Cel Hamant Lecture

1050 Wishard Boulevard,Indianapolis IN 46202

09 May, 2023

Description

The Cel Hamant lecture series began on April 19, 2013 at the Riley Outpatient Center Lilly Auditorium. It featured an address by Patricia Laurencelle, founding director of Indiana University’s Department of Occupational Therapy from 1957 to 1962. This was one of the first allied health programs initiated by the IU School of Medicine. Hamant was the program director of the undergraduate occupational therapy program from 1984 to 2004. This year's Cel Hamant Lecture will feature honorary speaker Vikram Pagpatan. Vikram Pagpatan, OTR/L, CLA, BCP, ATP, EdDc (he/him) is an Assistant Professor and Admissions Coordinator for the graduate Occupational Therapy program at the State University of New York (SUNY) Downstate Health Sciences University in Brooklyn, New York. Vikram is a born and raised New Yorker of South Asian descent and deeply values the intentionality and authenticity of knowledge that advances the practice and adoption of cultural humility, recognizing bias, and lifelong competency building within healthcare education and practice. Clinically, Vikram is AOTA Board Certified in Pediatrics (BCP) and specializes in pediatric practice using assistive technologies, progressive neurological based evaluations, and interventions for adult populations through the lens of aging with dignity as a certified Assistive Technology Practitioner (ATP), and community based mental health services for victims of racial assault, trauma, and violence. Vikram also operates his own consultation and evaluation agency, VPAT Solutions LLC in the greater New York area. Through leadership, mentorship, and advocacy, Vikram presently serves as an AOTA Board Director and as recent past member of the AOTA DEI Committee. Vikram has also served as the AOTA DEI Sub-Committee Chair of the Diversity in Leadership Program and is also the appointed AOTA representative to the Men of Color in the Health Professions Coalition and Initiative. Vikram values active representation and the ability to advocate at the table. Additionally, Vikram is the Communications Chair of the Asian-Pacific Islander Occupational Therapy Association and has served in multiple capacities for the SUNY University Faculty Senate on Equity, Diversity and Inclusion committee. Vikram is also the founding faculty advisor for the Downstate COTAD Chapter. Through research, Vikram believes in intentional scholarship and has focused on several topics related to DEIJ and holistic admissions through state, national, and specialty conferences. Examples include serving as an editor and author of the Contemporary Case Studies in Occupational Therapy Practice: Guiding Critical Thinking for Students text as well as a chapter author for the recent Texture of Life: Occupations & Related Activities 5th edition, both texts from AOTA Press.