Favorite occupations: Yoga, reading, gardening, plant-based cooking, trail running/hiking, spending time with family, caring for her two Boston terriers.
Dr. Pitonyak received her MS in Occupational Therapy from Washington University in St. Louis and her PhD in Health Policy from University of the Sciences in Philadelphia. Her practice expertise, teaching interests, and scholarly work center around two main areas: 1) family mental health promotion, and 2) education research/scholarship of teaching & learning (SoTL). Dr. Pitonyak joined the PNWU School of Occupational Therapy in 2023. Her past work in occupational therapy higher education includes a variety of faculty and administrative roles, with extensive experience with accreditation processes, curriculum design, and faculty development.
Dr. Pitonyak has published over 25 peer-reviewed articles and book chapters on topics in the areas of family mental health and education research/SoTL. She co-directs the AOTA SoTL Mentorship Program and conducts projects about interprofessional education, curricular innovations, and faculty development initiatives. She is currently a collaborator on a national study of student learning outcomes of an occupation-centered curriculum. Dr. Pitonyak uses the Life Course Health Development (LCHD) framework to guide her research examining how policy influences family occupation and health. She has served on the advisory group to the Life Course Research Network funded through the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Health Resources and Services Administration, Maternal and Child Health Bureau.
Dr. Pitonyak has been an occupational therapy practitioner for almost three decades working in a variety of settings including early intervention, specialized pediatric feeding programs, the neonatal intensive care unit, and community mental health programs. She completed Specialty Certification in Feeding, Eating, and Swallowing (SCFES) through the American Occupational Therapy Association (AOTA) and is a Certified Infant Massage Instructor (CIMI).
Clinical Interests
Family mental health; Youth/Young adult mental health; OT in public health/community health promotion programs; Infants with neonatal abstinence syndrome; Infants/Children with feeding difficulties; Participatory action approaches to program development and evaluation; Trauma-informed practice and environments
Research Areas
Family life course health development (theoretical frameworks; early family experiences; community health promotion); Influence of policy on occupation and health (structural barriers to access/participation/engagement); Education research (outcomes of occupation-based curricula; faculty development; participatory actions approaches to curriculum development); Scholarship of teaching & learning (interprofessional education; inclusive/anti-racist pedagogy & practices; authentic learning; metacognition/reflection)