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Mary Lawlor

Dr. Mary Lawlor, ScD, is Professor in the Division of Occupational Science & Occupational Therapy. She currently is Principal Investigator on an NCMRR, NICHD, NIH funded study entitled Boundary Crossings: Re-Situating Cultural Competence. This is a continuation of Boundary Crossings: A Longitudinal and Ethnographic Study. She has previously collaborated with Dr. Cheryl Mattingly on an ethnographic study of 30 African American children with an illness or disability, their families, and the practitioners who serve them. In addition, Dr. Lawlor served as Project Director for two federally funded MCH training grants, related to preparing leaders in the areas of innovative practices. She served as Project Director for the UIC Therapeutic Practice Project, a training program designed to promote best practices in occupational and physical therapy for children birth to eight funded by the Early Education Program for Children with Disabilities, OSERS, DOE. Dr. Lawlor has had extensive clinical experience and is nationally recognized for her work in interdisciplinary practices, family-centered care, maternal and child health, child development and disability experiences, and development of qualitative methods. She has also mentored PhD students, postdoctoral fellows and junior faculty in research and scholarship.

Positions & Honors

Positions
2003-present Professor, PhD Program Director, and Director of Research, Division of Occupational Science and Occupational Therapy, University of Southern California
1996-2003 Associate Professor, Department of Occupational Science and Occupational Therapy, University of Southern California
1993-1996 Associate Professor, Department of Occupational Therapy, College of Associated Health Professions, The University of Illinois at Chicago
1987-1993 Assistant Professor, Department of Occupational Therapy, College of Associated Health Professions, The University of Illinois at Chicago

Selected Honors & Awards
2007-present Member, Research Advisory Panel, American Occupational Therapy Association and American Occupational Therapy Foundation
2006 Invited Grant Reviewer, NICHD Special Emphases Panel, National Institutes of Health
2004 Invited Grant Reviewer, NIMH panel on child mental health services, National Institutes of Health (June)
2004 Member, Academy of Research, American Occupational Therapy Foundation
2003 Invited Grant Reviewer, Child Psychopathology and Developmental Disabilities (CPDD) Study Section at the Center for Scientific Review, National Institutes of Health (June)
1999-2004 Member, Editorial Board, American Journal of Occupational Therapy
1999 Invited Member, Consensus Group on Research Priorities, American Occupational Therapy Foundation

Education

Boston University Sc.D. 1989 Therapeutic Studies
Boston University Ind. Study 1977 Systems Theory
Radcliffe Institute, Cambridge   1976 Clinical Education
Harvard University Ed.M. 1975 Education
Boston University B.S. 1972 Occupational Therapy

Current Research Support

2-R01HD38878-06, Lawlor (PI), 2005 - 2009
NIH: NCMRR, NICHD; $2,472,155
Boundary Crossing: Re-Situating Cultural Competence
This 4 year longitudinal, urban, multimethod ethnographic study examines cross cultural healthcare encounters. The study identifies, describes and situates how families contribute to the production of culturally responsive care and the strategies families and practitioners employ to establish commonality, bridge difference, and effectively "partner up."
Role: Principal Investigator

Selected Publications

  1. Lawlor, M.C. (In press). Narrative, development, and engagement: Intersections in therapeutic practice. In U. Jensen & C. Mattingly (Eds.), Narrative, self and social practice. Denmark: Aarhus University.
  2. Lawlor, M.C. & Mattingly, C. (2009, pub. 2008). Understanding family perspectives on illness and disability experiences . In E. Crepeau, E. Cohn, & B. Schell, (Eds.), Willard & Spackman’s Occupational Therapy (11th ed., pp. 33-44). Philadelphia: J.B. Lippincott (Major revision of 2003 chapter).
  3. Clark, F. & Lawlor, M.C. (2009, pub. 2008). The making and mattering of occupational science. In E. Crepeau, E. Cohn & B. Schell, (Eds.), Willard & Spackman’s Occupational Therapy (11th ed., pp. 2-12). Philadelphia: J.B. Lippincott.
  4. Lawlor, M.C. (2004). Mothering Work: Negotiating health care, illness and disability, and development. In S.A. Esdaile & J.A. Olson (Eds.), Mothering occupations: Challenge, agency, and participation (pp. 306-323). Philadelphia: F.A. Davis.
  5. Lawlor, M.C. (2003). Gazing Anew: The shift from a clinical gaze to an ethnographic lens. American Journal of Occupational Therapy, 57(1): 29-39.
  6. Lawlor, M.C. (2003). The significance of being occupied: The social construction of childhood occupations. American Journal of Occupational Therapy, 57(4): 424-434.
  7. Mattingly, C., Lawlor, M.C., & Jacobs-Huey, L. (2002). Narrating September 11: Race, gender, and the play of cultural identities. American Anthropologist, 104(3): 743-753.
  8. Mattingly, C. & Lawlor, M. (2001). The fragility of healing. Ethos, 29(1): 30-57.
  9. Lawlor, M.C. & Mattingly, C. (2001). Beyond the unobtrusive observer: Reflections on researcher-informant relationships in urban ethnography. American Journal of Occupational Therapy, 55: 147-154.
  10. Mattingly, C. & Lawlor, M. (2000). Learning from stories: Narrative interviewing in cross-cultural research. Scandinavian Journal of Occupational Therapy, 7(1): 4-14.