Third year Occupational Therapy Doctoral (OTD) students Taylor Johnson Jones and Mariah Horton were accepted as long-term trainees in the Vanderbilt Consortium LEND. Chair of the School of Occupational Therapy and LEND Core Faculty Member Dr. Lorry Liotta-Kleinfeld will serve as the student’s faulty advisor.

Both Johnson and Horton successfully completed the OTD LEND Independent Study class and engaged in a number of service, clinical and research activities in pediatrics. As Long-term Trainees, they will receive a stipend of $7,500 contingent on their successful participation in 300 hours or more of LEND activities. These activities focus on foundational concepts in the field of neurodevelopmental disabilities including the clinical, education, ethical, public health, legal, public policy and social implications of specific neurodevelopmental disabilities.  At its core, the LEND traineeship is interprofessional in nature and students will participate in leadership, advocacy and training activities with families and individuals from diverse professions. They will assist in developing and leading an interprofessional workshop this fall and next spring on topics pertaining to best-practice, current issues in pediatric practice, as well as patient- and family-centered care.