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UPMC CRS Occupational Therapy Low Vision Rehab Team Leader
UPMC CRS and UPMC Eye Center
I do not have any relevant financial / non-financial relationships with any proprietary interests.
Holly's passion for understanding low vision emerged early in her career, significantly influenced by family members who suffered from visual impairments and faced daily challenges to accomplish functional tasks. She was introduced to early low vision rehabilitation techniques with the experts in low vision (e.g., Mary Warren, PhD, OTR/L) and collaborated with multiple professional practitioners in Western PA to excel her treatment skills. Between 1993 and 2014, she successfully brought in advanced commercial technologies, such as Dynavision, as diagnoses and therapy strategies for people with low vision at different rehabilitation settings in Westmoreland County, PA. Since 2014, she has extended her focus to multi-disciplinary education about low vision identifications, referrals, and clinical cares and received national recognized low vision rehabilitation specialty certificates (Graduate Certificate in Low Vision Rehabilitation from UAB, AOTA Specialty Certificate in Low Vision (SCLV) and ACVREP Certified Low Vision Therapist (CLVT) from 2017-2019). In 2018, she was promoted to UPMC CRS low vision rehab team leader, bringing her comprehensive knowledge of low vision rehabilitation to the Metropolitan Pittsburgh area. She has expanded the low vision rehabilitation services to broader scope of populations, provided modern educations of low vision rehabilitation to junior therapists and college students, collaborated with multi-disciplinary professions (e.g., nursing, ophthalmology, optometry, pharmacy, physical therapy, physician assistants, bioengineering, computer science), and advocated for people with low vision or blindness. In the midst of pandemic, she not only successfully explored hybrid telehealth program for adults living with low vision in Western PA, but also optimized the clinical interventions with PennDOT for Bioptic driving program, including pre-driver readiness. Through developing the low vision rehabilitation services in UPMC, she was invited to be the low vision rehabilitation interventionist in several research studies conducted by Ophthalmologists and Optometrists at the UPMC Eye Center, in which she provides expert clinical consultation to facilitate rehabilitation interventions and promote performance outcomes after research participants receive innovative sight restoration procedures and technology trainings. She is currently a consultant in the RERC Wireless to engage relevant stakeholders, including people with disabilities, clinical community providers, and industries, for wireless technology development, access, and support.
