Carolyn Dunford

Dr Carolyn Dunford is a Reader in Occupational Therapy at Brunel University London, affiliated with the Department of Health Sciences and the College of Health, Medicine and Life Sciences. She specializes in pediatric occupational therapy, focusing on children and young people with developmental coordination disorder, acquired brain injury, and cerebral palsy.

• PhD, University of Wales (2008)
• MSc in Community Child Health, University of Wales (1999)
• Diploma of the College of Occupational Therapists (1988)
• Postgraduate Certificate in Academic Practice, York St John University (2008)

Her research revolves around improving participation in childhood occupations through occupation-centred practice, evidence-based interventions, and knowledge translation. Key areas include goal setting with families, functional assessment tools, and therapeutic adaptations for motor impairments.

Recent publications highlight her work on developmental coordination disorder awareness, adaptive physical activity, and functional outcome measures in pediatric rehabilitation. She has contributed to validating assessment tools like the UK FIM + FAM and developing interventions for bike-riding acquisition.

• Fellowship of the Royal College of Occupational Therapists (2024)

Dr Dunford supervises PhD candidates including Dr Susan Walker, Yvonne Milton, and Astrid Ferreira. Her funded projects include knowledge translation interventions for community occupational therapists and goal-orientated assessment tools for children's wheelchair basketball.