, the Department of OSOT took part in Building Bridges (Bridges), an annual event to connect OTs from Vancouver Coastal Health and Fraser Health for a day of education and research. Bridges, which has been running since 1998, is an important opportunity for our department...

Earlier this week, four RHSC students supervised by OSOT faculty officially graduated from UBC:

Anne-Cécile Delaisse, PhD
Xiaoxu Ding, PhD
Keyara Brody, MSc
Olatioluwase Olatona, MSc

Congratulations, everybody!

On Tuesday, June 10, Associate Professor of Teaching Katie Lee Bunting will be presenting on "Pedagogies of Love" and jointly leading a panel discussion at Faculty of Medicine at the University of British Columbia REDI’s Fourth Annual Symposium, titled "Building a More Welcoming Movement Toward a Just Culture"
https://redi.med.ubc.ca/building-a-more-welcoming-movement-toward-a-just-culture/

Building a More Welcoming Movement Toward a Just Culture - Respectful Environments, Equity, Diversity & Inclusion What motivates real cultural change? How can we create movements that feel hopeful and actionable? Join REDI's Fourth Annual Symposium on Tuesday, June 10th, 2025, from 9:00 am – 1:00 pm, to learn about evidence-based approaches in psychology, social change, and transformative education as we expl...

On May 30, Associate Academic Fieldwork Coordinator Jeff Boniface and our MOT students will be visiting Tsleil-Waututh Nation səlilwətaɬ to engage in meaningful dialogue with Tsleil-Waututh Nation members about health, occupation, and occupational justice

More good news! OSOT Associate Professor Dr. Brodie Sakakibara has been named UBC Okanagan's 2025 Researcher of the Year in the Health category! https://research.ok.ubc.ca/2025/05/08/ubco-celebrates-extraordinary-faculty-members-as-researchers-of-the-year/

UBCO celebrates extraordinary faculty members as Researchers of the Year - Office of the Vice-Principal Research UBC Okanagan celebrates Dr. Mohammad Arjmand, Dr. Brodie Sakakibara and Michael V. Smith as 2025 Researchers of the Year

OSOT Associate Professor Dr. Suzanne Huot has been named the Interim Co-Director of the UBC Centre for Migration Studies!
https://migration.ubc.ca/news/prof-suzanne-huot-appointed-interim-co-director-ubc-centre-for-migration-studies/

Prof. Suzanne Huot appointed Interim Co-Director, UBC Centre for Migration Studies - Centre for Migration Studies Prof. Suzanne Huot appointed Interim Co-Director of UBC’s Centre for Migration Studies starting September 1, 2025.

CAOT-BC is thrilled to announce Jeff Boniface as the recipient of the 2025 CAOT-BC Outstanding Occupational Therapist of the Year Award! This award recognizes members living in British Columbia who have made an
outstanding contribution to the profession throughout his or her career.

Jeff is an Occupational Therapist, Associate Academic Fieldwork Coordinator and Clinical Associate Professor at the UBC Department of Occupational Science & Occupational Therapy, and co-founder of the Climate Action Network.

Please join me in a huge congratulations to Jeff!

Stay tuned for more information and you can find more about Jeff's work and commitment to the occupational therapy profession here:
https://linktr.ee/ots4future
https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeffboniface/