Jyothi Gupta PhD, OTR/L, FAOTA
Director of External Campus Programs
Tenured Professor

Curriculum Vitae

Teaching Areas of Interest

Neuroscience, sociocultural and sociopolitical influences on participation, occupational therapy theory and philosophy, and occupation science

Research Interests

Contextual influences on occupational choices, performance and participation; critical analysis of professional issues

Biography

Jyothi Gupta, PhD, OTR/L, FAOTA, is a tenured full professor in the Department of Occupational Therapy at UTMB. She transitioned from being the Chair of the Occupational Therapy department to the position of the Director of External Campus Programs for the School of Health Professions at UTMB. In this role, as a member of the SHP Dean’s Office, she serves as the liaison for SHP programs in exploring opportunities to offer their educational degree programs off-campus. She collaborated with the University of Texas Systems Office and the UT System Center for Education and Research at Laredo to implement the first public university hybrid education program for entry-level Occupational therapy doctorate. 

Dr. Gupta received her doctorate in biological sciences at the University of Windsor, Canada and has held post-doctoral Fellowships at various Canadian universities in Biology (University of Waterloo), Pharmacology (Dalhousie University), Biochemistry and Pathology (McMaster University). She obtained her occupational therapy degree from McMaster University. Prior to taking up her current position, Dr. Gupta was chair and program director for the MS and OTD programs at A. T. Still University, Mesa, AZ (2016-2022) and between 2000-2016 she was at St. Catherine University in the Department of Physical Therapy, and held a joint appointment in Occupational Therapy. She developed many local, national and global community partnerships during her tenure at St. Catherine University for inter-professional service learning courses, and for her scholarship.

Dr. Gupta’s primary scholarly interest is understanding the contextual influences on participation and their impact on community health and well-being. Some of her published studies include workplace experiences of individuals with disabilities, women and children living in chronic poverty, and cross- cultural occupational issues of immigrants and refugees. Naturally, her studies led her into social justice arena and social determinants of health; her current focus is on bridging public health and occupational science, particularly the life course health development model in the context of racial segregation in rural Mississippi. Her passion for social inclusion and strong interest in sociocultural issues culminated in Culture and Occupation, 3rd Edition (AOTA Press).

Dr. Gupta has been elected to various American Occupational Therapy Association positions. She has served as the research liaison and chair of the Education Special Interest Section and as chair of the Commission on Education. She served on the lead team for the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning Institute (2013-2017) and the Multicultural Diversity Initiative (2012-2016). She has authored many official documents of the association. Dr. Gupta was conferred the Fellow of the American Occupational Therapy Association (FAOTA) in 2013.