Overview
Director, School of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences
Vice Dean, College of Medicine
Professor, Division of Occupational Therapy
406 Atwell Hall
453 W. 10th Ave.
Columbus, OH 43210
Phone: 614-293-3760
Email: amy.darragh@osumc.edu
Primary Professional Areas of Interest
- Pediatric Neurorehabilitation
- Virtual Technologies in Health and Rehabilitation
- Academic Leadership
Research Focus
Dr. Darragh studies interventions to improve the health of children and adults. Dr. Darragh directs the Injury Prevention and Rehabilitation Research Lab, which studies intensive interventions and virtual technologies for improving health and safety outcomes in both adult and pediatric populations.
IPARR - Injury Prevention and Rehabilitation Research Lab
In pediatrics, her most recent work focuses on intensive neurorehabilitation for children with hemiplegia and capitalizes on interprofessional collaborations with Nationwide Children’s Hospital and Virginia Tech. Dr. Darragh’s current research includes IACQUIRE, a Phase 3 Clinical Trial examining intensive pCIMT for infants and toddlers with perinatal arterial ischemic stroke funded by NIH-StrokeNet (I-ACQUIRE). Dr. Darragh is also a leader of the NIH PL2 National Pediatric Rehabilitation Research Center (C-PROGRESS), which aims to improve the infrastructure supporting pediatric rehabilitation research through training, pilot funding, and research. She has recently completed two NIH-funded multisite comparative efficacy trials examining intensive pCIMT for infants, toddlers, and young children (CHAMP and BabyCHAMP).
In addition, she has funding from the Ohio Bureau of Worker’s Compensation to develop an app for home healthcare workers to provide guidance on communication strategies for speaking with clients, families, and case managers about complex health and safety hazards. This builds on her recently completed a CDC-NIOSH funded R01 developing and testing a virtual simulation training system to teach home healthcare workers to detect and respond to health and safety hazards in client homes.Dr. Darragh serves as Chair of the Research Committee for the American Academy of Cerebral Palsy and Developmental Medicine and is a member of the American Occupational Therapy Association Academic Leadership Council. She is a Fellow of the American Occupational Therapy Association.
Dr. Darragh is the director of the Occupational Therapy Division in the School of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences in the College of Medicine. She assumed this role in 2014 and led the OT Division through its transition from an entry-level Master’s degree to an entry level Doctoral degree. She also spearheaded the OT Division’s transition to a Holistic Admissions process to increase the diversity of experience, background and thought of our student body. In this capacity, she serves on the SHRS Executive Committee, the College of Medicine Education Leadership Team, and the SHRS Graduate Studies Committee. In addition, she serves on the University Senate representing the College of Medicine, a term that began in August, 2017 and is a member of the Council on Student Affairs. Her leadership interests include strategic planning, faculty professional development and mentorship, and diversity and inclusion.
Professional and Academic Leadership
Dr. Darragh is the Chair of the University Senate Steering Committee and the Chair of the University Senate Faculty Cabinet. She is a two-time Senator representing the College of Medicine. Her leadership interests include strategic planning, faculty professional development and mentorship, and diversity and inclusion. Dr. Darragh is the director of the Occupational Therapy Division in the School of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences in the College of Medicine. In this capacity, she serves on the SHRS Executive Committee and the College of Medicine Education Leadership Team.Recent Selected Publications
Rugs, D, Powell-Cope, G, Campo, M, Darragh, AR, Kuhn, J, Rockefeller, K. (June, 2020). The use of safe patient handling and mobility equipment in Veterans Health Administration rehabilitation. Work: A Journal of Prevention, Assessment and Rehabilitation, 66(1), 31-40.
Lavender, SA, Polivka, B, Darragh, AR, Sommerich, CM, Stredney, DL, Wills, CE. (September, 2019). Evaluating home healthcare workers’ ability to detect potential safety hazards in client homes using a virtual simulation training system. Home Healthcare Now,37(5), 265-272.
Polivka, B, Anderson, S, Lavender, S, Sommerich, C, Wills, C, Darragh, AR. (April, 2019). Efficacy and usability of a virtual simulation training system for health and safety hazards encountered by healthcare workers. Games for Health Journal, 8(2), 121-128. doi.org/10.1089/g4h.2018.0068
Ramey, SL, DeLuca, S, Stevenson, R, Case-Smith, J, Darragh, A, Conaway, M, CHAMP Network. (January, 2019). Children with Hemiparesis Arm and Movement Project (CHAMP): A multi-site comparative efficacy trial of pediatric Constraint-Induced Movement Therapy (CIMT) testing effects of dosage and type of constraint for 2 to 8 year olds with hemiparetic cerebral palsy. British Medical Journal Open, 9(1). http://bmjopen.bmj.com/cgi/content/full/bmjopen-2018-023285
Recent Presentations
Hand, B.N., Darragh, A., Coury, D., Moffatt-Bruce, S., Garvin J. (June, 2020). Primary care medical home linked with improved continuity of care among autistic adults, Poster presentation at Academy Health Annual Research Meeting, Boston, MA. (Conference cancelled due to COVID-19)
Smith, C, Darragh, A, DiGiovine, C, Anvarizadeh, A, Lancaster, S, Rebne, A. (June, 2020). Moving Toward Vision 2025: Promoting Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion in OT Academic Programs. Pre-Conference Institute at the American Occupational Therapy Association Annual Conference Virtual Series, Boston, MA, June 12, 2020. Webinar presented by all authors.
Schmidt, EK, Persch, A, Parsons, C, Anderson, S, Faieta, J, DiGiovine, C, Darragh, AR. (June, 2020). Technology to Support Transition-Age Individuals with I/DD. American Association on Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities, Pittsburgh, PA, June 3, 2020. (Conference cancelled due to COVID-19)
Anderson, S, Darragh, A, Gauthier, L, Proffitt, R, Ghanouni, P. (May, 2020). Games for Health: Leveraging Innovative & Immersive Technologies in OT Practice. Short Course presented at the American Occupational Therapy Association Annual Conference Virtual Series, May 18, 2020. Webinar presented by all authors.
Courses Taught
- OCCTHER 6740 Health Planning for Individuals and Communities
- OCCTHER 7710 Capstone Preparation
- OCCTHER 7720 Capstone Project Proposal
- OCCTHER 7730 Capstone Project Completion
Education
- 1988: B.A., Psychology, Barnard College of Columbia University
- 1995: M.S., Occupational Therapy, Colorado State University
- 2001: Ph.D., Environmental Health-Epidemiology