Our Instructors
Brian Hoare
B.O.T, PhD
Adjunct Associate Professor Hoare spent the first 20 years of his career as a clinical occupational therapist at Monash Children’s Hospital, Melbourne. He completed a PhD at La Trobe University, Melbourne in 2010 and a post-doctoral fellowship.
Sue Greaves
B.App. Sc.(OT), MOT, PhD
Sue is a paediatric Occupational Therapist at CPTherapy. She is passionate about early intervention, especially assessment and management of the upper limb in children with unilateral cerebral palsy (hemiplegia). Sue completed her PhD developing the Mini-AHA.
Jane Berry
B.O.T
Jane is an Occupational Therapist at Cerebral Palsy Alliance, Sydney. Her roles include Consultant for Occupational Therapy and Early Diagnosis Clinic Co-ordinator.
Gabriela Garcia
OTR, MS
Gabriela Granados García, OTR, MS, studied at the Universidad Autónoma del Estado de México and she studied a Master Degree in Neurorehabilitation at Centro Mexicano Universitario de Ciencias y Humanidades.
Kirsten Browney
MOTPrac
Kirsten Browney is an experienced occupational therapist who currently working in private practice for CPTherapy (part of the Cerebral Palsy Group). Kirsten has previously worked at the Royal Children’s Hospital and Monash Children’s Hospital, Melbourne.
Heather Mahnken
Heather Mahnken is a pediatric occupational therapist in the United States with over 20 years of experience working. Her clinical interests include early detection cerebral palsy, and motor intensive therapies for children with neuromuscular diagnoses. She has been instructor for the AHA since 2019.
Lisa Wagner
Dr Lisa Wagner, DHS, OTR/L received her OT degree from the Medical University of South Carolina and her doctorate from the University of Indianapolis. Lisa has participated in various research projects resulting in peer-reviewed articles, book chapter and the ability to speak nationally and internationally. She has been teaching the AHA since 2010.
Ellen Romein
Ellen Romein euMSc.OT is Dutch, worked 17 years in Germany and lives now in France. Her interest has always been to improve the occupational- and client-centered OT.
Rachel Bard-Pondarré
Rachel Bard-Pondarré is an occupational therapist in paediatric neuro-orthopaedics at the Centre des Massues - French Red Cross. She has a Master's degree in Motor Disability Research and Rehabilitation. Rachel conducts various training courses on assessment tools, including the AHA, Mini-AHA, HAI and BoHA and Goal Attainment Scaling methodology, as well as training courses on therapeutic interventions.
Britt-Marie Zethraeus
Britt-Marie Zethraeus, MSc and Reg. Occupational Therapist has extensive clinical experience from working with children with disabilities in Sweden. One of the original developers of BoHA and an AHA and BoHA instructor.
Elisa Sicola
Elisa Sicola is a senior developmental neuropsychomotor therapist with over 40 years of experience at the Department of Developmental Neuroscience, IRCCS Fondazione Stella Maris, Pisa, Italy. She has a background in physical rehabilitation and has extensive clinical experience in CP. She has clinical and research interests in particular in hand function assessment and functional performance in CP.
Melanie Hessenauer
Melanie Hessenauer is an occupational therapist at the Centre for Pediatric Neurology, Neurorehabilitation and Epileptology Schoen Clinic Vogtareuth, Germany. Melanie has taught the AHA since 2007 in German-speaking countries.
Marie Holmefur
Marie Holmefur PhD, Reg. Occupational Therapist and Professor of Occupational Therapy at Örebro University, Sweden. Marie has been teaching the AHA and conducted research on the AHA since 2003.
Ann-Kristin Elvrum
Associate Professor Ann-Kristin Elvrum, OT, PhD currently works as associate professor at NTNU, Trondheim, Norway. In addition, she has a 20% position as research coordinator at the Clinic of Rehabilitation at St. Olavs Hospital. Her PhD-work involved the development and validation of the Both Hands Assessment (BoHA) for children with bilateral cerebral palsy from 18 months till 13 years.
Karin Boeschoten
OT
Karin Boeschoten is a paediatric Occupational Therapist at AmsterdamUMC, Netherlands. Karin has taught the AHA since 2006 in The Netherlands.
Annoek Louwers
OT; PhD
Annoek Louwers PhD, is a paediatric Occupational Therapist at AmsterdamUMC, Netherlands.
Johanna Kembe
OT
Johanna Kembe is an occupational therapist working at Astrid Lindgren’s Children’s Hospital, Karolinska University Hospital, in Stockholm, Sweden since 2014.
Elena Beani
Elena is a developmental neuropsychomotor therapist, with a Masters degree in Rehabilitation Science and a PhD in Neuroscience.
Danni Centorame
B.O.T
Danni is an experienced occupational therapist supporting young infants and children with cerebral palsy (CP). She works in the community as a private therapist and is completing a PhD, exploring the perceptual and cognitive skills of infants with CP.
Noriko Funakoshi
Noriko Funakoshi, OT, is Japanese and worked for 8 years in Japan before moving to France in 2007. She has extensive clinical experience in France, specializing in working with children with cerebral palsy and other neurodevelopmental disorders. Since 2023, she has been teaching the AHA alongside Rachel Bard-Pondarré.
Martina Orlando
Martina Orlando is a developmental neuropsychomotor therapist at the Infant Neurology Section of IRCCS Stella Maris Scientific Institute, Pisa, Italy.
Atefeh Taghizadeh
PhD
Dr Atefeh Taghizadeh completed her PhD in Occupational Therapy at La Trobe University, Melbourne in 2024, where she advanced her expertise in paediatric evidence-based therapy. During her doctoral studies, she developed the Upper Limb-Motor Learning Strategy Tool (UL-MLST).
Emma Moodie
Emma is an experienced occupational therapist at the Cerebral Palsy Alliance. She is passionate about early intervention and supporting upper limb development and function, with a primary clinical focus on young infants and children with cerebral palsy.
Ashlee Cruz
B.O.T
Ashlee Cruz is a Senior Occupational Therapist at The Royal Children’s Hospital, Melbourne where she has worked for the past 14 years. Ashlee has extensive experience in assessing children with neurological conditions and neurodevelopmental concerns.
Andrea Burgess
OT, PhD, Grad Cert Epi.
Dr Andrea Burgess, OT, PhD, Grad Cert Epi., works as a postdoctoral research fellow at The University of Queensland and as an Occupational Therapist at the Queensland Paediatric Rehabilitation Service-Queensland Children’s Hospital.