She holds a BS in Occupational Therapy (1989), an MS in Healthcare Supervision & Management (1996), and a PhD in Rehabilitation Science (2010), all from the University of Pittsburgh. She is Board Certified in Gerontology and a Fellow of the American Occupational Therapy Association (AOTA), where she formerly served as the chair of the Gerontology Special Interest Section. She is a co-editor of the text Strategies to Advance Gerontology Excellence: Promoting Best Practice in Occupational Therapy and the author of several AOTA Fact Sheets related to productive aging.